The Bodhisatta was once born as a very wealthy setthi in Benares. He had a son who, when only seven years old, showed great intelligence and anxiety for his own spiritual welfare. One day the boy asked his father which were the paths leading to welfare and on being told them he followed their teaching.
The story was told in reference to a similar child, the son of a wealthy setthi of Sāvatthi. The father, not being able to answer the boy's questions, took him to the Buddha at Jetavana. J.i.366-7.