He had become so in an earlier state of existence, and the hatred continued in every successive birth, through which they reappeared in the world.
See the accounts of him, and of his various devices against Buddha, and his own destruction at the last, in M.B., pp.

315-321, 326-330; and still better, in the Sacred Books of the East, vol.xx, Vinaya Texts, pp.

233-265.

For the particular attempt referred to in the text, see "The Life of the Buddha," p.107.When he was engulphed, and the flames were around him, he cried out to Buddha to save him, and we are told that he is expected yet to appear as a Buddha under the name of Devaraja, in a universe called Deva-soppana.

E.H., p.