Prince Ruri, also known as Virudhaka or the Crystal Prince for the lapis lazuli set into his forehead, was born to King Prasennajit of Kosala and a slave woman from Kapilavastu who had been presented to the king under the false pretense of being a Kshatriya.

Upon learning the truth of his mother's lower caste status, Prince Ruri entered a profound personal crisis. He ostracized his mother to the slave quarters, and later, when a plague broke out among them, ordered her execution alongside the other slaves, though he secretly mourned her death. This event ignited a deep-seated resentment and a powerful desire for vengeance against those he felt had deceived him, particularly the Shakya clan, his mother's people of origin.

Driven by this desire, Prince Ruri initiated a brutal invasion of the Shakya kingdom with the goal of exterminating Buddha's tribe, an action that marks a central intersection of his storyline with that of Siddhartha Gautama.

Following the military campaign and his subsequent encounters with Buddha, Prince Ruri underwent a transformation. After being shown that his violent actions had only increased his own suffering and the suffering of others, he abandoned his path of vengeance. He became a devotee of Buddha, and one of his nobles eventually constructed a Buddhist temple.