Angulimala Sutta2
Table of Contents
A large crowd of people, loud & noisy, had gathered at the gates to King Pasenadi Kosala’s inner palace, calling out:
There is a bandit in your realm, sire, named Angulimala: brutal, bloody-handed, devoted to killing & slaying, showing no mercy to living beings.
The king must stamp him out!"
So King Pasenadi Kosala, with a cavalry of roughly 500 horsemen, went out of Savatthi and entered the monastery.
On arrival, having bowed down, he sat to one side.
As he was sitting there, the Buddha said to him:
What is it, great king? Has King Seniya Bimbisara of Magadha provoked you, or have the Licchavis of Vesali or some other hostile king?
No, lord. King Seniya Bimbisara of Magadha hasn’t provoked me, nor have the Licchavis of Vesali, nor has some other hostile king.
There is a bandit in my realm, lord, named Angulimala.
I am going to stamp him out." [1]
Great king, what would you do to Angulimala if you saw him:
- with his hair & beard shaved off
- wearing the ochre robe
- having gone forth from the home life into homelessness
- refraining from killing living beings
- refraining from taking what is not given
- refraining from telling lies
- living the holy life on one meal a day, virtuous & of fine character
We would bow down to him, lord, or rise up to greet him, or offer him a seat, or offer him robes, almsfood, lodgings, or medicinal requisites for curing illness. We would arrange a lawful guard, protection, & defense.
But how could there be such virtue & restraint in an unvirtuous, evil character?
Ven. Angulimala was sitting not far from the Buddha. So the Buddha, pointing with his right arm, said to King Pasenadi Kosala:
That, great king, is Angulimala.
Then King Pasenadi Kosala was frightened, terrified, his hair standing on end. So the Buddha, sensing the king’s fear & hair-raising awe, said to him,
Don’t be afraid, great king. Don’t be afraid. He poses no danger to you.
Then the king’s fear, his terror, his hair-standing-on-end subsided.
He went over to Ven. Angulimala and said:
Are you really Angulimala, lord?
Yes, great king.
What is your father’s clan? What is your mother’s clan?
My father is a Gagga, great king, and my mother a Mantani.
Then may Master Gagga Mantaniputta delight in staying here. I will be responsible for your robes, almsfood, lodgings, & medicinal requisites for curing illness.
Ven. Angulimala was a wilderness-dweller, an alms-goer, wearing one set of the triple robe made of cast-off cloth. So he said to King Pasenadi Kosala:
Enough, great king. My triple robe is complete.
So King Pasenadi Kosala went to the Buddha and on arrival, having bowed down, sat to one side.
As he was sitting there he said to the Buddha:
It’s amazing how you have tamed the untamed, pacified the unpeaceful, and brought to Unbinding those who were not unbound.
For what we could not tame even with blunt or bladed weapons, the Buddha has tamed without blunt or bladed weapons. Now, lord, we must go. Many are our duties, many our responsibilities.
Then do, great king, what you think it is now time to do.
Then King Pasenadi Kosala got up from his seat, bowed down to the Buddha and — keeping him to his right — departed.