37a: Devadatta – 1308
On hearing the sweet words of the Buddha, the wild Nāḷāgiri opened both his
eyes and saw the glorious body of the Buddha. He was shocked, and owing to the
power of the Buddha, he became sober and dropping his trunk and flapping his
ears, he went up to him and crouched at his feet.
Then the Buddha said: “Nāḷāgiri, you are an animal and I am a Buddha. From
now on, do not be vicious, violent and homicidal. Try to cultivate loving-
kindness towards all living beings.” The Buddha stretched his right hand, and
stroking the forehead of the elephant, he spoke the following two verses (Ja 533):
Mā kuñjara nāgam-āsado,
dukkhañ-hi kuñjara nāgam-āsado,
[890]
na hi Nāga-hatassa kuñjara
sugati, hoti ito paraṁ yato.
O, Elephant Nāḷāgiri! Do not approach with murderous intent, with the
desire to kill the Buddha who has never done any evil. To approach the
Buddha with murderous intent is an evil that will lead to suffering. There
is absolutely no possibility of good rebirth in the Deva or human worlds
after the death of anyone who wants to hurt or kill the Buddha.
Mā ca mado mā ca pamādo,
na hi pamattā sugatiṁ vajanti te,
tvañ-ñeva tathā karissasi,
yena tvaṁ Sugatiṁ gamissasi.
O, Elephant Nāḷāgiri! Do not be conceited. Do not be unmindful of the ten
good deeds. Those, who are unmindful of the ten good deeds, do not have
good rebirth in Deva and human worlds. You will have to do such good
deeds as will ensure good rebirth.
The elephant Nāḷāgiri was overwhelmed with ecstasy. If he had not been an
elephant, he would have attained the fruition of Stream-entry on the spot.
On seeing this miracle, the people gave a resounding ovation. They clapped their
hands and joyously threw various ornaments over the elephant as their rewards.
The ornaments covered nearly the whole body of the elephant and from that
time he came to be known as Dhanapāla. At the time when Dhanapāla was
tamed by the Buddha, 84,000 beings had the opportunity to sample the Dhamma,
the elixir of the deathless.