THE GREAT CHRONICLE OF BUDDHAS
478
MahÈ PajÈpati GotamÊ, gave birth to Prince Nanda two days after (on the third day after)
royal mother, MahÈ MÈyÈ, had given birth to Prince Siddhattha. MahÈ PajÈpati GotamÊ
entrusted her own son to the care of nurses and she, herself, took the responsibility of
nursing and looking after the Bodhisatta (her nephew) by feeding him with her own milk.
Prince Nanda was only two or three days younger and about four finger breadths shorter
than Prince Siddhattha in height.]
On the third day of the arrival of the Buddha in the royal city of Kapilavatthu, King
SuddhodÈna made the five Auspicious Ceremonial rites and rituals to be performed in
honour of Prince Nanda:
(1) Ceremony of the uncoiling of the youthful hair-do to make way for another, befitting
an heir to the throne (
Kesavissajjana Ma~gala
).
(2) Ceremony of placing round the forehead of the Prince a gold frontlet bearing the
inscription Crown Prince (
PaÔÔabandha Ma~gala
),
(3) Ceremony of bestowing residential palace to the Crown Prince. (
Gharappavesana
Ma~gala
)
(4) Ceremony of his marriage to (his cousin) Princess Janapadakalyani. (
ŒvÈha
Ma~gala
)
(5) Ceremony of bestowing and erecting the royal white umbrella of the Crown Prince.
(
ChattussÈpana Ma~gala
).
On that occasion the Buddha went to the royal palace and after preaching a discourse on
the virtues of meritorious deeds, as He wished to get Prince Nanda to be ordained, He
purposely gave His bowl to Nanda and left for the monastery.
Because he had exceedingly great respect for the Buddha, his elder brother, Prince Nanda
dared not say a word about the bowl which was unexpectedly left in his care, though he
had in mind to request: ‚Exalted elder brother, may you take your bowl.‛ He had but to
follow the Buddha up to the top of the stairs, thinking that he would be relieved of the
burden there but the Buddha did not do so.
Holding the bowl, he thus followed the Buddha to the foot of the stairway but He still did
not take back the bowl. He had to follow Him, much against his will, thinking and hoping
the bowl would be taken back and he eventually reached the open space outside the palace.
The Buddha continued on His way without relieving him of the bowl. Prince Nanda,
following unwillingly, wished to turn back, but his extreme respect kept him silent, and
hoping against hope that the bowl would be taken back at one place or another, had to go
along with the Buddha.
At that juncture, female attendants of the Princess Janapadakalyani brought the matter to
her notice, saying: ‚Your Highness, the Buddha has taken away Prince Nanda to keep him
separated from you.‛ (Janapadakalyani was then washing her hair.) She hurried to the door
of the balcony, her hair dripping wet and only half-combed, and made an earnest appeal:
‚Your Highness, may you come back quickly,‛ which weighed heavily in the mind of
Prince Nanda.
The Buddha went on without taking the bowl from Prince Nanda, and on arrival at the
monastery, He asked Nanda: ‚Would you like to receive ordination and become a
bhikkhu
?
Out of fear and respect, he could not express his unwillingness: ‘No, I cannot,’ but had to
give his assent, saying: ‘Very well, Exalted brother, I will receive ordination.’ ‛
‚If that be the case,
bhikkhus
, you should see to it that my younger brother is ordained,‛
said the Buddha and the
bhikkhus
did as they were told
2
.
Initiation of RÈhula to Novicehood
Seven days after this event, the Buddha, accompanied by twenty thousand
arahats
, visited
His Royal father's palace to partake of meal. Queen YasodharÈ had her son, RÈhula, aged
2. Events leading to the Venerable Nanda's attainment of arahatship will be related when we come to
the section on ‚The Jewel of the Sangha.‛