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"Is your wife more beautiful than this"?
"1
- "Sure, of course !
Thereafter, the Buddha took him to the Trayastrimsa heaven. The Indra along with him nymphs bowed before him. Pointing to the nymphs, the Buddha said,
"If your Janapada-Kalyani Nanda more beautiful than these"?
"No, sir, to these, Janapada-Kalyani stands in the same position as the lame monkey does to her".
The Buddha said,
"Then why are you so much excited for her? Observe the rules of monkhood, and you will acquire nymphs like these (25)".
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Nanda was refixed in the monastic order. His motive for a material gain was, however, completely erased only after he was ridiculed by 80 monks including Sariputta who said that Nanda had become a monk in order to win the nymphs. In this manner, Nanda was freed from desires and he became an arhat (26).
The facts over which Meghakumara and Nanda became perturbed were somewhat different, but the course of events for both bears a lot of resemblance. Mahavira refixed Meghakumara by showing him the scene of tenacity and perseverance which he possessed in his previous life, whereas the Buddha reclaimed Nanda by pointing to the joy he will be entitled to by leading the life of a monk. Deserving of special note is that like Meghakumara who was an elephant in his previous birth,' we have it on the authority of the Jatakas that Nanda was also an elephant in his previous birth (27).
11. Salibhadra - Salibhadra of Rajagṛha, whose treasures had been a cause of wonder of King Bimbisara, became an excellent monk in his life. He regularly practised fasts for one, two or even three months at a time. Once Mahavira came to Rajagṛha in the company of a large number of monks. Salibhadra was in the group. On the day they
