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naughty by nature. The senior monk hereafter bore a grudge against Nāgadatta who in fact was still a boy and the Devatā decided to keep close to the boy monk and cautioned him whenever necessary lest the monks might do harm to him.
Once, the boy monk went out on his usual begging rounds, on his return did his confessions and called on the monk who was on his four-months fast. The monk spat in a vessel; the boy said how sorry he was that he did not offer him a spittoon. He then removed the spittle by his hand and threw it in the spittoon. The other three monks also treated Nāgadatta the same way. In the meantime the senior monk who pretended to be needing support caught the boy forcibly by his arm but the boy did not panic.
The time came for his karmas to bear auspicious fruit. Whatever obstructions had prevented the fruit had now disappeared and the veil over true knowledge had been removed. Kevalajñāna made itself manifest to him. The Devată appeared before all of them and asked the four monks who were angry with her, whether they really deserved to be saluted, they were so quick to be angry. The monks repented and begged for freedom from sins. They also eventually gained kevala-jñāna.
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