(Part
One) 24. The Story of Prince Nanda
On
the third day after the Buddha's return to Kapilavatthu
he was invited to the wedding of Prince Nanda, his
youngest stepbrother, and his new bride, Princess
Janapada Kalyani. The Buddha attended the wedding
and celebrations, blessed them all, left his begging
bowl with Nanda and went away.
Nanda
thought, "I will go to the temple and return
the bowl." While he was there, Nanda and the
Buddha talked for a while before the Buddha said,
"Nanda, would you like to be a monk?"
"Yes,
Sir," said Nanda, and the Buddha ordained him.
Afterwards
Nanda, thinking of his beautiful bride, became very
sad and unhappy. "Why are you so sad, Nanda?"
asked the monks.
"Brothers,
I am disappointed. I do not like this life. I want
to leave it and go home."
The
Buddha then came to talk to Nanda. First the Buddha
showed him a she-monkey whose nose and tail were burnt
and fur singed and bloodied. "Do you see this
monkey, Nanda? Then take good note of her," said
the Buddha.
Then the Buddha showed Nanda 500 celestial nymphs.
"Nanda, do you see these nymphs?"
"Yes,"
answered Nanda."Who is prettier? The nymphs or
Janapada Kalyani?"
"Sir, as my bride is
prettier than the burnt monkey, so are the nymphs
compared to Janapada Kalyani."
"Well,
Nanda, what then?"
"Reverend
Sir, how does one obtain the celestial beings?"
"By
performing the duties of a monk.""In that
case I shall take the greatest pleasure in living
the monk's life," said Nanda and he began to follow
the Buddha's teaching very carefully.
