དགའ་བ་རབ་ཏ་བྱང་བའ་མད intro.10

intro.10

Details of the difficulties Nanda subsequently experienced at the start of his life as a monk are related in several other canonical texts. They are found, for example, in a sutta in the Pali Canon entitled The Nanda Sutta (Udāna 3.2)⁷ as well as in The Finer Points of the Monastic Discipline (Vinayakṣudrakavastu, Toh 6)⁸ and The Teaching to Nanda on Entry into the Womb (Nanda­garbhāvakrānti­nirdeśa, Toh 57).⁹ According to the version of the story found in the latter, although Nanda became a monk, he could not focus on the spiritual path because he missed his wife. Recognizing this, the Buddha took Nanda to the Heaven of the Thirty-Three (Skt. Trāyastriṃśa, Tib. sum cu rtsa gsum). On their way, Nanda saw a blind female monkey clinging to a tree. The Buddha asked him how the physical appearance of his wife compared to that of the monkey, to which Nanda replied that the physical appearance of the monkey could not compare in any way to the beauty of his wife. Finally, when they reached the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, Nanda saw beautiful celestial nymphs there. When the Buddha asked whether he considered his wife or the nymphs more beautiful, Nanda confessed that the physical appearance of his wife could not compare in any way to the beauty of the nymphs. The Buddha promised Nanda that he would meet the nymphs if he did not disrobe. Thereupon, Nanda endeavored with great intent, but nevertheless the monks scorned him for his attachment to sensual desire. Recognizing his attachment to sensual desire, the Buddha took Nanda to the hells, where Nanda saw for himself what awaited him after his sojourn in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three to sport with the nymphs. In the end, Nanda would recognize the true nature of desire and become an arhat.