Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v1.c18.124

v1.c18.124

1. **Jambuka Thera.**—He was born in Rājagaha of rich parents but from infancy he would eat nothing but excrement. When he grew older he was ordained with the Ājīvakas, who pulled out his hair with a palmyra comb. When the Ājīvakas discovered that he ate filth, they expelled him and he lived as a naked ascetic, practising all kinds of austerities and accepting no offerings save butter and honey placed on the tip of his tongue with the point of a blade of grass. His fame spread far. When he was fifty-five years old, the Buddha visited him and spent the night in a cave near his abode. During the night, Jambuka saw mighty gods come to pay homage to the Buddha and was so impressed that the next day he sought the Buddha’s counsel. The Buddha told him of his past evil deeds which had condemned him to practise austerities for so long and counselled him to give up his evil ways. In the course of the sermon, Jambuka grew ashamed of his nakedness and the Buddha gave him a bath-robe. At the end of the discourse Jambuka became an arahant, and when the inhabitants of Aṅga and Magadha came to him with their offerings, he performed a miracle before them and paid homage to the Buddha, acknowledging him as his teacher.