Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v1.c7.255

v1.c7.255

Once, when acting on the instructions of Devadatta, the royal mahouts let loose Nāḷagiri, maddened with drink, on the Buddha’s path, so that he might trample the Buddha to death, Ānanda, seeing the animal rushing towards them, immediately took his stand in front of the Buddha. Three times the Buddha forbade him to do so, but Ānanda, usually most obedient, refused to move, and it is said that the Buddha, by his *iddhi*-power, made the earth roll back in order to get Ānanda out of the elephant’s path.¹¹ Sometimes, the extreme zealousness of Ānanda drew on him the Buddha’s rebuke—e.g., when he prepared *tekaṭuka* gruel (gruel with three kinds of pungent substances) for the Buddha when he was suffering from wind in the stomach. The gruel was prepared from food kept indoors and was cooked by Ānanda himself, indoors; this was against the rules, but Ānanda knew that the gruel would cure the Buddha.¹²