Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v1.c8.179

v1.c8.179

The story was told in reference to a backsliding monk. He went about for alms with his teachers and instructors but, being their junior, he received very little attention. Dissatisfied with his food and treatment, he sought his wife of former days. She provided him with every comfort and gradually tempted him with the desire to become a householder again. When the monk’s fellow-celibates discovered his wish, they took him to the Buddha who preached to him this Jātaka, showing that in a past life, too, he had been sorely tempted by the same woman. Nārada was identified with the backsliding monk and the courtesan with the wife of his lay-days.¹