There is this beautiful inspirational saying in Christianity that goes, "Ever saint has a past, every sinner a future." 😇👹
Angulimala Discourse (MN 86)
Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Buddha was living in Sāvatthi at Jeta’s Grove in the millionaire’s park.
On that occasion there was a serial killer in the King Pasenadi's kingdom of Kosala by the name of Aṅgulimāla (“Finger-garland”). He was a murderer, bloodyhanded, given to beatings and violence, without mercy for living beings.
Villages, towns, and whole districts were being laid waste by him. He was constantly murdering people, and he wore their fingers (aṅguli) like a garland string (māla) [as a gruesome trophy].
Then, when it was morning, the Blessed One dressed and, taking his bowl and outer robe, went into Sāvatthi for alms. When he had wandered for alms and had returned after his meal, he set his resting place in order. Then taking his bowl and robe, he set out on foot to Aṅgulimāla's location.
Cowherds, shepherds, and ploughmen passing by saw the Buddha taking the road to Aṅgulimāla. Seeing him, they shouted, “Do not take that road, wandering ascetic!
"On that road is the serial killer Aṅgulimāla, who's a murderer, bloodyhanded, given to beatings and violence, without mercy for living beings.
"Villages and towns and districts are being laid waste by him. He is constantly murdering people, and he wears their fingers as a garland. Men have come along this road in groups of 10, 20, 30 and, even 40 from time to time, but they have all fallen into Aṅgulimāla’s bloody hands!”
When this was said, the Blessed One continued on in silence.
MoreIs this mass murderer a historical figure?
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| Making an act of truth to a pregnant woman |
The story of Aṅgulimāla is most well known in the
Theravāda Buddhist tradition [5]. Two texts in
the early sutras of the Pāli language canon are concerned with Aṅgulimāla's initial encounter with the Buddha and his conversion to nonviolence (
ahimsa), which are believed to present the oldest version of the story [6, 7, Note 1].
The first is the
Psalms of the Brethren (
Theragāthā), probably the oldest of the two,[5] and the second is the
Aṅgulimāla Sutta in the Middle Length Discourses (
Majjhima Nikāya) [9]. Both offer a short description of Aṅgulimāla's encounter with the Buddha without mentioning much of the background information, which of course is the work of Indian commentaries to provide).
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| Returning to monastery bleeding from attack |
Later details were incorporated into the story, such as Aṅgulimāla being placed under an oath by a jealous teacher [10, 5].
Apart from the Pāli texts, Tibetan and Chinese texts that originate in Sanskrit also describe the life of Aṅgulimāla [10, 7].
A text translated in Chinese from the Sanskrit
Ekottara Agāma by the
Mahā-Saṃghika school is also known. Furthermore, three other Chinese texts dealing with Aṅgulimāla have also been found, of unknown origin but different from the first three Chinese texts [13].
Apart from these early texts, there are also later renderings that appear in the commentary to the Middle Length Discourses attributed to Buddhaghosa (5th century CE) and the commentary to the
Theragāthā attributed to
Dhammapāla (6th century CE) [10].
The two commentaries do not appear to be independent of one another: It appears that Dhammapāla copied or closely paraphrased
Buddhaghosa, adding explanation to some of the inconsistencies [6, 7], which is of course the job of the sub-commentaries.
The earliest accounts of Aṅgulimāla's life emphasize his fearless violence and, by contrast, the peacefulness of the Buddha.
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