Angulimala’s Verses

Apparently Angulimala survived this attack. The manner of his death is not recorded. It is said that he spent the rest of his life as a hermit living in the wilderness apart from others except for the rainy season retreats and daily almsrounds. The verses that are attributed to him in the Theragatha (some of which are also in the Dhammapada) express the peace and joy of his new life:

Who once did live in negligence

And then is negligent no more,

He illuminates the world

Like the moon freed from a cloud

Who checks the evil deeds he did

By doing wholesome deeds instead

He illuminates the world

Like the moon freed from a cloud.

The youthful monk who devotes

His efforts to the Buddha’s Teaching

He illuminates the world

Like the moon freed from a cloud.

Let my enemies but hear the discourse on the Dharma,

Let them be devoted to the Buddha’s Teaching,

Let my enemies wait on those good people

Who lead others to accept the Dharma.

Let my enemies give ear from time to time

And hear the Doctrine as told by men who preach forbearance

Of those who speak as well in praise of kindness,

And let them follow up that Dharma with kind deeds.

For surely then they would not wish to harm me,

Nor would they think of harming other beings,

So those who would protect all beings, frail or strong,

Let them attain the all-surpassing peace.

Conduit-makers guide the water,

Fletchers straighten out the arrow,

Carpenters straighten out the timber,

But wise men seek to tame themselves.

There are some that tame with beatings,

Some with goads and some with whips;

But I was tamed by such alone

Who has no rod nor any weapon.

“Harmless” is the name I bear

Who was dangerous in the past,

The name I bear today is true:

I hurt no living being at all.

And though I once lived as a bandit

With the name of “Finger-garland,”

One whom the great flood swept along,

I went for refuge to the Buddha.

And though I once was bloody-handed

With the name of “Finger-garland,”

See the refuge I have found:

The bond of being has been cut.

While I did many deeds that lead

To rebirth in the evil realms,

Yet their result has reached me now;

And so I eat free from debt.*

They are fools and have no sense

Who give themselves to negligence;

But those of wisdom guard diligence

And treat it as their greatest good.

Do not give way to negligence

Nor seek delight in sensual pleasures,

But meditate with diligence

So as to reach the perfect bliss.

So welcome to that choice of mine

And let it stand, it was not ill made;

Of all the Dharmas known to men,

I have come to the very best.

So welcome to that choice of mine

And let it stand, it was not ill made;

I have attained the triple knowledge**

And done all that the Buddha teaches.

I stayed in forests, at the root of a tree,

I dwelt in the mountain caves –

But no matter where I went

I always had an agitated heart.

But now I rest and rise in happiness

And happily I spend my life.

For now I am free of Mara’s snares – ***

Oh! for the pity shown me by the Master!

A brahmin was I by descent,

On both sides high and purely born.

Today I am the Master’s son,

My teacher is the Dharma-king.

Free of craving, without grasping,

With guarded senses, well restrained,

Spewn forth have I the root of misery,

The end of all taints have I attained.

The Master has been served by me full well,

And all the Buddha’s bidding has been done.

The heavy load was finally laid down;

What leads to new becoming is cut off.

(Great Disciples of the Buddha, pp. 330-333)

* “free from debt” – Monastics who had not yet attained enlightenment were said to have been accepting offerings as a kind of advance or loan until they did so. After attaining enlightenment, they were considered arhats which means “worthy ones” and therefore worthy to receive the offerings. There is also the sense in this verse that Angulimala is expiating at least some of the karmic debt for his past murderous deeds by patiently undergoing the attacks of the angry mobs.

** “triple knowledge” – originally referred to the learned brahmin’s knowledge of the three Vedas or revealed scriptures of Brahmanism. In Buddhism, the term was used to indicate 1) the knowledge of one’s own past lives, 2) the knowledge of the past, present, and future lives of other sentient beings caught in the rounds of birth and death, and 3) the knowledge of the complete eradication of the defilements within oneself. The Buddha and the arhats were those who realized the “triple knowledge” in attaining enlightenment.

*** “Mara” is the deity of the sixth heaven who presides over the world of desire, and in general works to keep sentient beings bound to the wheel of becoming. He functions as a kind of devil who uses various forms of temptation or intimidation to keep people from attaining buddhahood.