Angulimaan, the Saint

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Angulimaan, the Saint

Let’s go through his birth story first. At the court of King Pasenadi of Kosala, there was a learned brahman called Bhaggava Gagga who held the office of a Royal Chaplain and was thus one of the kingdom's highest dignitaries. One night his wife, Mantani, gave birth to a son. Soon afterwards, the father cast the boy's horoscope and to his consternation found that his son was born under the "robber-constellation" of the planets. This indicated that the boy would have within him a tendency to commit robbery. One can well imagine what the father must have felt when confronted with that shocking and unexpected revelation. On the day of the child's birth, there was another disquieting event: all weapons and armory in the city of Savatthi had suddenly begun to sparkle.

In the morning, the brahman went to the palace as usual, and asked the king how he had slept. "How could I have slept well?" replied the king. "I woke up in the night and saw that my auspicious weapons lying at the end of my bed were in bright sparkle, so I was afraid and perturbed. Should this mean danger to the kingdom or my life?"

The brahman said: "Do not have any fear, O King! The same strange thing happened in the entire city, and it does not concern you. Last night my wife bore me a son, and unfortunately his horoscope had the robber-constellation. This must have caused the weapons to sparkle."

"Will he be a lone robber or the chief of a gang?" — "He will do it alone, your Majesty. What if we were to kill him now and prevent future misdeeds?"

"As he would be a loner, O Teacher, let him be raised and properly educated. Then, perhaps, he may lose his evil propensities."

To further this aim, the boy was called Ahimsaka, which means "Harmless."

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also read : https://kantipadam.blogspot.com/search?q=nature