41
At that time the robber Angulimâla [real name Ahimsaka; his nickname means "he who wears a necklace of fingers" as he would wear the fingers of his victims around his neck] had embraced religious life among the Bhikkhus. When the people saw that, they became alarmed and terrified; they fled away, went elsewhere, turned away their heads, and shut their doors. The people were annoyed, murmured, and became angry: 'How can the Sakyaputtiya Samanas ordain a robber who openly wears the emblems (of his deeds)?'
Some Bhikkhus heard those people that were annoyed, murmured, and had become angry; these Bhikkhus told the thing to the Blessed One.
The Blessed One thus addressed the Bhikkhus: 'Let no robber, O Bhikkhus, who wears the emblems (of his deeds), receive the pabbaggâ ordination. He who confers the pabbaggâ ordination (on such a person), is guilty of a dukkata offence.'
42
1 At that time the Magadha king Seniya Bimbisâra had issued the following decree: 'No one is to do any harm to those who are ordained among the Sakyaputtiya Samanas; well taught is their doctrine; let them lead a holy life for the sake of the complete extinction of suffering.'
Now at that time a certain person who had committed robbery was imprisoned in the jail. He broke out of the jail, ran away, and received the pabbaggâ ordination with the Bhikkhus.
2 The people who saw him, said: 'Here is the robber who has broken out of jail; come, let us bring him (before the authorities).'
But some people replied: 'Do not say so, Sirs. A decree has been issued by the Magadha king Seniya Bimbisâra: 'No one is to do any harm to those who are ordained, &c.'
People were annoyed, murmured, and became angry, thinking: 'Indeed these Sakyaputtiya Samanas are secure from anything; it is not allowed to do any harm to them. How can they ordain a robber who has broken out of jail?'
They told this thing to the Blessed One.
'Let no robber, O Bhikkhus, who has broken out of jail, receive the pabbaggâ ordination. He who confers the pabbaggâ ordination (on such a person), is guilty of a dukkata offence.'
43
At that time a certain person who had committed robbery had run away and had become ordained with the Bhikkhus. At the royal palace a proclamation was written: 'Wherever he is seen, he is to be killed.'
The people who saw him, said: 'Here is the proclaimed robber; come, let us kill him' (&c., as in [1st Khandhaka 42]).
'Let no proclaimed robber, O Bhikkhus, receive the pabbaggâ ordination. He who confers the pabbaggâ ordination (on such a robber), is guilty of a dukkata offence.'
44
At that time a certain person who had been punished by scourging had been ordained with the Bhikkhus. People were annoyed, &c.: 'How can these Sakyaputtiya Samanas ordain a person that has been punished by scourging?'
They told this thing to the Blessed One.
'Let no one, O Bhikkhus, who has been punished by scourging, receive the pabbaggâ ordination. He who confers the pabbaggâ ordination (on such a person), is guilty of dukkata offence.'
45
At that time a certain person who had been punished by branding (&c., as in [1st Khandhaka 44], down to the end).