Thus have I heard. At one time the Buddha was staying, together with a large number of bhikṣus, viz. five hundred persons altogether, in Rājagṛha, at Karaṇḍa’s Bamboo Grove.

At that time, King Ajātaśatru had an elephant named Nālāgiri that was extremely wicked and violent, impetuous and strong, but also capable of calming down immediately after having become enraged. Due to the strength of this elephant, Magadha was the only country that did not suffer the humiliation of a defeat.

Now Devadatta approached King Ajātaśatru in whose presence he said: ‘I should like to bring to His Majesty’s notice that these days that wicked elephant is capable, however, of calming down immediately after having become enraged. It would be advisable to give that animal strong wine to drink so as to get it drunk. In the quiet of dawn the śramaṇa Gautama will surely enter the city to beg for alms-food. At that time this intoxicated elephant should be released in order to let it trample the śramaṇa to death.’

No sooner had King Ajātaśatru heard what Devadatta had to say than he issued the order in the country that on the following morning at dawn, since an intoxicated elephant had to be released, the public were prohibited from being on the move in the streets. Devadatta further said to King Ajātaśatru: ‘Should the śramaṇa Gautama be omniscient, he ought to foresee what is going to happen, and tomorrow he would certainly not enter the city to beg for alms-food.’

‘Just according to your Reverence’s bidding,’ said King Ajātaśatru, ‘should he be an omniscient one, tomorrow at dawn he will not enter the city to beg for alms-food.’

When the faithful laymen and laywomen of Rājagṛha, the Buddha’s major and minor devotees, heard that King Ajātaśatru had ordered an intoxicated elephant to be released at dawn to attack the Tathāgata, everybody was extremely sad and concerned. They went to the Exalted One’s whereabouts, bowed down their heads at his feet and, standing at one side, entreated him: ‘We beseech the Exalted One not to enter the city tomorrow at dawn because King Ajātaśatru has just issued the order prohibiting the citizens from all walks of life tomorrow from being on the move in the streets. The king has said: “We desire an intoxicated elephant to be released in order to harm the śramaṇa Gautama. Should the śramaṇa be omniscient, tomorrow at dawn he will not … beg for alms-food.” If only the Exalted One would not enter the city. Were the Tathāgata to be attacked and lethally wounded, mankind would lose its “Eye”, it would be bereft of its refuge (paritrāṇa).’

In response, the Exalted One said: ‘Please calm down, devotees. Do not worry, do not be sad. Since the Tathāgata’s body is not reckoned an ordinary body, it is not subject to other people’s violence; and not only that, O devotees. One should know that Jambudvīpa, from the east to the west, is seven thousand yojanas in width, and from the south to the north twenty-one thousand yojanas in length. Aparagodānīya, being shaped like a half moon, is eight thousand yojanas in length. Pūrvavideha is a continent that has the shape of a square and is nine thousand yojanas in length. Uttarakuru, ten thousand yojanas in length, is a round continent resembling the full moon. If these four continents were teeming with intoxicated elephants—as numerous as grains of rice in rice fields or jute from thickets of tropical plants—this would not even cause horripilation (romaharṣaṇa) with the Tathāgata, let alone fear of violence against him. But not only that. Leave the four continents out of account. Likewise, there are a thousand continents, a thousand suns and moons, a thousand Mount Sumerus, a thousand fourfold oceans, a thousand Jambudvīpas, Aparagodānīyas, Pūrvavidehas and Uttarakus, a thousand heavens inhabited by the retinues of the four world-guardians (cāturmahārājika), a thousand heavens of the Trāyastriṁśa gods, of the Tuṣita gods, Yāma gods, Nirmāṇarati gods and of the Paranirmitavaśavartin gods. Finally, there is the so-called world-system (lokadhātu) consisting of a thousand worlds, then that of two thousand worlds, the world-system called Sāhasra-madhyama-lokadhātu, the world-system consisting of three thousand worlds and, lastly, the world-system called Trisāhasra-mahāsāhasra-lokadhātu. Even if this whole universe were teeming with royal elephants like Airāvaṇa, this would not indeed cause horripilation with the Tathāgata, let alone fear of those elephants’ inclination to harm the Tathāgata. But not only that. As the Tathāgata’s supernormal powers (ṛddhi) are inconceivable (acintya), the Tathāgata’s appearance in the world does not come to an end because of any violence or harm caused to him by anybody. All of you please return home. It behoves the Tathāgata to know by himself when to go the way of all flesh (parināma).’

Then, at length, the Exalted One taught the subtle Teaching to the four assemblies (parisā, parṣad). After listening to the instructions, all upāsakas and upāsikās rose, bowed down their heads at the Exalted One’s feet and went back home.

The next morning in the quiet of dawn, the Exalted One put on his outer robes and took up his alms-bowl. When he was about to enter Rājagṛha to beg for alms-food, the world-guardian Dhṛtarāṣṭra, heading his retinue of gandharvas, came from the east to accompany the Exalted One. At the same time, the world-guardian Virūḍhaka, heading his kumbhāṇḍas, came from the south to accompany the Exalted One. The world-guardian of the west, Virūpākṣa, heading his retinue of nāgas, also came to accompany the Exalted One, and likewise the world-guardian of the north, Kubera (Vaiśravaṇa), heading many demons (rākṣasa) and ogres (piśāca). Simultaneously, Śakra, the chief of gods, leading ten million devas, disappeared from the Trāyastriṁśa heaven and went to the Exalted One’s whereabouts. So also did Brahmā, leading ten million brahmakāyika gods, after leaving the celestial palaces. Śakra, Brahmā, the four world-guardians, all inhabitants of the twenty-eight heavens and the terrifying ogre-kings—all of them said to each other: ‘Today we must see two supernormal beings, the Nāga and the elephant, who are going to compete with each other. Which will win, which will lose?’

When the four assemblies of Rājagṛha saw the Exalted One some distance away enter the city to beg for alms-food and being followed by many bhikṣus, they and all other citizens raised their voices and shouted their concern.

On hearing the shouting, King Ajātaśatru asked the attendants to his left and right: ‘What is all this penetrating din about?’

‘That is the Tathāgata entering the city to beg for alms-food,’ replied his attendants. ‘Seeing him, the people are making this noise.’

‘The śramaṇa Gautama,’ said Ajātaśatru, ‘is not a man of the Noble Path (āryamārga), for he does not know that people’s minds prove fickle.’ At once King Ajātaśatru gave his chief mahout the following order: ‘Quickly see to it that the elephant drinks strong wine and fasten a sharp, double-edged sword to its trunk; then let it loose.’

After reaching the city gate, while the Exalted One, followed by many bhikṣus, was just stepping into the gate, there occurred a big earthquake felt all over the world, and so many celestial beings together with the foremost gods were hovering in the air, scattering many kinds of flowers. When the bhikṣus, five hundred in number, saw the intoxicated elephant rush toward them, each of them took to his heels without really knowing where to run. On seeing the Tathāgata some distance away, that violent elephant hastened in his direction.

Standing close by the Exalted One and seeing the intoxicated elephant head towards them, Ānanda was so scared out of his wits that he stepped behind the Tathāgata. ‘That elephant,’ he warned the Exalted One, ‘is wicked and violent, impetuous and given to creating havoc. It must by all means be avoided.’

‘Do not be afraid, Ānanda,’ said the Exalted One, ‘I am going to tame that elephant through the Tathāgata’s supernormal power.’ At a distance neither too short nor too long, the Tathāgata fixed his eyes on the violent elephant and magically created to the elephant’s left and right majestic lions, and behind it a gigantic sea of fire. When the violent elephant saw those majestic lions to its left and right and the sea of fire, it could not help urinating and defecating and, all of a sudden, it stood still. Then, while it stepped forward, moving closer to the Tathāgata, the Exalted One uttered the following verses:

‘Do not hurt the Nāga, for it is extremely
Difficult to meet a Nāga who rarely appears in the world.
By refraining from hurting the Nāga
A good form of rebirth will be obtained.

After hearing these verses uttered by the Exalted One, the violent elephant itself undid the double-edged sword fastened to its trunk, just as though it was burnt by it being like fire. It knelt down in front of the Tathāgata, took with its trunk the dust off the Tathāgata’s feet and caressed them. The Exalted One stretched out his right arm and stroked the elephants’ forehead with his hand, addressing it with these verses:

‘Anger and hatred will bring about one’s hell
And also the shape of a snake-like creature.
Therefore one should give up hatred lest
One should end up in such a body like that of a snake.

Now so many celestial beings together with the foremost gods, hovering in the air, showered several hundred thousand kinds of flowers upon the Tathāgata who then set forth the subtle Teaching for the sake of the four assemblies, of those hosts of gods, nāgas and ogres. On seeing the elephant having become tame, to more than sixty thousand men and women and to eighty thousand gods the immaculate Dhamma-eye opened, ridding them of all impurities. At that time, in the intoxicated elephant’s body there arose winds cutting like a knife which brought about its death; it was reborn in the palace of the four world-guardians.

Having heard the Exalted One’s words, the bhikṣus, the bhikṣuṇīs, all upāsakas and upāsikās, gods, nāgas, and ogres were pleased and applied themselves to practice.