Ahimsaka was a good student, and the other students were jealous of him. They started telling false tales to the teacher about him. The teacher believed them, and told Ahimsaka, “You must bring me a thousand people’s fingers as payment for your lessons.” Ahimsaka was upset, but did as his teacher asked. He cut off the fingers of each person he killed, and wore them in a garland around his neck. Soon, he became a ferocious murderer, known as Angulimala (finger necklace). When he had collected 999 fingers, he saw the Buddha walking slowly in the forest. He ran towards him, but however hard he tried, he could not catch up with the Buddha. Finally, he cried, “Stop!” The Buddha said, “You should stop killing.” Angulimala was so struck by the Buddha’s words, that he became a disciple and started leading a pure life from that day on.
Moral: Violence is never the right path.
