About Nandamṅtar Nandamṅtar Sutta (AN 7:50)
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('â', Itâs time, venerable sirs. The meal is ready at Lady Nandamṅtarâs home.â" Responding, "As you say, lady," to Nandamṅtar, the man went to the monastery and announced the time to the Saṃgha of monks, "Itâs time, venerable sirs. The meal is ready at Lady Nandamṅtarâs home." Then early in the morning, having adjusted their under robes and carrying their robes & bowls, the Saṃgha of monks headed by Sṅriputta & Moggallṅna went to Nandamṅtarâs home. On arrival, they sat down on seats laid out. Nandamṅtar, with her own hands, served & satisfied the Saṃgha of monks headed by Sṅriputta & Moggallṅna with exquisite staple & non-staple food. Then, when Ven. Sṅriputta had finished his meal and had rinsed his bowl & hands, Nandamṅtar, taking a low seat, sat to one side. As she was sitting there, Ven. Sṅriputta said to her, "Nandamṅtar, who informed you of the arrival of the Saṃgha of monks?" "Just now, venerable sir, after having risen as night approached dawn and having chanted the Pṅrṅyana, I fell silent. Then the great king Vessavaṃṃa, knowing that my chant was ended, applauded me: ),
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('â', Excellent, sister! Excellent!â "),
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('â', But whoâs there, O One of the Auspicious Face?â "),
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('â', Iâm your brother, sister: the great king Vessavaṃṃa.â "),
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('â', Excellent, O One of the Auspicious Face! Excellent! Then let this Dhamma sequence that Iâve chanted be your guest gift.â "),
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('â', Excellent, sister! And let this also be my guest gift. Tomorrow a Saṃgha of monks headed by Sṅriputta & Moggallṅna will be coming to Veḍukaṃṭaka before breakfast. Having served them, dedicate the offering to me. That will also be my guest gift.â So in other words, may the merit of this gift be for the happiness of the great king Vessavaṃṃa." "Itâs amazing, Nandamṅtar! Itâs astounding, that you would converse face to face with the great king Vessavaṃṃa, the young deva of such great power & such great might!" "I donât have only that amazing & astounding quality, venerable sir. I have another amazing & astounding quality. I had an only son: Nanda, dear & appealing. The rulers seized & abducted him on some pretext and had him executed. But when the boy had been arrested or was being arrested, when he had been imprisoned or was being imprisoned, when he had been killed or was being killed, I donât recall any alteration of my mind." "Itâs amazing, Nandamṅtar! Itâs astounding, that you can purify even as little as the arising of a thought."4 "I donât have only that amazing & astounding quality, venerable sir. I have another amazing & astounding quality. When my husband died, he reappeared in the yakkha realm. He appeared to me in his earlier bodily form, but I donât recall, from that cause, any alteration of my mind." "Itâs amazing, Nandamṅtar! Itâs astounding, that you can purify even as little as the arising of a thought." "I donât have only that amazing & astounding quality, venerable sir. I have another amazing & astounding quality. I was given in marriage to my young husband when I was a young girl, but I donât recall ever transgressing against him in mind, much less in body." "Itâs amazing, Nandamṅtar! Itâs astounding, that you can purify even as little as the arising of a thought." "I donât have only that amazing & astounding quality, venerable sir. I have another amazing & astounding quality. Since declaring myself a lay follower, I donât recall ever deliberately overstepping any training rule." "Itâs amazing, Nandamṅtar! Itâs astounding!" "I donât have only that amazing & astounding quality, venerable sir. I have another amazing & astounding quality. To whatever extent I want, quite secluded from sensuality, secluded from unskillful qualities, I enter & remain in the first jhṅna: rapture & pleasure born of seclusion, accompanied by directed thought & evaluation. With the stilling of directed thoughts & evaluations, I enter & remain in the second jhṅna: rapture & pleasure born of concentration, unification of awareness free from directed thought & evaluation—internal assurance. With the fading of rapture, I remain equanimous, mindful, & alert, and sense pleasure with the body. I enter & remain in the third jhṅna, of which the noble ones declare, ),
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('â', Equanimous & mindful, one has a pleasant abiding.â With the abandoning of pleasure & pain—as with the earlier disappearance of joy & distress—I enter & remain in the fourth jhṅna: purity of equanimity & mindfulness, neither pleasure nor pain." "Itâs amazing, Nandamṅtar! Itâs astounding!" "I donât have only that amazing & astounding quality, venerable sir. I have another amazing & astounding quality. Of the five lower fetters taught by the Blessed One,5 I donât see in myself any that are unabandoned." "Itâs amazing, Nandamṅtar! Itâs astounding!" Then Ven. Sṅriputta—having instructed, urged, roused, & encouraged the female lay follower Nandamṅtar with a talk on Dhamma—got up from his seat & left. Notes 1. Cited at AN 4:176 as one of the Buddhaâs models for an ideal female lay follower. 2. The fifth chapter of the Sutta Nipṅta. 3. Also known as Kuvera, one of the Four Great Kings, ruling over yakkhas and associated with the northerly direction. 4. "Even as little as the arising of a thought," reading cittuppṅda-mattampi with the Thai edition. The Sri Lankan and Burmese editions read, cittuppṅdampi, "the arising of a thought." 5. "Self-identification views, uncertainty, grasping at habits & practices, sensual desire, & ill will. These are the five lower fetters." — AN 10:13 The fact that Nandamṅtṅr has abandoned these five fetters means that she is a non-returner. See also: SN 41:7; SN 41:10; AN 6:37; AN 8:23 - --> - - - -