16. BHADDA-VAGGIYA BROTHERS WENT SEARCHING FOR A WOMAN, AND WERE CONVERTED BY THE BUDDHA


The Buddha went back from Benares to Uruvel-a, and on his way he entered a grove and sat under a tree. At that time, thirty Bhadda-vaggiya brothers, who were born of the same father as King Pasenadi of Kosala, were sporting with their wives in that grove. One of them had no wife and they had brought a courtesan for him, but while they were not noticing she had taken their bag of valuables and fled. Tfiey came seeking her, and when they came near the Blessed One they inquired, "Did you not see a woman ?" "What do you think, young men," Buddha replied, "which is better for you, to go in search of a woman or to go in search of yourselves?" The brothers admitted, "It is better to go in search of oneselr'. Buddha then told them to sit down and preaching to them the evils of sensual indulgence, converted and ordained them as monks of the Holy Order.