With these words, <j>the bandit hurled his sword and weapons down a cliff into an abyss. He venerated the Holy One’s feet, and requested the going forth right away. Then the Buddha, the compassionate great seer, the Teacher of the world with its gods, said to him, “Come, monk!” And with that he became a monk.

Then the Buddha set out for Sāvatthī with Venerable Aṅgulimāla as his second monk. Traveling stage by stage, he arrived at Sāvatthī, where he stayed in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery.

Now at that time a crowd had gathered by the gate of King Pasenadi’s royal compound making a colossal racket, “In your realm, Your Majesty, there is a bandit named Aṅgulimāla. He is violent, bloody-handed, a hardened killer, merciless to living beings. He has laid waste to villages, towns, and countries. He is constantly murdering humans, and he wears their fingers as a necklace. Your Majesty must put a stop to him!”