On that occasion the king was in bed with Queen Mallikā. The queen saw Ānanda coming and she quickly got up, but her burnished golden dressing gown fell off. Ānanda turned around right there and returned to the monastery. And he told the monks what had happened. The monks of few desires complained and criticized him, “How could Venerable Ānanda enter the royal compound without first being announced?” … “Is it true, Ānanda, that you did this?” “It’s true, sir.” The Buddha rebuked him … “Ānanda, how could you do this? This will affect people’s confidence …” … Having rebuked him … the Buddha gave a teaching and addressed the monks:

“Monks, there are these ten dangers of entering a royal compound. What ten? It may be that a monk enters where the king is sitting with his queen. The queen smiles when she sees the monk or the monk smiles when he sees the queen. The king thinks, ‘Surely they’ve done it, or they’re going to.’ Again, because the king is very busy, he does not remember having slept with a certain woman, yet she becomes pregnant because of that. The king thinks, ‘Only the monk enters here. Is he responsible for this?’ Again, a gem disappears from the royal compound. The king thinks, ‘Only the monk enters here. Is he responsible for this?’