“Then again when I was a matted-hair ascetic of severe penance, Mātaṅga was my name, I was virtuous and serene.

A brahmin and I both lived on a bank of the Ganges. I stayed upstream, the brahmin downstream.

Wandering along the riverbank, he saw my hermitage upstream. Then he abused and cursed me, that my head would split in seven.

If I were upset with him and if I were not taking care of my ethics, then just with a glance I could have reduced him to ashes.

But when he cursed me then, so angry and bitter-hearted, it fell right back on his own head: I freed him from that yoke.

I guarded my ethics, not my life. For then I was ethical, because it was solely for awakening.”

The Conduct Leading to Buddhahood The Chapter on an Elephant The Perfection of Ethics (8th) The Deity Dhamma’s Conduct

“Then again when I was of great retinue and psychic power, a great spirit named Dhamma, I had sympathy for the whole world.