Migalaṇá¸ika
A sham ascetic (samaṇakuttaka). When the Buddha had once been teaching the monks in MahÄvana in VesÄli regarding the defilement and filth of the body, and had retired into solitude, many of the monks, in disgust with their bodies, put an end to their lives. Some of them sought out Migalandika and asked him to cut off their heads. This he did with a sword, but on his way to the River VaggamudÄ, to wash his sword, he was seized with remorse. A MÄrakÄyika devatÄ, however, appeared before him in the river and assured him he was doing a service to the monks by helping them to commit suicide. This encouraged him, and he put to death many more monks, until the Buddha, discovering the facts, intervened. v.l. Migaladdhika. Vin.iii.68ff.; Sp.ii.399ff.
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