Sundarananda was named after his wife, Sundari. Sundari means, “good at loving”. Whom did she love? Nanda (Sundarananda). Her name also means “attractive”, because she absolutely stunning; it could be said that she was the most beautiful woman in all of India. Sundarananda was so beguiled by her beauty that he never left her side. It was as if they were magnetized or glued together; walking, standing, sitting, and reclining, they were an inseparable couple.
Shakyamuni Buddha wanted him to leave home. Sundarananda was the Buddha’s younger brother. When the Buddha saw that his causal affinities were mature enough that he could leave home he also knew that Sundarananda couldn’t give up his wife to do it. Thus, the Buddha decided to apply an expedient measure. One day, when Sundarananda and his wife were eating lunch he went to the palace to beg for alms.
When Sundarananda saw his older brother he wanted to offer him some food, but the Buddha said, “Take it to the Jeta Grove.”
“How can I do that?” said Sundarananda. “How can I leave my wife home alone?” He didn’t dare contradict his brother’s orders, so he asked his wife: “The Buddha said I should take the food to the Jeta Grove. Is it all right if I go?”
“Yes, on one condition,” she said. “I am going to spit on the floor; you must return before that spit is dry. Otherwise, you needn’t bother coming in the door, because I won’t let you in.”
“All right,” said Sundarananda, thinking he would easily make it back in time, but when he arrived, the Buddha wouldn’t let him go! He ordered him to shave his head and leave home. Sundarananda spent all day trying to figure out a way to sneak back home to see his wife because he simply couldn’t let her go.
One day all the Bhikshus went out to beg and Shakyamuni Buddha told Sundarananda, “Stay here today and watch the door. You’re not going anywhere today. Sweep the floor and clean the place up. We’re going out to beg, and we’ll bring some food back for you.”
Sundarananda was ecstatic. “Finally! A chance to escape!” he thought. He planned to sweep the floor, wash the windows and run. Strangely enough as soon as he got one end of the hall swept, dirt would collect on the other side. He swept all morning until he was perspiring with exhaustion, but he still couldn’t get the floor clean. As soon as he closed one window, another would blow open and the sweepings would fly around the room; then, when he shut that window, yet another would fly open. He was getting more and more frustrated the later it got. The morning was slipping away; the Buddha would return soon, and he would have missed his chance. Finally, in desperation, he ran.
He knew if he met the Buddha, he would have to return to the Jeta Grove. He also knew that the Buddha always travelled by the main roads, and so he took a side road and who do you think he ran into? The Buddha! He was returning from his alms round. Sundarananda jumped behind a big tree and, as he backed around the tree, the Buddha followed him. He would reverse his direction and the Buddha would do so as well. Finally, they met face to face and the Buddha said, “What are you doing?”
“I waited for you until I couldn’t wait anymore,” said Sundarananda. “I decided to come and escort you back to the Jeta Grove.”
“Good,” said the Buddha “let’s go back.”
Since he had no other choice, he returned with the Buddha and after he had eaten lunch, the Buddha asked him, “Would you like to go out sight-seeing with me today? I’ll take you out to play.”
Sundarananda thought, “I don’t have the heart to go play. I’m only concerned with running home. I really don’t have the spirit, but if the Buddha wants me to go I can’t refuse,” and he forced himself. They went to a mountain where there were a lot of monkeys. The Buddha asked him, “Tell me, which is more beautiful, Sundari or these monkeys?”
“Why of course my wife is more beautiful. How can you compare these ugly monkeys with my wife? What an insult!”
The Buddha said, “You are truly intelligent; you can tell the good from the bad. Now let’s return.”
By now, Sundarananda was obsessed with thoughts of his wife. Several days passed and no opportunity to run away presented itself. The Buddha said to him, “You seem so depressed every day. I can’t imagine what’s on your mind. Let me take you up to the heavens for a look around.”
“I wonder what the heavens are like?” thought Sundarananda. They ascended into the heavens, and there they saw a lovely heavenly palace filled with exquisite heavenly maidens. The Buddha said, “Who do you say is more beautiful, the maidens or Sundari?”
“The heavenly maidens!” said Sundarananda. “Compared to these goddesses, Sundari looks like a monkey! There’s no comparison.” As they went on their way, Sundarananda lagged behind and stole a word with one of them. “Who is your master?” he asked.
“Our master is the Buddha’s little brother, Sundarananda. He has now left home under the Buddha and cultivates the Way. Next life he will be reborn in heaven and we are to be his attendants.”
Delighted at the prospect, Sundarananda resolved to cultivate. Forgetting all about Sundari and thinking only of goddesses, he cultivated to be reborn in the heavens. When he had cultivated for a long time, the Buddha, seeing that he was no longer thinking of Sundari, but only of the maidens, thought: “I think I’ll show him something unusual.”
“Sundarananda, ” he said, “You’ve been to the heavens, but you’ve never seen the hells. Would you like to accompany me there?”
Since the Buddha taught that the hells were most unpleasant, Sundarananda wondered what would be the use of going there, but agreeing to go and take a look, he followed the Buddha there. They saw the hells of the mountains of knives, the hell of sword trees, the hell of boiling oil, the hell of fire-soup–all the hells. In one of the hells, he saw a pot of oil that was barely simmering. Two ghosts who were supposedly tending it, were nodding off, and the fire was on the verge of going out. One of the ghosts in fact was even lying down sound asleep! Two truly lazy ghosts, neglecting the pot for their nap. Sundarananda asked, “Hey, Old Friend, who’s your boss? How can you get away with sleeping on the job?”
The ghost yawned and rubbed his eyes. “What’s that you say?” he replied.
“I said I want to know why you are loafing on the job,” Sundarananda said. “Pots of oil have to boil, you know.”
“What do you know?” asked the ghost. “The person destined to undergo punishment in this pot isn’t due here for a long time.”
“What do you mean?” asked Sundarananda.
“The Buddha’s little brother, Sundarananda, has already left home under the Buddha. He cultivates the blessings of the heavens and in the future will be reborn there. When he has used up his heavenly blessings, the five signs of decay will manifest. He will then fall into the hells to be boiled in this very pot of oil, because he did not cultivate the Way properly. He’s still got several hundred years, however, so why should we busy ourselves boiling the oil now? Our jobs are quite soft; we can sleep all day if we like.”
When he heard this, Sundarananda’s entire body broke out in a cold sweat.
“That pot’s intended for me,” he moaned. “What am I going to do?”
The Buddha took Sundarananda back to the Jeta Grove and spoke to him of the Dharma-door that birth in the heavens is bound up with suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and non-self. He cultivated the Buddhadharma and certified to the fruit of Arhatship. Sundarananda was hopelessly in love with his wife, and yet he fell out of love as soon as he saw women more beautiful than her. Then, because he saw the sufferings in the hells, he decided truly to cultivate the Way, something he never would have done otherwise. The name Nanda also means “bliss”, but this Nanda is different from the one discussed previously. He takes his name from his wife, Sundari, because he was “Sundari’s Nanda”.