Anguali Maar and Lord Buddha

Long time ago there lived a man in a forest. He used to rob and kill men.  He would cut off people’s fingers of the people to keep a count of the people killed and put them on a string around his neck, so he became known as ‘Anguali Maar' means finger cutter in English.  He was a devotee of goddess and decided to offer a thousand human fingers to his goddess.

The people were very afraid of him. They did not pass through the forest. Once Lord Buddha was traveling with his followers. He planned to go to the next village passing through the forest. The people advised him against it and told him of Anguali Maar. Buddha wasn’t afraid and calmly continued by himself into the jungle where Anguali Maar lived.

 When Anguali Maar saw him coming close, he was amazed as people used to scream and run when they saw him. But, this man was calm and seemed to have no fear. He screamed Hey you, Stop there!” Lord Buddha didn’t stop and seemed to hear him. He got closer and yelled at him to stop again. But, Lord Buddha,  kept on walking. He got right in front of him and yelled again, “STOP!!!” This time Lord Buddha stopped and calmly looked him in the eyes and said, “Okay, I have stopped. Now when will you stop?”

 Anguali Maar didn’t know what to think, so he asked, “Who are you?”. Buddha said, “I know who I am. Do you know who you are?” He was confused and surprised. No one was has been so fearless in front of him.

Buddha told him to go pick a leaf from a tree nearby and bring it back to him. He went and got a leaf. Buddha said, “Now, put the leaf back on the tree right where you got it from.” h said, “That’es not possible! Once I’ve taken the leaf off the tree, I can’t put it back on!”

Then Buddha said, “If you cannot put it back on, then you shouldn’t take it off in the first place. If you cannot give life to someone, then who give the right to take the life in the first's place. ”.

Anguali  Maar understood what Buddha meant. He understood his mistake. He understood that he has no right to take anyone's life if he cannot provide anyone with life". He became a follower of the great saint. From then on he dedicated his life to meditation and humanity . He began giving to the poor and became a spiritual student. Such was the effect of Buddha’s innocence and fearlessness. He inspired a murderer to become a saint.