Naṅgalakula Thera
An Arahant. He was originally a very poor man. A monk of Jetavana, seeing him clad in a loin cloth, carrying a plough on his shoulder, suggested to him that he should become a monk. He was ordained, and, at his teacher’s suggestion, hung his loin cloth and plough on a tree near the monastery. He was called Naṅgalakula (ploughman) on account of his former calling. Whenever he felt discontented with monastic life, he would go to the tree and blame himself for his shamelessness in harbouring thoughts of returning to his former life. On being asked where he went, he would say “to my teacher.” One day he became an Arahant, and when asked why he no longer went to his teacher, he answered that the need was no more. This was reported to the Buddha, who praised the monk for his self-