SUBJUGATING NANDOPANANDA

The story of Nandopananda, the king of the nagas, is a well-known tale in Buddhist literature. It tells of how the powerful dragon king was humbled by the Buddha’s top disciple, Moggallana, and taught the path to enlightenment.

King Nandopananda, ruler of the nagas – mythical half-human snake-like dragons with cobra hoods – lived high up on top of Mount Meru in a beautiful palace. Though he lived like a god, he was plagued by anger.

One day, as dancing female dragons entertained King Naga, the Buddha and his monks flew up into the sky on their way to Tavatimsa heaven. They passed over King Naga’s head, King Naga’s anger grew. He thought the monks were disrespecting him, and decided to teach them a lesson. He coiled his body around Mount Meru, and opened his hood to block out the light, making the heavens invisible.

The monks could not see where they were going, and they asked the Buddha to do something, to let them tame the dragon king. But the Buddha said refused because King Naga was very powerful. The Buddha believed that attempting to tame King Naga would be too dangerous or futile and King Naga needed to learn the lessons of enlightenment through his own actions rather than being forced to change.

Finally, the top disciple Moggallana got the Buddha’s permission to subdue the dragon. Moggallana could enter a powerful high-level trance very quickly, and he transformed himself into a dragon even bigger than King Naga. He coiled himself around King Naga and crushed him. King Naga tried to defend himself by blowing smoke in Moggallana’s face, but it was no use. 

When the dragon king had been humbled by Moggallana’s powers, the disciple brought him to kneel before the Buddha, who instructed him on the path to enlightenment.