Today, speaking about “The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra”, we talk about Nanda.

This Nanda, his Sanskrit name is Sundarananda. Sundara was the Sanskrit name of his wife, which means “beautiful.”

The explanation here [in Master Leguo’s text] states that he was the Buddha’s younger brother, the younger brother of Shakyamuni Buddha. 

I believe that while it says he was the Buddha’s younger brother, he was likely a half-brother, same father but different mother. Shakyamuni Buddha’s mother ascended to heaven soon after giving birth to him, thus it was impossible for her to have given birth to another brother before her ascension.

This brother of his also possessed the thirty major marks of a Buddha, these so-called thirty major marks mean he was very dignified. This brother looked also very dignified, possessing thirty auspicious features. Because he had these thirty major marks, very perfect, thus he was known as “Foremost in Appearance.”

I remember reading about Nanda in the scriptures. He was also a monk, but he did have a wife. I recall it was on the wedding day, Shakyamuni Buddha ran to the palace and lured his brother out to become a monk. So he was a bit wiser than Shakyamuni Buddha, he didn’t even have a wedding night before becoming a monk. 

Shakyamuni Buddha was very persuasive. The moment he went in he said, “Hey! Don’t get married, come with me and become a monk.” 

He immediately agreed and left to ordain. 

Actually, as far as I know, at that time, the Buddha’s brother also faced difficulties with women because he was quite good looking, Foremost in Appearance, and had many female suitors. But Shakyamuni Buddha was very clever. 

He first took his brother to heaven to see the celestial maidens. When he saw these celestial maidens, he exclaimed, “Oh my! They are all celestial beauties!” 

Afterwards Shakyamuni Buddha then went to the palace to find his brother to become a monk. When his brother saw his wife, oh my! She was like garbage. 

So next time if there are similar disciples, we should bring them up to heaven first to see celestial maidens, then back to earth to see that all the beautiful women have turned into garbage.

This is the reason why this disciple would become a monk with Shakyamuni Buddha on his wedding day. This is what I found out while researching.

Om mani padme hum.