A lady who wanted to become a nun could not get permission from her parents, so she waited until marriage and, with the permission, unbeknownst of her pregnancy, became a bhikkhuni under Devadatta. When her pregnancy was clear, Devadatta expelled her, but she went to the Buddha and, proven to be innocent, gave birth to her son Kumāra-Kassapa, who was later raised by the king and when suitable, became a monk, achieving Arahanthood and distinction. The Buddha explained that in a past life, as a golden king of deer Nigrodha together with another king of deer, Sākha (Devadatta-to-be), they were driven into an enclosure, in which the two kings made a system of daily self-sacrifice of a deer to prevent unnecessary injuries and death when the people hunt them. At one point a pregnant deer under Sākha, who asked for exclusion from the lottery, was not approved, so she got permission from Nigrodha who went on the slaughtering block himself. Surprised by Nigrodha’s loyalty to his heard, the king Brahmadatta (ven. Ānanda-to-be) gave mercy to all the deers, four-legged animals, other animals, birds, and even fish. The people, prohibited to kill deer, but facing their plundering of crops, listened to the Nigrodha’s instruction to tie leaves around their fields, which resolved the problem for ever until today.
Thinzar Maung’s drawingYamona’s drawing: The Buddha and Devadatta were born as the leaders of different herds. The king of a nearby kingdom was hunting deer from their herds but spared the leaders lives. The Buddha saved a pregnant doe from Devadatta’s herd from being killed. When the king saw this he spared all animals lives.Kids drawings
