[67] 2. Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Sāvatthī, in the Jetavana, Anāthapiṇḍika's Park. Now on that occasion the Venerable Nanda — the Blessed One's brother, the son of his maternal aunt — declared to many bhikkhus: "Friends, without delight I lead the holy life (brahmacariya); I cannot maintain the holy life; I shall renounce the training (sikkhā) and return to the lower life." Then a certain bhikkhu approached the Blessed One; having approached and paid homage to the Blessed One, he sat down to one side. Seated to one side, that bhikkhu said this to the Blessed One: "Venerable sir, the Venerable Nanda, the Blessed One's brother, the son of his maternal aunt, has declared to many bhikkhus: 'Friends, without delight I lead the holy life; I cannot maintain the holy life; I shall renounce the training and return to the lower life.'" Then the Blessed One addressed a certain bhikkhu: "Come, bhikkhu, address the bhikkhu Nanda in my name: 'Friend Nanda, the Teacher (Satthā) calls you.'" "Yes, venerable sir," that bhikkhu replied to the Blessed One, and he approached the Venerable Nanda; having approached, he said this to the Venerable Nanda: "Friend Nanda, the Teacher calls you." "Yes, friend," the Venerable Nanda replied to that bhikkhu, and he approached the Blessed One; having approached and paid homage to the Blessed One, he sat down to one side. As the Venerable Nanda was seated to one side, the Blessed One said this to him: "Is it true, Nanda, as they say, that you declared to many bhikkhus: 'Friends, without delight I … I shall return to the lower life'?" "It is so, venerable sir."
"But why, Nanda, do you lead the holy life without delight? Why can you not maintain the holy life, and why will you renounce the training and return to the lower life?"
"Venerable sir, as I was leaving the house, a Sakyan maiden — the loveliest in the land (janapadakalyāṇī) — with her hair half-combed, looked at me and said this to me: 'May you come back quickly, my lord (ayyaputta)!' Remembering that, venerable sir, without delight I lead the holy life; I cannot maintain the holy life; I shall renounce the training and return to the lower life."
Then the Blessed One took the Venerable Nanda by the arm and, just as a strong man might extend his drawn-in arm or draw in his extended arm, even so vanished from the Jetavana and appeared among the Tāvatiṃsa devas.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.