"Then the Buddha immediately descended with Nanda to the depths
of the hells, and took him into a torture-chamber where myriads
of men and women were being boiled alive in great caldrons, and
otherwise horribly tormented by devils. Then Nanda found himself
standing before a huge vessel which was filled with molten
metal;--and he feared and wondered because this vessel had as yet
no occupant. An idle devil sat beside it, yawning. 'Master,'
Nanda inquired of the Buddha, 'for whom has this vessel been
prepared?' 'Ask the devil,' answered Shaka. Nanda did so; and the
devil said to him: 'There is a man called Nanda,--now one of
Shaka's disciples,--about to be reborn into one of the heavens,
on account of his former good actions. But after having there
indulged himself, he is to be reborn in this hell; and his place
will be in that pot. I am waiting for him.'" (2)

(1) Sakyamuni.

(2) I give the story substantially as it was told to me; but I
have not been able to compare it with any published text. My
friend says that he has seen two Chinese versions,--one in the
Hongyo-kyo (?), the other in the Zoichi-agon-kyo (Ekottaragamas).
In Mr. Henry Clarke Warren's Buddhism in Translations (the most
interesting and valuable single volume of its kind that I have
ever seen), there is a Pali version of the legend, which differs
considerably from the above.--This Nanda, according to Mr.
Warren's work, was a prince, and the younger half-brother of
Sakyamuni.