Forbearance [忍辱仙人] ( Kshāntivādin; Ninniku-sennin): The ascetic Forbearance. The name of Shakyamuni in a past existence when he carried out the pāramitā of forbearance. This story appears in the Sutra on the Wise and the Foolish. Once King Kāli of Vārānasī, accompanied by his wife, ministers, and maids in waiting, went on a pleasure excursion to a mountain and grew so tired that he fell asleep. While the king was sleeping, the maids happened to meet an ascetic and listened reverently to his preaching. King Kāli awoke and found the ascetic preaching, and asked him what benefits he could bestow. The ascetic humbly replied that he could bestow no benefit. The king therefore wrongly assumed that the ascetic had been trying to seduce the maids and flew into a rage. When the king was informed that the ascetic was engaged in the practice of forbearance, he cut off the ascetic’s hands, legs, ears, and nose. But the ascetic did not flinch, maintaining a look of composure. His blood turned into milk, and his body restored itself. Seeing this, the king repented his conduct and thereafter protected the ascetic wholeheartedly. See also Kāli.