The Buddha ventures down a road that is known to be haunted by the merciless murderer Aṅgulimāla. When Aṅgulimāla accosts the Buddha, the Buddha uses his psychic powers to make Aṅgulimāla think he cannot keep up with the Buddha, so he asks the Buddha to stop. The Buddha continues walking, but says he has stopped.
Aṅgulimāla misses the pun, and asks the Buddha in verse, why he says he has stopped, while continuing to walk. To this, the Buddha offers some verse:
Aṅgulimāla, I have forever stopped— I’ve laid aside violence toward all creatures. But you can’t stop yourself from harming living creatures; that’s why I’ve stopped, but you have not.
is so struck by this that he renounces murder on the spot:
Oh, at long last a renowned great seer, an ascetic has followed me into this deep wood. Now that I’ve heard your verse on Dhamma, I shall live without evil.
My initial reading of this was quite skeptical - the story didn’t seem to describe any special quality that I can call to mind in contemplation, and it is depicted as though it happened by magic, like in a dime novel. I suppose though, this is just my old inherited worldview peeking through - the Buddha used psychic powers to outsmart a serial killer with a pun!
When King Pasenadi sees the transformation, he remarks:
How the Buddha tames those who are wild, pacifies those who are violent, and extinguishes those who are unquenched! For I was not able to tame him with the rod and the sword, but the Buddha tamed him without rod or sword.
Later, on alms round, Aṅgulimāla sees a woman in labour and feels empathy and compassion. The Buddha advises him to tell the woman:
‘Ever since I was born, sister, I don’t recall having intentionally taken the life of a living creature. By this truth, may both you and your baby be safe.’
Recognising this would be a flagrant lie, the Buddha drops the world play again, saying, tell the woman:
‘Ever since I was born in the noble birth, sister, I don’t recall having intentionally taken the life of a living creature. By this truth, may both you and your baby be safe.’
I guess this play on words illustrates that taking ordination (‘noble birth’) protects others from one’s harm - but again, my skepticism kicks in because this statement is said to have kept the woman and her baby safe.