Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v1.c14.693

v1.c14.693

The story was told in reference to a gift made by Ānanda. Once, when he had been preaching to the women of Pasenadi's palace, they gave him five hundred new garments which the king had just presented to them. The king hearing of this was at first annoyed, but on questioning Ānanda he was satisfied that no gift presented to the Saṅgha could ever be wasted. Delighted with this discovery, the king himself gave five hundred robes to Ānanda, all of which Ānanda presented to a young monk who was very useful and helpful to him. The monk, in his turn, distributed them among his fellow celibates, who wondered why Ānanda should have singled out one monk as the recipient of his gifts. When the matter was related to the Buddha, he assured the monks that the gift was offered to the monk by Ānanda only in return for numerous services.¹