Buddha: His Life, his Doctrine, his Order c10.87

c10.87

∗ “Cullavagga,” viii, 6. For illustration take the narrative in the “Commentary on the Dhammapada,” p. 81, seq. The saintly monk Pâlita comes with sixty accompanying brethren in his wanderings, when the rainy season is near, to a great village, and makes his begging-excursion through it. “The people saw these monks, who were adorned with right demeanour, and they prepared seats for them with believing heart, invited them to sit down, entertained them with the best food, and asked them: ‘Reverend sirs, whither does your way lie?’ They replied: ‘Where we may find a place good to dwell in, O believer.’ The clever people saw: ‘The venerable men are looking for a dwelling and an abode,’ and they said: ‘If you, venerable sirs, be willing to dwell here for these three months, we shall take our refuge in the faith, and observe the requirements of upright life.’ Pâlita accepts the invitation, whereon the villagers erect a vihâra in the forest (l.c. p. 85, line 13). Thence the monks go every morning into the village to collect alms. When one of the monks becomes blind, and can go no longer to the village, the residents of the village send him food daily into the forest.”