Buddha: His Life, his Doctrine, his Order c8.s1.t1.7

c8.s1.t1.7

If it is possible to speak of a home in the homeless, wandering life of Buddha and his disciples, places like the Veluvana and Jetavana may of all others be so called, near the great centres of Indian life and yet untouched by the turmoil of the capitals, once the quiet resting places of rulers and nobles, before the yellow-robed mendicants appeared on the scene, and "the Church in the four quarters, present and absent," succeeded to the possession of the kingly inheritance. In these gardens were the residences of the brethren, houses, halls, cloisters, storerooms, surrounded by lotus-pools, fragrant mango trees, and slender fan-palms that lift their foliage high over all else, and by the deep green foliage of the Nyagrodha tree, whose roots dropping from the air to earth become new stems, and with their cool shady arcades and leafy walks seem to invite to peaceful meditation.*