VISAKHA AND HER GIFTS

  VISAKHA, a wealthy woman in Savatthi who had many children and

grandchildren, had given to the order the Pubbarama or Eastern Garden,

and was the first in Northern Kosala to become a matron of the lay

sisters.

  When the Blessed One stayed at Savatthi, Visakha went up to the

place where the Blessed One was, and tendered him an invitation to

take his meal at her house, which the Blessed One accepted. And a

heavy rain fell during the night and the next morning; and the

bhikkhus doffed their robes to keep them dry and let the rain fall

upon their bodies.

  When on the next day the Blessed One had finished his meal, she took

her seat at his side and spoke thus: "Eight are the boons, Lord, which

I beg of the Blessed One."

  Said the Blessed One: "The Tathagatas, O Visakha, grant no boons

until they know what they are." Visakha replied: "Befitting, Lord, and

unobjectionable are the boons I ask."

  Having received permission to make known her requests, Visakha said:

"I desire, Lord, through all my life long to bestow robes for the

rainy season on the Sangha, and food for incoming bhikkhus, and food

for outgoing bhikkhus, and food for the sick, and food for those who

wait upon the sick, and medicine for the sick and a constant supply of

rice milk for the Sangha, and bathing robes for the bhikkhunis, the

sisters." Said the Buddha: "But what circumstance is it, O Visakha,

that thou hast in view in asking these eight boons of the Tathagata?"

  Visakha replied: "I gave command, Lord, to my maidservant, saying,

'Go, and announce to the brotherhood that the meal is ready.' And

the maid went, but when she came to the vihara, she observed that

the bhikkhus had doffed their robes while it was raining, and she

thought: 'These are not bhikkhus, but naked ascetics letting the

rain fall on them. So she returned to me and reported accordingly, and

I had to send her a second time. Impure, Lord, is nakedness, and

revolting. It was this circumstance, Lord, that I had in view in

desiring to provide the Sangha my life long with special garments

for use in the rainy season.

  "As to my second wish, Lord, an incoming bhikkhu, not being able

to take the direct roads, and not knowing the place where food can

be procured, comes on his way tired out by seeking for alms. It was

this circumstance, Lord, that I had in view in desiring to provide the

Sangha my life long with food for incoming bhikkhus. Thirdly, Lord, an

outgoing bhikkhu, while seeking about for alms, may be left behind, or

may arrive too late at the place whither he desires to go, and will

set out on the road in weariness.

  "Fourthly, Lord, if a sick bhikkhu does not obtain suitable food,

his sickness may increase upon him, and he may die. Fifthly, Lord, a

bhikkhu who is waiting upon the sick will lose his opportunity of

going out to seek food for himself. Sixthly, Lord, if a sick bhikkhu

does not obtain suitable medicines, his sickness may increase upon

him, and he may die.

  "Seventhly, Lord, I have heard that the Blessed One has praised

rice-milk, because it gives readiness of mind, dispels hunger and

thirst; it is wholesome for the healthy as nourishment, and for the

sick as a medicine. Therefore I desire to provide the Sangha my life

long with a constant supply of rice-milk.

  "Finally, Lord, the bhikkhunis are in the habit of bathing in the

river Achiravati with the courtesans, at the same landing-place, and

naked. And the courtesans, Lord, ridicule the bhikkhunis, saying,

'What is the good, ladies, of your maintaining chastity when you are

young? When you are old, maintain chastity then; thus will you

obtain both worldly pleasure and religious consolation.' Impure, Lord,

is nakedness for a woman, disgusting, and revolting. These are the

circumstances, Lord, that I had in view."

  The Blessed One said: "But what was the advantage you had in view

for yourself, O Visakha, in asking the eight boons of the Tathagatha?"

  Visakha replied: "Bhikkhus who have spent the rainy seasons in

various places will come, Lord, to Savatthi to visit the Blessed

One. And on coming to the Blessed One they will ask, saying: 'Such and

such a bhikkhu, Lord, has died. What, now, is his destiny?' Then

will the Blessed One explain that he has attained the fruits of

conversion; that he has attained arahatship or has entered Nirvana, as

the case may be.

  "And I, going up to them, will ask, "Was that brother, Sirs, one

of those who had formerly been at Savatthi?' If reply to me, He has

formerly been at Savatthi then shall I arrive at the conclusion, For a

certainty did that brother enjoy either the robes for the rainy

season, or the food for the incoming bhikkhus, or the food for the

outgoing bhikkhus, or the food for the sick, or the food for those

that wait upon the sick, or the medicine for the sick, or the constant

supply of rice-milk.'

  "Then will gladness spring up within me; thus gladdened, joy will

come to me; and so rejoicing all my mind will be at peace. Being

thus at peace I shall experience a blissful feeling of content; and in

that bliss my heart will be at rest. That will be to me an exercise of

my moral sense, an exercise of my moral powers, an exercise of the

seven kinds of wisdom! This Lord, was the advantage I had in view

for myself in asking those eight boons of the Blessed One."

  The Blessed One said: "It is well, it is well, Visakha. Thou hast

done well in asking these eight boons of the Tathagata with such

advantages in view. Charity bestowed upon those who are worthy of it

is like good seed sown on a good soil that yields an abundance of

fruits. But alms given to those who are yet under the tyrannical

yoke of the passions are like seed deposited in a bad soil. The

passions of the receiver of the alms choke, as it were, the growth

of merits." And the Blessed One gave this thanks to Visakha:

          "O noble woman of an upright life,

          Disciple of the Blessed One, thou givest

          Unstintedly in purity of heart.

          "Thou spreadest joy, assuagest pain,

          And verily thy gift will be a blessing

          As well to many others as to thee."