Rich Men with Inexhaustible Resources – 2271
“Yes, venerable sir, I have,” replied Sena.
“If so, first get their permission.”
Then, Sena went to his younger brother Aparājita and said: “Younger brother,
you become the sole successor to our family estate from now.”
“But what are you going to do?” Aparājita queried.
“I am going to become a monastic under the Buddha.”
“Dear brother, since the death of our mother, I have regarded you as my mother;
since the death of our father, I have regarded you as my father. Our family
estate is a vast one. You can do meritorious deeds living in the house. Do not go
away to be a monastic.”
“I have heard the Buddha’s discourse. It is not possible to practice the doctrine
perfectly as a householder, I must be a monastic now. Stay back, dear brother,”
Sena did not allow any further protestations and, leaving behind Aparājita, he
went to Buddha Vipassī and was admitted into the Saṅgha, first as a novice, and
later as a full-fledged monastic. With
[1482]
diligence in the monastic practice,
he soon became an Arahat.
Donation of a Perfumed Chamber for Buddha Vipassī
Aparājita the householder celebrated his elder brother’s going forth into the
monastic life with big offerings to the Buddha and his Saṅgha for seven days.
Then paying respects to his elder brother, he said: “Venerable sir, you have
renounced the world for the sake of liberation from repeated existence. As for
me, I have not been able to break the bonds of sense pleasures. Advise me as to
what sort of meritorious deeds should be performed in a big way.”
“Good, good, you wise man,” said Ven. Sena, “build a private chamber for the
Buddha.”
“Very well, venerable sir,” responded Aparājita.
He procured various kinds of choicest timber, from which he made posts for the
building and seven kinds of precious metals were used to embellish each post for
the building. The roofing also was embellished with the seven kinds of precious
metals.