THE GREAT CHRONICLE OF BUDDHAS
426
yathÈbhatam jÈyati vitasoko.
(Great King!) A person, having abandoned the defilement of stinginess
together with greed which is craving and attachment, builds and gives away,
in charity, a monastery as a residence of noble
bhikkhus
who are possessed
of virtuous qualities, such as
sÊla,
etc. Just as labourers who transport and
deliver goods to the desired destination, so the carrier
kamma
, the volitional
activities, convey that faithful donor to a happy destination; consequently he
is reborn in the realms of devas where pleasant objects of five sensual
pleasure abound and where no trouble arises for one's food or shelter:
9.
Vare cÈrurupe vihÈre uÄÈre,
naro kÈraye vÈsaye tattha bhikkh|;
dadeyy’annapÈnaÒ ca vatthaÒ ca nesaÑ,
pasannena cittena sakkacca niccaÑ.
(Great King!) A wise man, therefore, who cares for his own interest, should
cause to build a splendid monastery which is praiseworthy, delightful and
commodious. He should then request
bhikkhus,
who possess much knowledge
and experience, to take up residence in his monastery. He should always be
in devotional faith, regarding the resident
bhikkhus
with deference and make
joyous offering to them of various kinds of food and drink and robes.
10.
TasmÈ MahÈraja bhavesu bhoge,
manorame paccanubhuyya bhiyyo;
vihÈradÈnassa phalena santaÑ,
sukhaÑ asokaÑ adhigaccha pacchÈ ti.
(Great King!) As a result of this donation of the monastery in pious faith,
you will, therefore, repeatedly enjoy in various happy existences with more
and more delightful wealth. After which, you will, through realisation of the
four
maggas
and the four
phalas
, attain the bliss of NibbÈnic Peace to be
entirely free of sorrow.
Having thus blessed King BimbisÈra with the sermon appreciating the dedication of the
monastery, the Buddha rose from His seat and, accompanied by one thousand
bhikkhus
moved to VeÄuvana to take up residence.
(N.B. This narrative of King BimbisÈra's donation of the VeÄuvana to the
community of
bhikkhus
, headed by the Buddha, mentions his offering by way of
naming what is most essential and what is most important, which, in this case, was
the Park. As a matter of fact, the King's donation included dwellings with tiers and
other buildings for the
bhikkhus
to dwell in (as the BuddhavaÑsa Commentary
describes VeÄuvana as a site adorned with pleasant spired buildings (
pasÈda
), flat-
roofed buildings (
hammiya
), mansions (
vimÈna
), abodes with roofs on four sides
(
vihÈra
), those with roofs on two sides (
aÉÉhayoga
), pandals (
mandapa
) and the
like.)
The Buddha's Permission to accept A Dwelling Place as A Gift
Having given the Dhamma talk on the offer of the VeÄuvana Park by King BimbisÈra, the
Buddha addressed the
bhikkhus
thus:
‚
AnujÈnÈmi Bhikkhave ÈrÈmaÑ
—— I allow you,
bhikkhus
, to accept an offer of a park.‛
The Buddha's Delivery of The TirokuÔÔa Sutta
(as from the Khuddaka-PÈÔha Text and Commentary)
The day after accepting the VeÄuvana Park, the Buddha delivered the
TirokuÔÔa Sutta
. The
following is the detailed account of it.
Counting back from this world, ninety-two aeons ago, King Jayasena ruled over the