W. Hoey —Set Mahet. 
8 
[Extra-No. 
years of his life, the lenten seasons (was) of about one half were spent at 
Sravasti, either here or in the Purvarama. 
Visakha, one of the sons of Prasenajit’s prime minister (Mriga- 
dhara), was married to Visakha, the daughter of the banished minister 
of the preceding king, Aranemi Brahmadatta. This lady was highly 
celebrated for the good qualities of both her heart and mind. Her 
father-in-law called her ‘ mother ’ out of respect ; and she is known in 
Pali as Visakha Migaramata. Beal calls her ‘ Visakha-matawi’. The 
king Prasenajit was nursed by her through a severe illness, and he called 
her his sister. She built a vihara for Buddha near Sravasti unit, if 
the words of the Pali texts be taken literally) and presented it to the 
Sangha. She stands out as a pious matron whose thoughtfulness extended 
to all followers of the Great Master, but who had a special care for the 
well-being and good name of the female disciples. 
It is not possible to accept as fact or as based on fact every tradi¬ 
tion or record of events said to be connected with Buddha and located 
at Sravasti. Those which are decidedly historical or semi-historical, 
as shown by the evidence in local names and the like, may be usefully 
put together here, and it will be well to endeavour to maintain some¬ 
thing of historical sequence. 
Foremost we must place the remarkable conversion of Angulimala. 
This was a robber of great notoriety, originally named Ahimsaka, who 
used to murder his victims and carry their fingers strung together by 
way of a garland round his neck. Hence he was popularly known as 
Finger-garland (Angulimala). This malignant scourge was subdued 
by the benign teaching of Buddha and became an Arhat. He is held 
up as an illustration of the inevitable suffering which even a good man 
must endure in this life as the result of accumulated evil actions. An- 
guli-mala lived in the monastery outside the city (probably the Jeta- 
vana) and when he went into the city to beg he was greeted with 
derision and made the butt of missiles. He returned on one occasion 
to Buddha covered with blood, his garments torn and his alms-bowl 
shattered. Buddha then delivered the discourse on the inevitable cau¬ 
sality and consequences of evil doing. 
We have seen how Sariputta met with opposition from the rival 
schools at Sravasti, and it was not likely that the Great Teacher would 
pass unchallenged here. When he first appeared in the city, king 
Prasenajit asked him how he could arrogate enlightenment when other 
great doctors such as Purna Kasyapa did not. Later on, in Buddha’s 
sixteenth year of ministry, Prasenajit, who had embraced the Dharmma, 
arranged for a public controversy between Buddha and the rival doc¬ 
tors. The arena was laid out on a plot of ground between the Jetavanu 
