________________
MAHAVAGGA.
At that time there were eleven Arahats in the
world.
112
Here ends the story of the ordination of the four laymen.
10.
I, 10.
Now fifty lay persons, friends of the venerable Yasa, belonging to the highest families in the country and to those next to the highest, heard, . . . . (&c., as in chap. 9, §§ 1, 2, 3, 4, down to :). While they received exhortation and instruction from the Blessed One by discourse relating to the Dhamma, their minds became free from attachment to the world, and were released from the Âsavas.
·
At that time there were sixty-one Arahats in the world.
11.
1. And the Blessed One said to the Bhikkhus: 'I am delivered, O Bhikkhus, from all fetters, human and divine. You, O Bhikkhus, are also delivered from all fetters, human and divine. Go ye now, O Bhikkhus, and wander, for the gain of the many, for the welfare of the many, out of compassion for the world, for the good, for the gain, and for the welfare of gods and men. Let not two of you go the same way1. Preach, O Bhikkhus, the doctrine
1 This cannot be understood as a general rule, for it is repeated nowhere where precepts for wandering Bhikkhus are given, and, on the contrary, numerous instances occur in the Sacred Texts
Digitized by Google
