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CHAPTER FOUR
stood outside in statuesque posture, absorbed in pious meditation. Then a lay-disciple, Ananda, who had fasted for two days constantly engaged in enduring the heat of the sun, in whom clairvoyance had arisen, paid homage to the Lord. Extending his joined hands, he said:
“Blessed One, you have endured trials hard to endure and cruel attacks. Your body is as hard as a diamond and your mind is as hard as a diamond, since neither one is broken even by these trials and attacks. Now omniscience is near, Lord.”
With these words Ananda bowed to the Lord again and went home. The Master completed kāyotsarga and went to Śrāvasti and passed the tenth rainy season since his initiation. He broke his fast outside and went to the village Sānuyaşţika.
There the Blessed One observed the bhadrā-penance. In this the Lord, fasting, stood a whole day facing the east first, his gaze fixed on a single object. Facing the south during the night, the west during the day and the north during the night, the Lord observed the penance with a two-day fast. Without breaking his fast the Lord performed the mahābhadrā-penance and stood four days and nights in the directions, east, et cetera in turn. After the Lord had thus performed the mahābhadrāpenance with a four-day fast, he undertook the sarvatobhadrā with a ten-day fast. He stood a day and night in each of the ten directions. However, he set the high and low objects in the high and low directions in his mind.
After he had performed the three penances, the Teacher of the World entered the house of the householder Ananda to break his fast. There a slave-girl, Bahulā, was cleaning the dishes and intending to throw out the left-over food, saw the Lord who had come. “Is it suitable for you?” she asked the Master. The Master held out his hand and she, devoted, gave him the food. Then the gods, pleased with the Master's fastbreaking, made the five, divine things104 on that house and all
104 158. The sound of drums, a shower of flowers, a shower of fragrant rain, a shower of jewels, and waving of garments took place on auspicious occasions. See I, p. 180 f.
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