________________ 318 Homage to Vaisali received a deputation of Sakya ladies headed by Mahapajapati Gotami. At long last permission was given to them, after a good deal of persuasion from Ananda, by the Buddha, for their entrance into the Samgha. The womenfolk came into the Samgha, but they limited the age of the Samgha to five hundred years, which might have extended to one thousand. No history of Vaisali can be complete without mentioning Ambapali. She was no doubt a courtezan, but Vaisali was proud of her; nay, it is said, the prosperity and happiness that came to mark Vaisali was enhanced to a great degree by this courtezan. Her ravishing beauty bewitched Bimbisara, but her simplicity and sincerity in the Dhamma of the Buddha made her attain the highest stage of perfection. She felt proud of her luck when the Buddha agreed to take food at her place and accepted the gift of the mango-grove; and she drove her chariot neck to neck with the chariots of the Licchavi Rajaputtas. According to the Buddhist books, the Licchavis were devout followers of the Buddha and held him in the highest esteem. Even careless boys wandering about with hounds and bows and arrows, and about whom even the elder Mahanama complained, would lay aside their arms when they saw the Buddha seated under a tree and would surround him with folded hands, eager to listen to him. It appears thus that the whole of Vaisali was under the influence of the magnetic personality of the Buddha. From the king in the palace to the beggar in the street, from the most serious man of the time to the notorious boys of the field all listened to him in reverence and paid their worshipful obeisance. The impress that they made in the heart of the Buddha himself was not effaced by time and place and the Tathagata always remembered them, so much so, that while proceeding to Kusinara to attain the Mabaparinibbana, he gave an elephant-like look behind to Vaisali. The people of Vaigali also gave evidence of their love and affection, respect and reverence, by enshrining a portion of the sacred relics of the Buddha in their city. The soothing soft rays of the Amitabha are withdrawn from Vaisali, and she lies in darkness. The flourishing life of Vaisali is buried with the relics of the Tathagata and she lies lifeless in ruins. "The dew is on the lotus, Rise, O great Sun."
