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 Lord, that I had in view in desiring to provide the Sangha my life long with food for incoming bhikkhus.

"Thirdly, Lord, an outgoing bhikkhu, while seeking about for alms, may be left behind, or may arrive too late at the place whither he desires to go, and will set out on the road in weariness.

"Fourthly, Lord, if a sick bhikkhu does not obtain suitable food, his sickness may increase upon him, and he may die.

"Fifthly, Lord, a bhikkhu who is waiting upon the sick will lose his opportunity of going out to seek food for himself.

"Sixthly, Lord, if a sick bhikkhu does not obtain suitable medicines, his sickness may increase upon him, and he may die.

"Seventhly, Lord, I have heard that the Blessed One has praised rice-milk, because it gives readiness of mind, dispels hunger and thjrstj it is wholesome for the healthy as nourishment, and for the sick as a medicine. Therefore I desire to provide the Sangha my life long with a constant supply of rice-milk.

"Finally, Lord, the bhikkhunīs are in the habit of bathing in the river Achiravatī with the courtesans, at the same landing-place, and naked. And the courtesans, Lord, ridicule the bhikkhunīs, saying, 'What is the good, ladies, of your maintaining chastity when you are young? When you are old, maintain chastity then; thus will you obtain both worldly pleasure and religious consolation.' Impure, Lord, is nakedness for a. woman, disgusting, and revolting.

"These are the circumstances, Lord, that I had in view."

The Blessed One said: "But what was the advantage you had in view for yourself, O Visākhā, in asking the eight boons of the Tathāgatha?"

Visākhā replied:

"Bhikkhus who have spent the rainy seasons in various places will come, Lord, to Sāvatthī to visit the Blessed 96