"
Four li to the northwest of the vihara there is a grove called "The
Getting of Eyes." Formerly there were five hundred blind men, who lived
here in order that they might be near the vihara. Buddha preached his
Law to them, and they all got their eyesight. Full of joy, they stuck
their staves in the earth, and with their heads and faces on the ground,
did reverence. The staves immediately began to grow, and they grew to be
great. People made much of them, and no one dared to cut them down, so
that they came to form a grove. It was in this way that it got its name,
and most of the Jetavana monks, after they had taken their mid-day meal,
went to the grove, and sat there in meditation.
Six or seven li northeast from the Jetavana, mother Vaisakha built
another vihara, to which she invited Buddha and his monks, and which is
still existing.
To each of the great residences for the monks at the Jetavana vihara
there were two gates, one facing the east and the other facing the
north. The park containing the whole was the space of ground which the
Vaisaya head, Sudatta, purchased by covering it with gold coins. The
vihara was exactly in the centre. Here Buddha lived for a longer time
than at any other place, preaching his Law and converting men. At the
places where he walked and sat they also subsequently reared topes, each
having its particular name; and here was the place where Sundari [5]
murdered a person and then falsely charged Buddha with the crime.
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