z:\ ambedkar\vol 011\vol11 07.indd MK SJ+YS 5 10 2013/YS 18 11 2013 480
480 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
bhikkhus, but naked ascetics letting the rain fall on them.’ So she returned to me and reported accordingly and I had to send her a second time.
VI
“Impure, Lord, is nakedness, and revolting. It was this circumstance, Lord, that I had in view in desiring to provide the Sangha throughout my life with special garments for use in the rainy season.
“As to my second wish, Lord, an incoming bhikku, not being able to take the direct roads, and not knowing the places where food can be procured, comes on his way wearied out by seeking for alms. It was this circumstance, Lord, that I had in view in desiring to provide the Sangha throughout my life 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.
“Fifthy, 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 thirst; it is wholesome nourishment for the healthy and for the sick as a medicine. Therefore I desire to provide the Sangha throughout my life with constant supply of rice-milk.
“Finally, Lord, the bhikkhunis are in the habit of bathing in the river Archiravati with the courtesans, at the same landing-place, and naked. And the courtesans, Lord, ridicule the bhikkhunis, saying, ‘What is the good, ladies, of your maintaining chastity when you are young? When you are old, maintain chastity then; thus will you be obtainers of