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"Bhante ! Do you intend to muve out on your cārikä mission"?
- "Yes, Visakha, I do".
Visākhā was full of emotion, as if her heart had reached the throat. In a choked voice, she said,
"Bhante! I am erecting this shelter for your use, and you are going away. No, I will not allow this. Please come back".
The Buddha - 'But, Visakhā, I have already started on my mission. I cannot get back".
Visakha - "Then, Bhante, at least leave a veteran monk here who may continue to enlighten us".
The Buddha - "Visakha, you pick up the begging bowl of anyone whomsoever you intend to retain".
Visakha thought at once of picking up the begging bowl of Sthavira Ananda. But the next moment she changed her mind.
"The long-lived Moggalana is in command of great spiritual powers. He will be useful for my construction work now in progress. He will help me to complete the construction soon'.
So she picked up the begging bowl of Moggalana. Moggalana looked at the Buddha. The Buddha said,
"Moggalāna ! Stay back with your entire family of 500 monks".
So Moggalāna stayed. The work of construction became pretty easy under his supervision. With the support of his occult powers, Visakhā's masons could carry heavy trees and rocks from as far as 50 or 60 yojanas in course of a day. They found no difficulty in loading heavy trucks wir trees and rocks, and the axles of the wheels never gave way under such heavy weight. The two-storeyed shelter was ready for use. It had 500 rooms, big and small at each floor. The whole cost of construction was nine crores.
