1. Now at that time a certain Bhikkhu, as he was passing through the Kosala country to Sâvatthi, to visit the Blessed One, was taken ill on the way. And that Bhikkhu went aside out of the road, and sat down at the foot of a certain tree.
When people saw him sitting there, they said: 'Whither is your reverence going?'
'I am going, friends, to Sâvatthi to visit the Blessed One.'
2. 'Come along, Sir; let us go together.'
'I cannot, friends. I am sick.'
'Well then, Sir, get up into the cart.'
'Enough, friends! The Blessed One has forbidden the use of vehicles.' And fearing to offend, he refused to get up into the cart.
And when that Bhikkhu had come to Sâvatthi, he told this thing to the Bhikkhus, and they told it to the Blessed One.
'I allow you, O Bhikkhus, if you are sick, to use a cart.'
Now the Bhikkhus thought: 'Should the carts be yoked with cows or bulls?'
Now at that time a certain Bhikkhu was exceedingly distressed by the jolting of a cart.
I allow you, O Bhikkhus, the use of a litter or a sedan-chair.'
3. Now at that time the Khabbaggiya Bhikkhus were in the habit of using lofty and large things to recline upon, that is to say: large cushions 2; divans; coverlets with long fleece; counterpanes of many colours, woollen coverlets 3, white or marked with thick flowers; mattresses; cotton coverlets, dyed with figures of animals; rugs with long hair on one or both sides; carpets inwrought with gold, or with silk; large woollen carpets such as the nautch girls dance upon 4; rich elephant housings, horse-rugs, or carriage rugs; panther or antelope skins; couches covered with canopies, or with crimson cushions at both ends 5.
26:1 Kullavagga X, 21 gives the rules for sisters of the Order, corresponding to the first two sections of this chapter.
27:1 On hatthavattakam here Buddhaghosa merely says, 'itthiyo vâ vattantu purisâ vâ vattantu (MS. vattati) yeva.' The word recurs in Kullavagga X, 21.
27:2 That Âsandi is a cushion, and not a chair as Childers gives, is clear from Gâtaka I, 108.
27:3 Patikâ ’ti unnâmayo setattharako (Sum. Vil. on Brahmagâla Sutta 9).
27:4 Kuttakan ti solasannam nâtakitthînam thatvâ nakkana-yoggam unnâmayattharanam (Sum. Vil. on Brahmagâla Sutta 9).
27:5 This list recurs in the Magghima Sîla, § 5 (Rh. D., 'Buddhist Suttas from the Pâli,' p. 193). Childers has given the commentary on most of these terms from the Sumaṅgala Vilâsinî. Several of the items are also mentioned among the possessions of the Great King of Glory (Rh. D., loc. cit., p. 274, &c.). In several cases the exact meaning is at present quite uncertain. The comment on the last two words runs as follows: Sauttarakkhadan ti saha uttarakkhadena
