1. And the Blessed One, after having dwelt at Râgagaha as long as he thought fit, went forth to Benares. Wandering from place to place he came to Benares. There the Blessed One dwelt near Benares, in the deer-park Isipatana.
At that time there were at Benares a devout layman Suppiya and a devout laywoman Suppiyâ who showed their faith in both ways: they were givers and doers, and devoted themselves to the service of the fraternity. And Suppiyâ, the lay-devotee, went to the Ârâma, and going around from Vihâra to Vihâra, and from cell to cell, she asked
(She replied): 'Well, reverend Sir, it shall be procured for you,'--and went to her house and gave order to a pupil 2: 'Go, my good sir, and see if there is any meat to be had 3.'
That man accepted this order of Suppiyâ, the lay-devotee (by saying), 'Yes, Madam,' and searched through the whole of Benares, but did not find any meat on hand 3. Then that man went to Suppiyâ, the lay-devotee; having approached her he said to Suppiyâ, the lay-devotee: 'There is no meat to be had, Madam; the killing of cattle is interdicted to-day.'
3. Then Suppiyâ, the lay-devotee, thought: 'If that sick Bhikkhu does not get the broth his sickness will increase, or he will die. It would be unbecoming indeed for me to promise something, and not to procure it;'--(thinking thus) she took a knife, cut a piece of flesh from her thigh, and gave it to her maid-servant (saying), 'Go, my girl,
81:1 Patikkhâdaniya. See Abhidhânappadîpikâ, verse 468, and above, chap. 14. 7, at the end. 81:2 Of her husband's? 81:3 Pavattamamsa, which Buddhaghosa explains, 'matassa mamsam.' Pavatta means 'already existing,' opposed to what is brought into existence for a special purpose, and pavattamamsa is said here, therefore, in order to exclude uddissa-kata-mamsa (meat of animals killed especially for them), which Bhikkhus were not allowed to partake of (see chap. 3,1. 14). Compare also pavattaphala-bhogana at Gâtaka I, p. 6.
