Buddhist Stories: The Layperson Who Offered an Ashram to the Buddha, Part 6 of 8 Aug. 15, 2015

Therefore the king said to them, “If your Buddha doesn’t win against these six magical masters, then the building of the ashram will stop.” To buy the garden, it’s already so difficult, and now, he cannot even build it. Golden all over, gold plated all the garden already, now, cannot build. And then the prime minister Tu Ðạt (Sudatta) was very sad. Next morning Sariputra saw that the prime minister was very sad. So he asked him, “Why are you so sad today? Is there any obstruction about the ashram?” So he said, “Respected Reverend, I don’t know if we could even build an ashram here. That’s why I’m very sad now.” “The six magician masters of the land want to compete in magical power with the Buddha or the Buddha’s disciples. If we win, then they’ll let us free, let us be, if not then there’s no chance. So I don’t even know if any of you respected Reverends can win (over) them, because I know them. They are very highly skilled in magical power. That’s why I’m so afraid, and so unhappy.”