K. At the Jetavana at Savatthi.
S. What kind of a place is that?
K. It is the most wonderful pleasure park I ever saw. O King, your garden here is a paltry affair in comparison with the Jetavana.
S. There he lives in luxury?
K. Oh no Sir. Not at all. He could live in luxury, if he wanted to, but he leads a simple life, as simple as the humblest servant in your home, and when he wanders through the country after the rainy season he lives like any mendicant friar. He overtook me on my way, and when he came hither to Kapilavatthu, his home, he did as usual. Last night he slept in the forest, and this morning he went from house to house with bowl in hand, begging his food, and he spoke a blessing wherever people greeted him kindly, or gave him to eat.
S. Oh my son, my son! Why didst thou not go straight to the palace where thy father has food enough for thee and all thy disciples!
K. He always follows the rule of the mendicants.
S. Oh my son! Why dost thou shame thy father in his own home?
K. The Blessed One deems it no shame to beg. He is as modest as a pauper and shows no pride, but wherever he comes, he is greeted like a king, nay like a king of kings, and the wealthiest and most powerful rulers come to do him reverence.
S. And he is here, this wonderful man? And he is my son Siddhattha?