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A hermitage (senāsana) where lived Rohana
Nāgasena's
teacher, by whom he was ordained, and Assagutta, with whom he spent a vassa in
order to train himself for debate. Mil. 10, 12, 14; from the context it would
appear as though these two residences were not identical, but were far away from
each other. Was Vattaniyasenāsana rather a generic than a proper name?
Assagutta, who ordained the Ajīvaka Janasāna, is
also said to have been "Vattaniyasenāsane." (MT. 192). At the ceremony of the
Mahā Thūpa foundation, the Thera Uttara came from "Vattaniyasenāsana" in
Viñjhātavī with sixty thousand others (Mhv.Xxix.40).
Both the Visuddhimagga and
the Atthasālinī (Vsm.430; DhSA.419) mention a Thera named Assagutta, evidently a
visitor, who, seeing the monks at Vattaniyasenāsana eating dry food, resolved
"Every day before meals may the pool of water take on the taste of milk curds."
From that day the pool water tasted of curds before the meal and became natural
water again after the meal.

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