Va'ssa, _p._, Va'rsha, _skt._, rain, rainy season. During the rainy season of Northern India, which falls in the months from June to October, the samanas could not wander about, but had to stay in one place. It was the time in which the disciples gathered round their master, listening to his instructions. Thus it became the festive time of the year. In Ceylon, where these same months are the fairest season of the year, Buddhists come together and live in temporary huts, holding religious meetings in the open air, reading the Pitakas and enjoying the Jātakas, legends, and parables of Buddhism. [See Rhys Davids's _B._, p. 57.] Vassakāra, _p._, Varshakā'ra, _skt._, lit. "rain-maker." Name of a Brahman, the prime minister of the king of Magadha. Ve'das; I know all the Vedas. Veluva'na, _p._, Venuva'na, _skt._, a bamboo-grove at Rājagaha; Veluvana vihāra. Vesā'lī, _p._, Vaiśā'līī, _skt._, a great city of India, north of Patna. Vihā'ra, _p._ and _skt._, residence of Buddhist monks or priests; a Buddhist convent or monastery; a Buddhist temple. Vi'mala, _p._ and _skt._ (etym., the spotless), name of a friend of Yasa. Vi'naya. Visā'khā, _p._, Viśā'khā, _skt._, a wealthy matron of Sāvatthi, one of Buddha's most distinguished woman lay-disciples. Says Oldenberg, _Buddha_, English translation, p. 167: "Every one invites Visākhā to sacrificial ceremonies and banquets, and has the dishes offered to her first; a guest like her brings luck to the house."; eight boons of Visākhā; gladness of Visākhā. Ya'ma, _p._ and _skt._, also called Yama-rā'ja, death, the god of death. Ya'sa, Ya'śas, _skt._, the noble youth of Benares, son of a wealthy man and one of Buddha's earliest converts. Yaso'dharā, _p._, Ya'śodharā, _skt._, wife of Prince Gotama Siddhattha before he became Buddha. She became one of the first of Buddhist nuns. [See Jātaka, 87--90; Commentary on Dhammapada, vv. 168, 169: Bigandet, 156--168; Spence Hardy's _Manual_, 198--204; Beal, pp. 360--364: _B. Birth Stories_, 127.] INDEX.