2 Is vigftdha for ag&dha, or should we read vigadVia?
84 THE BUDDHA-tfARITA OF ASVAGHOSHA.
gone? and when thou and Kamhaka are alone come back, while three went away together, my mind trembles.
33. ‘Why dost thou weep to-day, O cruel one, having done a dishonourable, pitiless, and unfriendly deed to me? Cease thy tears and be content in thy heart, — tears and that deed of thine ill agree.
34. ‘Through thee, his dear obedient faithful loyal companion, always doing what was right, the son of my lord is gone never to return, — rejoice, — all hail! thy pains have gained their end.
35. ‘ Better for a man a wise enemy rather than a foolish friend unskilled in emergencies; by thee, the unwise self-styled friend, a great calamity has been brought upon this family.
36. ‘ These women are sorely to be pitied who have put away their ornaments, having their eyes red and dimmed with continuous tears, who are as it were desolate widows, though their lord still stands as unshaken as the earth or Mount Himavat.
37. ‘And these lines of palaces seem to weep aloud, flinging up their dovecots for arms, with the long unbroken moan of their doves, — separated verily, with him, from all who could restrain them.
38. ‘ Even that horse Kawthaka without doubt desired my utter ruin; for he bore away from hence my treasure when all were sound asleep in the night, — like one who steals jewels.
39. ‘ When he was able to bear even the onsets of arrows, and still more the strokes of whips, — how then for fear of the fall of a whip, could he go carry¬ ing with him my prosperity and my heart together?
40. ‘ The base creature now neighs loudly, filling the king’s palace with the sound; but when he BOOK VIII, 33-48.
85 carried away my beloved, then this vilest of horses was dumb.
41. ‘ If he had neighed and so woke up the people, or had even made a noise with his hoofs on the ground, or had made the loudest sound he could with his jaws, my grief would not have been so great.’
42. Having thus heard the queen’s words, their syllables choked with tears and full of lament, slowly Kkamdaka. uttered this answer, with his face bent down, his voice low with tears, and his hands clasped in supplication: 43. ‘ Surely, O queen, thou wilt not blame Ka m- thaka nor wilt thou show thy anger against me, — know that we two are entirely guiltless, — that god amongst men, O queen, is gone away like a god.
44. ‘ I indeed, though I well knew the king’s com¬ mand, as though dragged by force by some divine powers, brought quickly to him this swift steed, and followed him on the road unwearied.
45. ‘ And this best of horses as he went along touched not the ground with the tips of his hoofs as if they were kept aloft from it; and so too, having his mouth restrained as by fate, he made no sound with his jaws and neighed not.
46. ‘ When the prince went out, then the gate was thrown open of its own accord; and the darkness of the night was, as it were, pierced by the sun, — we may learn from hence too that this was the ordering of fate.
47. ‘When also by the king’s command, in palace and city, diligent guards had been placed by thou¬ sands, and at that time they were all overcome by sleep and woke not, — we may learn from hence too that this was the ordering of fate.
48. ‘ When also the garment, approved for a 86 THE BUDDHA-AARITA OF ASVAGHOSHA.
hermit’s dwelling in the forest, was offered to him at the moment by some denizen of heaven, and the tiara which he threw into the sky was carried off, — we may learn from hence too that this was the ordering of fate.
49. ‘ Do not therefore assume1 that his departure arises from the fault of either of us, O queen; neither I nor this horse acted by our own choice; he went on his way with the gods as his retinue.’
50. Having thus heard the history of the prince’s departure, so marvellous in many ways, those women, as though losing their grief, were filled with wonder, but they again took up their distress at the thought of his becoming an ascetic.
51. With her eyes filled with the tears of despon¬ dency, wretched like an osprey who has lost her young, — Gautami abandoning all self-control wailed aloud, — she fainted, and with a weeping face ex¬ claimed: 52. ‘ Beautiful, soft, black, and all in great waves, growing each from its own special root, — those hairs of his are tossed on the ground, worthy to be en¬ circled by a royal diadem.
53. ‘With his long arms and lion-gait, his bull¬ like eye, and his beauty bright like gold, his broad chest, and his voice deep as a drum or a cloud, — should such a hero as this dwell in a hermitage?
54. ‘ This earth is indeed unworthy as regards that peerless doer of noble actions, for such a vir¬ tuous hero has gone away from her, — it is the merits and virtues of the subjects which produce their king.
55. ‘ Those two feet of his, tender, with their 1 Should we read pratipattum for pratigantum?
BOOK VIII, 49-62.
87 beautiful web spread between the toes, with their ankles concealed, and soft like a blue lotus, — how can they, bearing a wheel marked in the middle, walk on the hard ground of the skirts of the forest?
56. ‘ That body, which deserves to sit or lie on the roof of a palace, — honoured with costly garments, aloes, and sandal-wood, — how will that manly body live in the woods, exposed to the attacks of the cold, the heat, and the rain?
57. ‘ He who was proud of his family, goodness, strength, energy, sacred learning, beauty, and youth, — who was ever ready to give, not to ask, — how will he go about begging alms from others?
58. ‘He who, lying on a spotless golden bed, was awakened during the night by the concert of musical instruments, — how alas! will he, my ascetic, sleep to-day on the bare ground with only one rag of cloth interposed? ’ 59. Having heard this piteous lamentation, the women, embracing one another with their arms, rained the tears from their eyes, as the shaken creepers drop honey from their flowers.
60. Then YasodharS. fell upon the ground, like the ruddy goose parted from her mate, and in utter bewilderment she slowly lamented, with her voice repeatedly stopped by sobs: 61. ‘If he wishes to practise a religious life after ■abandoning me his lawful wife widowed, — where is his religion, who wishes to follow penance without his lawful wife to share it with him?
62. ‘He surely has never heard of the monarchs of olden times, his own ancestors, MahcLsudarca 1 and 1 Mahasudassana is the name of a king in (rataka I, 95.
88 THE BU DDHA-jrARIT A OF ASVAGHOSHA.
the rest, — how they went with their wives into the forest, — that he thus wishes to follow a religious life without me.
63. ‘He does not see that husband and wife are both consecrated in sacrifices, and both purified by the performance of the rites of the Veda, and both destined to enjoy 1 the same results afterwards, — he therefore grudges me a share in his merit.
64. ‘ Surely it must be that this fond lover of religion, knowing that my mind was secretly quar¬ relling even with my beloved, lightly and without fear has deserted me thus angry, in the hope to obtain heavenly nymphs in Indra’s world!
65. ‘ But what kind of a thought is this of mine? those women even there have the attributes which belong to bodies, — for whose sake he thus practises austerities in the forest, deserting his royal magnifi¬ cence and my fond devotion.
66. ‘ I have no such longing for the joy of heaven, nor is that hard for even common people to win if they are resolute 2; but my one desire is how he my beloved may never leave me either in this world or the next.
6 7. ‘ Even if I am unworthy to look on my husband’s face with its long eyes and bright smile, still is this poor Rahula never to roll about in his father’s lap?
68. ‘ Alas! the mind of that wise hero is terribly stern, — gentle as his beauty seems, it is pitilessly cruel, — who can desert of his own accord such an infant son with his inarticulate talk, one who would charm even an enemy.
69. ‘ My heart too is certainly most stern, yea, 1 I read bubhukshfi for bubhukshu^.
2 Api, I think, should properly follow ^anasy a.
BOOK VIII, 63-75.
89 made of rock or fashioned even of iron, which does not break when its lord is gone to the forest, de¬ serted by his royal glory like an orphan, — he so well worthy of happiness.’
70. So the queen, fainting in her woe, wept and pondered and wailed aloud repeatedly, — self-pos¬ sessed as she was by nature, yet in her distress she remembered not her fortitude and felt no shame.
71. Seeing Yasodhara thus bewildered with her wild utterances of grief and fallen on the ground, all the women cried out with their faces streaming with tears like large lotuses beaten by the rain.
72. But the king, having ended his prayers, and performed the auspicious rites of the sacrifice, now came out of the temple; and being smitten by the wailing sound of the people, he tottered like an elephant at the crash of a thunderbolt.
73. Having heard (of the arrival) of both Kh^m- daka and Kawthaka, and having learned the fixed resolve of his son, the lord of the earth fell struck down by sorrow like the banner of Indra when the festival is over *.
74. Then the king, distracted by his grief for his son, being held up for a moment by his attendants all of the same race, gazed on the horse with his eyes filled with tears, and then falling on the ground wailed aloud: 75. ‘ After having done many dear exploits for me in battle, one great deed of cruelty, O Ka;/zthaka, hast thou done, — for by thee that dear son of mine, dear for his every virtue, has been tossed down in the wood, dear as he was, like a worthless thing.
90 THE BUDDHA-iTARITA OF ASVAGHOSHA.
76. ‘ Therefore either lead me to-day where he is, or go quickly and bring him back again; without him there is no life left to me, as to one plunged in sickness without the true medicine.
7 7. ‘ When Suvaraanish/Zdvin was carried away by death, it seemed impossible that Srimgaya.1 should not die; and shall I, when my duty-loving son is gone, fear to set my soul free, like any coward?
78. ‘ How should not the mind of Manu himself be distracted, when parted from his dear virtuous son 2, — (Manu) the son of Vivasvat, who knew the higher and the lower, the mighty lord of creatures, the institutor of the ten chieftains 3.
79. ‘ I envy the monarch, that friend of Indra, the wise son of king Aga 4, who, when his son went into the forest, went himself to heaven, and dragged out no miserable life here with vain tears.
80. ‘ Describe to me, O beloved one, the court of that hermitage, whither thou hast carried him who is as my funeral oblation of water; these my vital airs are all ready to depart, and are eager for it, longing to drink it.’
81. Thus the king, in his grief for his separation from his son, — losing all his innate firmness which was stedfast like the earth, — loudly lamented as one distraught, like Dararatha, a prey to his sorrow for Rama.
1 See MaMbh. XII, 31. The MSS. read Sawz^aya for Srimgaya..
3 Does this refer to his losing his son Sudyumna, who was changed to a woman, Vishwu Pur. IV, 1?
3 Daj-akshatrakrft is an obscure phrase; [the Tibetan renders it by rgyal-rigs bcu byas, ‘king-race ten made;’ rgyal-rigs is the ordinary translation of kshatriya. H. W.]
4 Dararatha.
BOOK VIII, 76-87.
91 82. Then the wise counsellor, endued with religious learning, courtesy, and virtue, and the old family priest, spoke to him as was befitting in these well- weighed words, neither with their faces overwhelmed by grief nor yet wholly unmoved: 83. ‘ Cease, O noblest of men, thy grief, regain thy firmness, — surely thou wilt not, O firm hero, shed tears like one of no self-control; many kings on this earth have gone into the forests, throwing away their royal pomp like a crushed wreath.
84. ‘ Moreover, this his state of mind was all pre¬ determined; remember those words long ago of the holy sage Asita; “ He will never be made to dwell even for a moment contentedly in heaven or in an emperor’s domain.”
85. ‘ But if, O best of men, the effort must be made, quickly speak the word, we two will at once go together; let the battle be waged in every way with thy son and his fate whatever it be.’
86. Then the king commanded them both, ‘ Do you both go quickly hence, — my heart will not return to quiet, any more than a bird’s in the woods longing for its young.’
87. With a prompt acquiescence at the king’s order the counsellor and the family priest went to that forest; and then with his wives and his queen the king also, saying, ‘It is done,’ performed the remainder of the rites.
BOOK IX.
1. Then the two, the counsellor and the family priest, beaten by the king with his scourge of tears, went with every effort to that forest in the hurry of affection, like two noble horses goaded.
2. Having come at last full of weariness to that hermitage, accompanied by a fitting train, — they dis¬ missed their royal pomp and with sober gestures entered the abode of Bhargava.
3. Having saluted that Brahman with due respect, and having been honoured by him with due rever¬ ence in return, having seated themselves, plunging at once into the subject, they addressed Bhargava, who was likewise seated, concerning their errand.
4. ‘ Let your honour know us to be respectively imperfect proficients in preserving the sacred learning and in retaining the state-counsels, — in the service of the monarch of the Ikshvaku race, pure in his valour and pure and wide in his glory.
5. ‘His son, who is like Cayanta, while he himself is like Indra, has come here, it is said, desirous to escape from the fear of old age and death, — know that we two are come here on account of him.’
6. He answered them, ‘ That prince of the long arms did indeed come here, but not as one un¬ awakened; “this dharma only brings us back again,” — recognising this, he went off forthwith towards Arcufa, seeking liberation.’
7. Then they two, having understood the true BOOK IX, I-I4.
93 state of things, bade that Brahman at once farewell, and wearied though they were, went on as if they were unwearied, thither whither the prince was gone.
8. As they were going, they saw him bereft of all ornaments a, but still radiant with his beauty, sitting like a king in the road at the foot of a tree, like the sun under the canopy of a cloud.
9. Leaving his chariot, the family priest then went up to the prince with the counsellor, as the saint Aurvaseya1 2 went with Vamadeva, wishing to see Rlma when he dwelt in the forest.
10. They paid him honour as was fitting, as.Sukra and Awgiras honoured Indra in heaven; and he in return paid due honour to them, as Indra in heaven to.Sukra and Awgiras.
1 1. Then they, having obtained his permission, sat down near him who was the banner of the Shkya race; and they shone in his proximity like the two stars of the asterism Punarvash in conjunction with the moon.
12. The family priest addressed the prince who shone brightly as he sat at the foot of the tree, as Wfhaspati addressed Indra’s son Gayanta, seated in heaven under the heavenly tree pari^ata: 13. ‘ O prince, consider for a moment what the king with his eyes raining tears said to thee, as he lay fainting on the ground with the arrow of thy sorrow plunged into his heart.
14. ‘ “ I know that thy resolve is fixed upon reli¬ gion, and I am convinced that this purpose of thine is unchanging 3; but I am consumed with a flame of 1 Is srigayk for sra^H?
2 Agastya, the son of Urvari. Vamadeva was Dararatha’s counsellor.
s Conjectural. [The Tibetan reads the second line, khyod-kyi 94 THE BUDDHA- JSTARITA OF ASVAGHOSHA.
anguish like fire at thy flying to the woods at an in¬ opportune time.
15. ‘ “ Come, thou who lovest duty, for the sake of what is my heart’s desire, — abandon this purpose for the sake of duty; this huge swollen stream of sorrow sweeps me away as a river’s torrent its bank.
16. ‘ “ That effect 1 which is wrought in the clouds, water, the dry grass, and the mountains by the wind, the sun, the fire, and the thunderbolt, — that same effect this grief produces in us by its tearing in pieces, its drying up, its burning, and its cleaving.
17. ‘ “ Enjoy therefore for a while the sovereignty of the earth, — thou shalt go to the forest at the time provided by the.sastras, — do not show disregard for thy unhappy kindred, — compassion for all creatures is the true religion.
18. ‘“Religion is not wrought out only in the forests, the salvation of ascetics can be accomplished even in a city; thought and effort are the true means; the forest and the badge are only a coward’s signs.
19. * “ Liberation has been attained even by house¬ holders, Indras among men, who wore diadems, and carried strings of pearls suspended on their shoulders, whose garlands were entangled with bracelets, and who lay cradled in the lap of Fortune.
20. ‘ “ Bali and Va^rabahu, the two younger brothers of Dhruva, Vaibhrafa, Asha^a, and Kmt\- 0byuh-var ogyur-var don-ni fes-pao, ‘I know thy purpose which is about to arise (or which has arisen) in thy mind.' Can they have read bhavinam or bh&vitam? H.W.]
1 I read vrr'tti h.
95 deva1, and Ganaka also, the king of the Videhas, and king Sena^it’s son, his tree of ripe blessing 2; 21. ‘ “ Know that all these great kings who were householders were well skilled in attaining the merit which leads to final bliss, — do thou also therefore obtain both 3 simultaneously — royal magnificence and the control over the mind.
22. ‘“I desire, — when I have once closely em¬ braced thee after thy kingly consecration is once performed, and while thou art still wet with the sacred water, — when I behold thee with the pomp of the royal umbrella, — in the fulness of that joy to enter the forest.”
23. ‘Thus did the king say to thee in a speech whose words were stopped by tears, — surely having heard it, for the sake of what is so dear to him, thou wilt with all affection follow his affection.
24. ‘ The king of the.Sakyas is drowned in a deep sea of sorrow, full of waves of trouble, springing from thee; do thou therefore deliver him helpless and protectorless like an ox drowning in the sea.
2 5. ‘ Having heard that Bhishma who sprang from Ganga’s womb, Rama, and Rama the son of Bhrzgu, — all did what would please their fathers; — surely thou too wilt do thy father’s desire.
26. ‘ Consider also the queen, who brought thee 2 My reading pakadrumam is conjectural, Paradrumau as two old kings would be a possible reading. Sena^it’s son is praised for his philosophical depth in Mahabh. XII, 6524, &c.; he is there called Medhavin. [The Tibetan has brtan-pai (dhruva) nu vo, ‘the firm one’s younger brother (?);’ it also has Ogro dan Ijon- fin-can for pakadruma, ‘having a tree of —?’ It takes sena^i- ta.s£a ragHah as acc. plural. H. W.]
96 THE BUDDHA-iTARITA OF ASVAGHOSHA.
up, who has not yet gone to the region inhabited by Agastya1 — wilt thou not take some heed of her, who ceaselessly grieves like a fond cow that has lost her calf?
27. ‘ Surely thou wilt succour thy wife by the sight of thee, who now mourns widowed yet with her lord still alive, — like a swan separated from her mate or a female elephant deserted in the forest by her companion.
28. ‘ Thy only son, a child little deserving such woe, distressed with sorrow, and 2...— O deliver R&hula from the grief of his kindred like the full moon from the contact of R£hu!
29. ‘ Burned with the fire of anguish within him, to which thy absence adds fresh fuel, — a fire whose smoke is sighs and its flame despair, — he wanders for a sight of thee through the women’s apartments and the whole city.’
30. The Bodhisattva, — whose perfection was ab¬ solute, — having heard the words of the family priest, reflected for a moment, knowing all the virtues of the virtuous, and then thus uttered his gentle reply: 31. ‘I well know the paternal tenderness 3 of the king, especially that which he has displayed towards me; yet knowing this as I do, still alarmed at sick¬ ness, old age, and death, I am inevitably forced to leave my kindred.
32. ‘ Who would not wish to see his dear kindred, if but this separation from beloved ones did not exist? but since even after it has been once, separa- 1 The south, — the region of the god of death.
2 Five syllables are here lost, — apakvasattvam?
8 Should we read tanayaprasaktam?
97 tion will still come again, it is for this that I abandon my father, however loving.
33. ‘ I do not however approve that thou shouldst consider the king’s grief as caused by me, when in the midst of his dream-like unions he is afflicted by thoughts of separations in the future.
34. ‘ Thus let thy thoughts settle into certainty, having seen the multiform in its various develop¬ ments; neither a son nor kindred is the cause of sorrow, — this sorrow is only caused by ignorance.
35. ‘ Since parting is inevitably fixed in the course of time for all beings, just as for travellers who have joined company on a road, — what wise man would cherish sorrow, when he loses his kindred, even though he loves them 1?
36- ‘ Leaving his kindred in another world, he departs hither; and having stolen away 2 from them here, he goes forth once more; “ having gone thither, go thou elsewhere also,” — such is the lot of man¬ kind, — what consideration can the yogin have for them 3?
37. ‘ Since from the moment of leaving the womb death is a characteristic adjunct 4, why, in thy affec¬ tion for thy son, hast thou called my departure to the forest ill-timed?
38. ‘There may be an “ill time” in one’s attain¬ ing a worldly object, — time indeed is described as 1 Some letters are here lost in the original.
3 The Tibetan has for the fourth line de-ltar (eva m) 0dor-ldan skye-la rjes-su rten mam ci, ‘thus what kind of reliance is there on man who is of a leaving disposition?’ Should we read in the original ityeva m ^ane tyagini ko*nurodha/z?
4 Can anubadh&ya be wrongly used for anubandh&ya?
98 THE BUDDHA-J5TAR1TA OF ASVAGHOSHA.
inseparably connected with all things 1; time drags the world into all its various times; but all time suits a bliss which is really worthy of praise 2.
39. ‘ That the king should wish to surrender to me his kingdom, — this is a noble thought, well worthy of a father; but it would be as improper for me to accept it, as for a sick man through greed to accept unwholesome food.
40. ‘ How can it be right for the wise man to enter royalty, the home of illusion, where are found anxiety, passion, and weariness, and the violation of all right through another’s service?
41. ‘The golden palace seems to me to be on fire; the daintiest viands seem mixed with poison; infested with crocodiles 3 [is the tranquil lotus-bed].’
42. Having heard the king’s son uttering this discourse, well suitable to his virtues and knowledge of the soul, freed from all desires, full of sound reasons, and weighty, — the counsellor thus made answer: 43. * This resolve of thine is an excellent counsel, not unfit in itself but only unfit at the present time; it could not be thy duty, loving duty as thou dost, to leave thy father in his old age to sorrow.
44. ‘ Surely thy mind is not very penetrating, or it is ill-skilled in examining duty, wealth, and pleasure4, — when for the sake of an unseen result thou departest disregarding a visible end.
2 I.e. mukti can never be ill-timed. But this is an obscure floka. * The remainder of the prince’s speech is lost. By Beal’s translation from the Chinese, fifteen verses are wanting.
4 The three well-known ‘secular’ ends of human action.
99 45. ‘Again, some say that there is another birth, — others with confident assertion say that there is not; since then the matter is all in doubt, it is right to enjoy the good fortune which comes into thy hand.
46. ‘ If there is any activity hereafter, we will enjoy ourselves in it as may offer; or if there is no activity beyond this life, then there is an assured liberation to all the world without any effort.
47. ‘ Some say there is a future life, but they do not allow the possibility of liberation; as fire is hot by nature and water liquid, so they hold that there is a special nature in our power of action 1.
48. ‘Some maintain that all things arise from inherent properties, — both good and evil and exist¬ ence and non-existence; and since all this world thus arises spontaneously, therefore also all effort of ours is vain.
49. ‘ Since the action of the senses is fixed, and so too the agreeableness or the disagreeableness of outward objects, — then for that which is united to old age and pains, what effort can avail to alter it? Does it not all arise spontaneously?
50. ‘ The fire becomes quenched by water, and fire causes 2 water to evaporate; and different elements, united in a body, producing unity, bear up the world.
51. ‘That the nature of the embryo in the womb is produced as composed of hands, feet, belly, back, and head, and that it is also united with the soul, — the wise declare that all this comes of itself sponta¬ neously.
52. ‘Who causes the sharpness of the thorn? or 1 I.e. it cannot be abolished, I read gamayanti.
IOO THE BUDDHA-tfARITA OF ASVAGHOSHA.
the various natures of beasts and birds? All this has arisen spontaneously; there is no acting from desire, how then can there be such a thing as will?
53. ‘ Others say that creation comes from Isvara, — what need then is there of the effort of the conscious soul 1? That which is the cause of the action of the world, is also determined as the cause of its ceasing to act.
54. ‘ Some say that the coming into being and the destruction of being are alike caused by the soul; but they say that coming into being arises without effort, while the attainment of liberation is by effort.
55. ‘A man discharges his debt to his ancestors by begetting offspring, to the saints by sacred lore, to the gods by sacrifices; he is born with these three debts upon him, — whoever has liberation (from these,) he indeed has liberation.
56. ‘ Thus by this series of rules the wise pro¬ mise liberation to him who uses effort; but however ready for effort with all their energy, those who seek liberation will find weariness.
57. ‘Therefore, gentle youth, if thou hast a love for liberation, follow rightly the prescribed rule; thus wilt thou thyself attain to it, and the king’s grief will come to an end.
58. ‘ And as for thy meditations on the evils of life ending in thy return from the forest to thy home, — let not the thought of this trouble thee, my son, — those in old time also have returned from the forests to their houses.
59. ‘ The king Awbarisha 2, though he had 1 Purusba.
Probably the son of Nabhaga.
IOI dwelt in the forest, went back to the city, sur¬ rounded by his children; so too Rama, seeing the earth oppressed by the base, came forth from his hermitage and ruled it again.
60. ‘ So too Drumlksha, the king of the.Silvas, came to his city from the forest with his son; and S&mkriti Awtideva \ after he had become a Brah- marshi, received his royal dignity from the saint Vadsh/^a.
61. ‘Such men as these, illustrious in glory and virtue, left the forests and came back to their houses; therefore it is no sin to return from a her¬ mitage to one’s home, if it be only for the sake of duty.’
62. Then having heard the affectionate and loyal words of the minister, who was as the eye of the king, — firm in his resolve, the king’s son made his answer, with nothing omitted or displaced1 2, neither tedious 3 nor hasty: 63. ‘ This doubt whether anything exists or not, is not to be solved for me by another’s words; having determined the truth by asceticism or quiet¬ ism, I will myself grasp whatever is ascertained concerning it.
64. ‘It is not for me to accept a theory which depends on the unknown and is all controverted, and which involves a hundred prepossessions; what 1 This might mean Awztideva (cf. I, 57, IX, 20) the son of Sa»zkrfti, but in Mahabh. XII, 1013 we have Razrctideva the son of Sawzkrzti; cf. Burnouf on Rudraka and Udraka, Introduction, p. 386. [The Tibetan takes sawkrfti as sbyin-sreg-dan-bcas, ‘together with burnt offering.’ H. W.] Would this imply an old reading sahuti?— For Awztideva’s connection with Varish/$a see Mahabh.
THE BUDDHA-STAR ITA OF ASVAGHOSHA.
wise man would go by another’s belief? Man¬ kind are like the blind directed in the darkness by the blind.
65. ‘ But even though I cannot discern the truth, yet still, if good and evil are doubted, let one’s mind be set on the good; even a toil1 in vain is to be chosen by him whose soul is good, while the man of base soul has no joy even in the truth.
66. ‘ But having seen that this “ sacred tradition ” is uncertain, know that that only is right which has been uttered by the trustworthy; and know that trustworthiness means the absence of faults; he who is without faults will not utter an un¬ truth.
67. ‘And as for what thou saidst to me in regard to my returning to my home, by alleging Rama and others as examples, they are no authority, — for in determining duty, how canst thou quote as autho¬ rities those who have broken their vows?
68. ‘ Even the sun, therefore, may fall to the earth, even the mountain Himavat may lose its firmness; but never would I return to my home as a man of the world, with no knowledge of the truth and my senses only alert for external objects.