47. But five arrows shot by another stood motion¬ less and fell not, through the saint’s ruling guidance, — like the five senses of him who is well experienced in the course of worldly objects and is afraid of embodied existence.
48. Another, full of anger, rushed towards the. great saint, having seized a club with a desire to 1 DhCiry ama/20 is a difficult word, connected with -/dh \ri or V dhurv.
144 THE BUDDHA-tfARITA OF ASVAGHOSHA.
smite him; but he fell powerless without finding an opportunity, like mankind in the presence of faults which cause failure 49. But a woman named Meghakal!, bearing a skull in her hand, in order to infatuate the mind of the sage, flitted about unsettled and stayed not in one spot, like the mind of the fickle student over the sacred texts.
50. Another, fixing a kindling eye, wished to burn him with the fire of his glance like a poisonous serpent; but he saw the sage and lo! he was not there, like the votary of pleasure when true happiness is pointed out to him 1 2.
51. Another, lifting up a heavy rock, wearied himself to no purpose, having his efforts baffled, — like one who wishes to obtain by bodily fatigue that condition of supreme happiness which is only to be reached by meditation and knowledge.
52. Others, wearing the forms of hyenas and lions, uttered loudly fierce howls, which caused all beings round to quail with terror, as thinking that the heavens were smitten with a thunderbolt and were bursting.
53. Deer and elephants uttering cries of pain ran about or lay down, — in that night as if it were day screaming birds flew around disturbed in all directions.
54. But amidst all these various sounds which they made, although all living creatures were shaken, the saint trembled not nor quailed, like Garut/a at the noise of crows.
1 Cf. randhropanip&tino*nartha/4, Vakunt. VI.
2 He had not eyes to see the object which he looked for.
BOOK XIII, 49-62.
55. The less the saint feared the frightful hosts of that multitude, the more did M&ra, the enemy of the righteous, continue his attacks in grief and anger.
56. Then some being of invisible shape, but of pre¬ eminent glory, standing in the heavens, — beholding Mira thus malevolent against the seer, — addressed him in a loud voice, unruffled by enmity: 57. ‘Take not on thyself, O Mira, this vain fatigue, — throw aside thy malevolence and retire to peace 1; this sage cannot be shaken by thee any more than the mighty mountain Meru by the wind.
58. ‘ Even fire might lose its hot nature, water t its fluidity, earth its steadiness, but never will he abandon his resolution, who has acquired his merit by a long course of actions through unnumbered aeons.
59. ‘ Such is that purpose of his, that heroic effort, that glorious strength, that compassion for all beings, — until he attains the highest wisdom, he will never rise from his seat, just as the sun does not rise, with¬ out dispelling the darkness.
60. 1 One who rubs the two pieces of wood obtains the fire, one who digs the earth finds at last the water, — and to him in his perseverance there is nothing unattainable, — all things to him are reason¬ able and possible.
61. ‘ Pitying the world lying distressed amidst diseases and passions, he, the great physician, ought not to be hindered, who undergoes all his labours for the sake of the remedy knowledge.
62. ‘He who toilsomely pursues the one good path, when all the world is carried away in devious 146 THE BUDDHA-JTARITA OF ASVAGHOSHA.
tracks, — he the guide should not be disturbed, like a right informant when the caravan has lost its way.
63. ‘He who is made a lamp of knowledge when all beings are lost in the great darkness, — it is not for a right-minded soul to try to quench him, — like a lamp kindled in the gloom of night.
64. ‘ He who, when he beholds the world drowned in the great flood of existence and unable to reach the further shore, strives to bring them safely across, — would any right-minded soul offer him wrong?
65. ‘ The tree of knowledge, whose roots go deep in firmness, and whose fibres are patience, — whose flowers are moral actions and whose branches are memory and thought, — and which gives out the law as its fruit, — surely when it is growing it should not be cut down.
66. ‘ Him whose one desire is to deliver mankind bound in soul by the fast snares of illusion, — thy wish to overthrow him is not worthy, wearied as he is for the sake of unloosing the bonds of the world.
67. ‘To-day is the appointed period of all those actions which have been performed by him for the sake of knowledge, — he is now seated on this seat just as all the previous saints have sat.
68. ‘ This is the navel of the earth’s surface, endued with all the highest glory; there is no other spot of the earth than this, — the home of contemplation, the realm of well-being.
69. ‘ Give not way, then, to grief but put on calm; let not thy greatness, O M ara, be mixed with pride; it is not well to be confident, — fortune BOOK XIII, 63-73.
is unstable, — why dost thou accept a position on a tottering base? ’ 70. Having listened to his words, and having seen the unshaken firmness of the great saint, M&ra departed dispirited and broken in purpose1 with those very arrows by which, O world, thou art smitten in thy heart.
71. With their triumph at an end, their labour all fruitless, and all their stones, straw, and trees thrown away, that host of his fled in all directions, like some hostile army when its camp has been destroyed by the enemy.
72. When the flower-armed god2 thus fled away vanquished with his hostile forces and the passion¬ less sage remained victorious, having conquered all the power of darkness, the heavens shone out with the moon like a maiden with a smile, and a sweet¬ smelling shower of flowers fell down wet with dew.
73. 3 When the wicked one thus fled vanquished, the different regions of the sky grew clear, the moon shone forth, showers of flowers fell down from the sky upon the earth, and the night gleamed out like a spotless maiden 4.
1 I read hatodyamo.
2 Mira as identified with Kamadeva, cf. ver. 2.
8 Should we read tatha hi for tathapi?
4 Here the original work of Arvaghosha ends according to the gloss at the close of the Cambridge MS. C; the four remaining books were added, to supply an old lacuna, by Amrhananda, a modern Nepalese author. The Chinese and Tibetan translations seem to agree with the Sanskrit for part of the fourteenth book, but they soon diverge widely from it. The four books are included in the translation as a literary curiosity.
BOOK XIV.
x. Then, having conquered the hosts of Mira by his firmness and calmness, he the great master of meditation set himself to meditate, longing to know the supreme end.
2. And having attained the highest mastery in all kinds of meditation, he remembered in the first watch the continuous series of all his former births.
3. ‘ In such a place I was so and so by name, and from thence I passed and came hither,’ thus he remembered his thousands of births, experi¬ encing each as it were over again.
4. And having remembered each birth and each death in all those various transmigrations, the com¬ passionate one then felt compassion for all living beings.
5. Having wilfully rejected the good guides in this life and done all kinds of actions in various lives, this world of living beings rolls on helplessly, like a wheel.
6. As he thus remembered, to him in his strong self-control came the conviction, 1 All existence is unsubstantial, like the fruit of a plantain.’
7. When the second watch came, he, possessed of unequalled energy, received a pre-eminent divine sight, he the highest of all sight-gifted beings.
BOOK XIV, I-l8.
8. Then by that divine perfectly pure sight he beheld the whole world as in a spotless mirror.
9. As he saw the various transmigrations and rebirths of the various beings with their several lower or higher merits from their actions, compas¬ sion grew up more within him.
10. ‘ These living beings, under the influence of evil actions, pass into wretched worlds, — these others, under the influence of good actions, go forward in heaven.
11. ‘The one, being born in a dreadful hell full of terrors, are miserably tortured, alas! by many kinds of suffering; 12. ‘ Some are made to drink molten iron of the colour of fire, others are lifted aloft screaming on a red-hot iron pillar; 1 3. ‘ Others are baked like flour, thrown with their heads downwards into iron jars; others are miserably burned in heaps of heated charcoal; 14. ‘Some are devoured by fierce dreadful dogs with iron teeth, others by gloating crows with iron beaks and all made as it were of iron; 15. ‘Some, wearied of being burned, long for cold shade; these enter like bound captives into a dark blue wood with swords for leaves.
16. ‘Others having many arms are split like timber with axes, but even in that agony they do not die, being supported in their vital powers by their previous actions.
17. ‘Whatever deed was done only to hinder pain with the hope that it might bring pleasure, its result is now experienced by these helpless victims as simple pain.
18. ‘These who did something evil for the sake 150 THE BUDDIIA-tfARITA OF ASVAGHOSHA.
of pleasure and are now grievously pained, — does that old taste produce even an atom of pleasure to them now?
19. ‘The wicked deed which was done by the wicked-hearted in glee, — its consequences are reaped by them in the fulness of time with cries.
20. ‘If only evil doers could see the fruits of their actions, they would vomit hot blood as if they were smitten in a vital part.
21. ‘And worse still than all these bodily tor¬ tures in hell seems to me the association of an intelligent man with the base.
22. ‘ Others also, through various actions arising from the spasmodic violence of their minds, are born miserable in the wombs of various beasts.
23. ‘There the poor wretches are killed even in the sight of their kindred, for the sake of their flesh, their skin, their hair, or their teeth, or through hatred or for mere pleasure.
24. ‘ Even though powerless and helpless, op¬ pressed by hunger, thirst, and fatigue, they are driven along as oxen and horses, their bodies wounded with goads.
25. ‘They are driven along, when born as ele¬ phants, by weaker creatures than themselves for all their strength, — their heads tormented by the hook and their bodies kicked by foot and heel.
26. ‘And with all these other miseries there is an especial misery arising from mutual enmity and from subjection to a master.
27. ‘Air-dwellers are oppressed by air-dwellers, the denizens of water by the denizens of water, those that dwell on dry land are made to suffer by the dwellers on dry land in mutual hostility.
28. ‘And others there are who, when born again, with their minds filled with envy, reap the miserable fruit of their actions in a world of the Pitrz’s desti¬ tute of all light; 29. ‘ Having mouths as small as the eye of a needle and bellies as big as a mountain, these miserable wretches are tortured with the pains of hunger and thirst.
30. ‘ If a man only knew that such was the con¬ sequence of selfishness, he would always give to others even pieces of his own body like.Sibi.
31. ‘Rushing up filled with hope but held back by their former deeds, they try in vain to eat anything large, however impure.
32. ‘ Others, having found a hell in an impure lake called the womb, are born amongst men and there suffer anguish.
33. ‘ Others, ascetics, who have performed merito¬ rious actions go to heaven; others, having attained widely extended empire, wander about on the earth 1; 34. ‘ Others as Nagas in the subterranean regions become the guardians of treasures, — they wander in the ocean of existence, receiving the fruits of their deeds.’
35. Having pondered all this, in the last watch he thus reflected, ‘ Alas for this whole world of living beings doomed to misery, all alike wandering astray!
36. ‘ They know not that all this universe, desti¬ tute of any real refuge, is born and decays through that existence which is the site of the skandhas and pain; 1 Heaven and earthly empire are alike transient.
152 THE BUDDHA-5TARITA OF ASVAGHOSHA.
37. ‘It dies and passes into a new state and then is born anew.’ Then he reflected, ‘What is that which is the necessary condition for old age and death? ’ 38. He saw that when there is birth, there is old age and death, then he pondered, ‘ What is that which is the necessary condition for a new birth1?’
40. He perceived that where there has been the attachment to existence 2 there arises a (previous) exist¬ ence; then he pondered, ‘ What is that which is the necessary condition for the attachment to existence?’
41. Having ascertained this to be desire, he again meditated, and he next pondered, ‘ What is that which is the necessary condition for desire?’
42. He saw that desire arises where there is sensation, and he next pondered, ‘ What is that which is the necessary condition for sensation? ’ 43. He saw that sensation arises where there is contact3, and he next pondered, ‘What is that which is the necessary condition for contact?’
44. He saw that contact arises through the six organs of sense; he then pondered, ‘ Where do the six organs of sense arise? ’ 45. He reflected that these arise in the organ¬ ism *, he then pondered, ‘ Where does the organism arise? ’ 1 A verse (39) is omitted here containing the third step bhava (cf. Chinese translation, 1150, 1151), ‘He perceived that when there has been a (previous) existence [involving previous actions] there is a new birth; then he pondered, “What is that which is the necessary condition for a previous existence arising? ” ’ (Cf. Burnouf, Introd. pp. 485-506; Childers in Colebrooke’s Essays, vol. i, 1873.)
2 Upadanam. 3 Sc. between the senses and their objects.
4 N amarupa, sc. ‘name and form,’i.e. the individual consisting of mind and body, as the embryo in the womb.
46. He saw that the organism arises where there is incipient consciousness; he then pon¬ dered, ‘Where does incipient consciousness arise?’
47. He reflected that incipient consciousness arises where there are the latent impressions left by former actions; and he next pondered, ‘ Where do the latent impressions arise? ’ 48. He reflected exhaustively that they arise in ignorance; thus did the great seer, the Bodhisattva, the lord of saints, 49. After reflecting, pondering, and meditating, finally determine, ‘The latent impressions start into activity after they are once developed from ignor¬ ance.
50. ‘ Produced from the activity of the latent im¬ pressions incipient consciousness starts into action; (the activity) of the organism starts into action on having an experience1 of incipient consciousness; 51. ‘ The six organs of sense become active when produced in the organism; sensation is produced from the contact of the six organs (with their ob¬ jects); 52. ‘Desire starts into activity when produced from sensation; the attachment to existence springs from desire; from this attachment arises a (continued) existence; 53. ‘ Birth is produced where there has been a (continued) existence; and from birth arise old age, disease, and the rest; and scorched by the flame of old age and disease the world is devoured by death; 54. ‘ When it is thus scorched by the fire of 1 Sawparikshya is a doubtful reading; I supply vriiiih with namarhpasya.
154 THE buddha-xarita of asvaghosha.
death’s anguish great pain arises; such verily is the origin of this great trunk of pain.’
55. Thus having ascertained it all, the great Being was perfectly illuminated; and having again medi¬ tated and pondered, he thus reflected, 56. ‘ When old age and disease are stopped, death also is stopped; and when birth is stopped, old age and disease are stopped; 57. ‘When the action of existence is stopped, birth also is stopped; when the attachment to exist¬ ence is stopped, the action of existence is stopped; 58. ‘ So too when desire is stopped, the attachment to existence is stopped; and with the stopping of sensation desire is no longer produced; 59. ‘And when the contact of the six organs is stopped, sensation is no longer produced; and with the stopping of the six organs their contact (with their objects) is stopped; 60. ‘And with the stopping of the organism the six organs are stopped; and with the stopping of inci¬ pient consciousness the organism is stopped; 61. ‘ And with the stopping of the latent impres¬ sions incipient consciousness is stopped; and with the stopping of ignorance the latent impressions have no longer any power.
62. ‘ Thus ignorance is declared to be the root of this great trunk of pain by all the wise; therefore it is to be stopped by those who seek liberation.
63. ‘ Therefore by the stopping of ignorance all the pains also of all existing beings are at once stopped and cease to act.’
64. The all-knowing Bodhisattva, the illuminated one, having thus determined, after again pondering and meditating thus came to his conclusion; 65. ‘ This is pain, this also is the origin of pain in the world of living beings; this also is the stopping of pain; this is that course which leads to its stopping.’ So having determined he knew all as it really was.
66. Thus he, the holy one, sitting there on his seat of grass at the root of the tree, pondering by his own efforts attained at last perfect knowledge.
67. Then bursting the shell of ignorance, having gained all the various kinds of perfect intuition, he attained all the partial knowledge of alternatives which is included in perfect knowledge '.
68. He became the perfectly wise, the Bhagavat, the Arhat, the king of the Law, the T athagata, He who has attained the knowledge of all forms, the Lord of all science.
69. Having beheld all this, the spirits standing in heaven spoke one to another, ‘Strew flowers on this All-wise Monarch of Saints.’
70. While other immortals exclaimed, who knew the course of action of the greatest among the former saints, ‘ Do not now strew flowers — no reason for it has been shown.’
71. Then the Buddha, mounted on a throne, up in the air to the height of seven palm-trees, addressed all those Nirmita Bodhisattva^ 2, illumining their minds, 72. ‘ Ho! ho! listen ye to the words of me who have now attained perfect knowledge; everything is achieved by meritorious works, therefore as long as existence lasts 3 acquire merit.
1 Doubtful. I suppose it means that he knew all hypothetical as well as categorical propositions.
3 These Nirmitd BodhisattvaA seem to be the nim- mdwarati deva of the southern Buddhists with their nimmita ktimd or self-created pleasures.
s Abhavam.
156 THE BUDDHA-2STARITA OF ASVAGHOSHA.
73. ‘ Since I ever acted as liberal, pure-hearted, patient, skilful, devoted to meditation and wis¬ dom, — by these meritorious works I became a Bodhisattva.
74. ‘ After accomplishing in due order the entire round of the preliminaries of perfect wisdom, — I have now attained that highest wisdom and I am become the All-wise Arhat and (Ana.
75. ‘ My aspiration is thus fulfilled; this birth of mine has borne its fruit; the blessed and immortal knowledge which was attained by former Buddhas, is now mine.
76. ‘ As they through the good Law achieved the welfare of all beings, so also have I; all my sins are abolished, I am the destroyer of all pains.
77. ‘ Possessing a soul now of perfect purity, I urge all living beings to seek the abolition of worldly existence through the lamps of the Law.’ Having worshipped him as he thus addressed them, those sons of the (Anas disappeared.
78. The gods then with exultation paid him wor¬ ship and adoration with divine flowers; and all the world, when the great saint had become all-wise, was full of brightness.
79. Then the holy one descended and stood on his throne under the tree; there he passed seven days filled with the thought, ‘ I have here attained perfect wisdom.’
80. When the Bodhisattva had thus attained per¬ fect knowledge, all beings became full of great happiness; and all the different universes were illumined by a great light.
81. The happy earth shook in six different ways like an overjoyed woman, and the Bodhisattvas, each dwelling in his own special abode, assembled and praised him.
82. ‘ There has arisen the greatest of all beings, the Omniscient All-wise Arhat — a lotus, unsoiled by the dust of passion, sprung up from the lake of knowledge; 83. ‘A cloud bearing the water of patience, pouring forth the ambrosia of the good Law, fostering all the seeds of merit, and causing all the shoots of healing to grow; 84. ‘A thunderbolt with a hundred edges, the vanquisher of Mira, armed only with the weapon of patience; a gem fulfilling all desires, a tree of para¬ dise, a jar of true good fortune \ a cow that yields all that heart can wish; 85. ‘A sun that destroys the darkness of delusion, a moon that takes away the scorching heat of the inherent sins of existence,— glory to thee, glory to thee, glory to thee, O Tathagata; 86. ‘ Glory to thee, O Lord of the whole world, glory to thee, who hast gone through the ten (Balas 1 2); glory to thee, O true hero amongst men, O Lord of righteousness, glory to thee! ’ 87. Thus having praised, honoured, and adored him, they each returned to their several homes, after making repeated reverential circumambulations, and recounting his eulogy.
88. Then the beings of the Kamiva^ara worlds, and the brilliant inhabitants of the Pure Abodes, the 1 The bhadrakumbha was the golden jar filled with consecrated water, used especially at the inauguration of a king.
2 The ten balas are ten kinds of spiritual knowledge peculiar to a Buddha; but ‘the ten’ may be the ten dharmas, see Childers.
158 THE BUDDHA-XAR1TA OF ASVAGHOSHA.
Brahmakayika gods, and those sons of Mira who favoured the side of truth *, 89. The Paranirmitavai'avarti beings, and the Nirmiraarataya/^; the Tushita beings, the Yimas, the Trayastrimad Devas, and the other rulers of worlds, 90. The deities who roam in the sky, those who roam on the earth or in forests, accompanying each their own king, came to the pavilion of the Bodhi tree, 91. And having worshipped the Cana with forms of homage suitable to their respective positions, and having praised him with hymns adapted to their respective degrees of knowledge, they returned to their own homes.
1 These terms are all explained in Childers’ Diet, sattaloko. For the better-inclined sons of Mira, cf. the dialogue between those of the right side and the left side before Mira in the Lalitav. XXI, cf. also XXIII.
BOOK XV.
1. Daily praised by all the various heavenly beings, the perfectly Wise One 1 thus passed that period of seven days which is designated ‘ the aliment of joy V 2. He then passed the second week, while he was bathed with jars full of water by the heavenly beings, the Bodhisattvas and the rest 3. Then having bathed in the four oceans and being seated on his throne, he passed the third week restraining his eyes from seeing.
4. In the fourth week, assuming many forms, he stood triumphant on his throne, having delivered a being who was ready to be converted.
5. A god named Samawtakusuma, bearing an offering of flowers, thus addressed with folded hands the great Buddha who was seated there: 6. ‘What is the name, O holy one, of this meditation, engaged in which thou hast thus passed four whole weeks with joy, deeply pondering? ’ 7. ‘ This is designated, O divine being, “the array3 of the aliment of great joy,” like an inaugurated king, who has overcome his enemies and enjoys prosperity.’
8. Having said this, the saint possessing the ten 1 Sawbuddha.
2 Prityahara; this book corresponds closely with Lalitav.
XXIV.
s Vyftha.
l6o THE BUDDHA-JTARITA OF ASVAGHOSHA.
pre-eminent powers, full of joy, continued, ‘ The former perfect Buddhas also did not leave the Bodhi tree.
9. ‘ Here the Klesas and the Maras together with ignorance and the Asravas have been conquered by me; and perfect wisdom has been attained able to deliver the world.
10. ‘ I too, resolved to follow the teaching of the former Buddhas, remained four whole weeks in the fulfilment of my inauguration V xx. Then M&ra, utterly despondent in soul, thus addressed the Tathagata, ‘O holy one, be pleased to enter Nirvana, thy desires are accomplished.’
1 2. ‘ I will first establish in perfect wisdom worlds as numerous as the sand, and then I will enter Nirvana,’ thus did the Buddha reply, and with a shriek Mdra went to his home.
13. Then the three daughters of Mara, Lust, Thirst, and Delight 2, beholding their father with defeated face, approached the Tathagata.
14. Lust, with a face like the moon and versed in all the arts of enchantment, tried to infatuate him by her descriptions of the pleasures of a house¬ holder’s life.
15. ‘Think, “If I abandon an emperor’s hap¬ piness, with what paltry happiness shall I have to content myself? When success is lost, what shall I have to enjoy?”— and come and take refuge with us.
16. ‘ Else, in bitter repentance, thou wilt remember me hereafter, when thou art fallen.’ — But he listened 1 Query abhishekSdik&ryataA? s Cf. XIII, 3 and 14. Cf. also Lalitav. XXIV (arati?).
l6l not to her words, closing his eyes in deep meditation like one who is sleepy.
17. Then Thirst, shameless like one distressed with thirst, thus addressed him who was free from all thirst: ‘Fie, fie, thou hast abandoned thy family duties, thou hast fallen from all social obligations; 18. ‘Without power no asceticism, sacrifice, or vow can be accomplished, — those great i?fshis Brahman and the rest, because they were endowed with power, enjoy their present triumph.
19. ‘Know me to be the power called Thirst1, and worship thirst accordingly; else I will clasp thee with all my might and fling away thy life.’
20. Motionless as one almost dead, he continued in meditation, remembering the former Buddhas; then Delight next tried to win him who was indeed hard to be won by evil deeds.
21. ‘ O holy one, I am Delight by name, fostering all practicable delights, — therefore making me the female mendicant’s tutelary power, bring delight within thy reach.’
22. But whether flattered or threatened, whether she uttered curses or blessings, he remained absorbed in meditation, perfectly tranquil like one who has entered Nirvana.
23. Then the three, with despondent faces, having retired together on one side, consulted with one another and came forward wearing the appearance of youthful beauty.
24. Folding their hands in reverence they thus addressed the Tathagata, ‘O holy one, receive us as religious mendicants, we are come to thy one refuge.
1 Sc. Desire. M 1 62 THE BUDDHA-JTARITA OF ASVAGHOSHA.
25. ‘ Having heard the fame of thy achievements, we, the daughters of Namu^i, have come from the golden city, abandoning the life of a household.
26. ‘We are desirous of repressing the teaching of our five hundred brothers, — we would be freed from a master, as thou thyself art freed from all passions.’
27. Having his mind continually guided by the conduct which leads to Nirvana, and setting himself to remember the (former) Buddhas, he kept his eyes closed, absorbed in meditation.
28. Then again, having resolved on their new plan in concert, these enchantresses, assuming an older aspect, approached once more to delude him.
29. ‘We have come here after wandering under the dismal avatara of slaves1, — thou art the avatara of Buddha, — do thou establish us, mature, in the true Bauddha doctrine.
30. ‘We are women of older age, much to be pitied, bewildered by the fear of death, — we are therefore worthy to be established in that doctrine of N irva^a which puts an end to all future births.’
31. These words of the enchantresses were heard by him, yet he felt no anger; but they all became the victims of old age, through the manifestation of his divine power.
32. Having beheld him plunged in meditation, immovable like the mountain Meru, — they turned away their faces and they could not retain their beauty.
33. Bending their feet, with decrepit limbs, they 1 1 read dasa- for dafa-; could there be a reference to the ten avataras?
thus addressed their father: ‘ O father, do thou, the lord of the world of Desire, restore us to our own forms.’
34. His daughters were dear, but he had no power to alter the effect of the will of Buddha; then their father said to them, ‘Go to the refuge which he gives.’
35. Then they in various guises, bent humbly at his feet, implored the perfect Buddha, ‘ Pardon our transgression, whose minds were intoxicated with youth.’
36. The teacher, that mine of Forgiveness, in silence restored them by his will; and having repeatedly worshipped and praised him they went joyfully to their home.
37. Then again M&ra, the lord of the world of Desire, lost to shame, taking the form of the head of a family, thus addressed him from the sky: 38. ‘ I worshipped thee long ago, foretelling that thou wouldest become a Buddha; and by my blessings thou hast to-day become Buddha Tathagata- 39. ‘ As thou didst come from thine own kingdom, so now having returned as Tathagata, with a name corresponding to the reality be a king TatMgata.
40. ‘ Having gone to that royal station, do thou meditate on the three jewels, and cherish thy father and mother, and delight Yasodharfi, — 41. ‘ Possessed of a thousand sons, and able to deliver the world, be successively the supreme lord of every world from the Yama heaven onwards1.
42. ‘ Having become also the supreme lord of all 1 Mara rules the four heavens from the Yama to the Paranirmi- tavaravartin, Mahabrahman the twenty Brahmalokas above them.
164 the BUDDHA-XARITA OF ASVAGHOSHA.
Bodhisattvas, thou shalt attain Nirvana; O wise seer, repair to the hermitage of Kapila in order to beget those sons.
43. ‘As thou art the king of the Law, so shall thy sons also be all Tathagatas, and all the activity and cessation of existence shall depend upon thee, O Cina.’
44. To him thus speaking the All-wise replied, ‘ Hear, O shameless one; thou art Mira, not the head of a clan, the upholder of the race of the Aakyas.
45. ‘A host like thee, though they came in myriads, could not harm me, — I will go to my king¬ dom gradually, I will bring the world to perfect happiness.
46. ‘ Thou art utterly vanquished, O Namu^i, go back to thy own home; I will go hence to turn the wheel of the Law in Varanasi.’
47. He, on hearing this command, saying with a deep sigh, ‘ Alas! I am crushed,’ left him and went despondent and companionless through the sky to his home.
48. Then he, the conqueror of Mira, rising from that throne, set forth to journey alone to the holy Viriwasi.
49. The heavens became covered with clouds when they saw the chief of saints, and the king of the Nigas Mu/Hlinda made a petition in reverential faith: