50. ‘ O holy one, thou art all-wise, there will be stormy weather for seven days, — wind, rain, and darkness, — dwell for the time in my abode.’
51. Though himself possessed of all supernatural power, the holy one thought of the world still in¬ volved in embodied existence, and sitting on that jewel-seat he remained absorbed in contemplation.
52. That king of the Nagas there protected the Buddha, who is himself the source of all protection, from the rain, wind, and darkness, covering his body with his own hood.
53. When the seven days were past and the Naga had paid his homage and was gone, the Gnna pro¬ ceeded to the bank of a river, near a forest of goat-herds 1.
54. As the Sugata stayed there during the night, a deity, who bore the name of the Indian fig-tree, came up to him, illumining the spot where he was, and thus addressed him with folded hands: 55. ‘ The fig-tree was planted by me when I was born as a man, bearing the name of Buddha; and it has been fostered like the Bodhi tree in the hope of delivering myself from evil.
56. ‘ By the merit of that action I myself have been born in heaven; in kindness to me, O my lord, do thou dwell seven days in triumph here.’
57. ‘So be it,’ said the chief of all saints, the true Kalpa tree to grant the wishes of the faithful votary, and he stayed under the fig-tree, absorbed in con¬ templation, spreading lustre around like a full moon.
58. There he dwelt seven days; and then in a forest of Datura trees, sitting at the foot of a palm, he remained absorbed in contemplation.
59. Spending thus in different spots his weeks of meditation, day and night, the great saint, pondering and fasting, went on in his way, longing to accom¬ plish the world’s salvation.
60. Then two wealthy merchants from the land 1 A^apalaka is in Pali Costus speciosus; but it may here be a proper name.
1 66 THE BUDDHA-.KARITA OF ASVAGHOSHA.
of Uttara Utkala1, named Trapusha and Bhallika, journeying with five hundred waggons, 61. Being freed from a sin which involved a birth as pretas 2, both joyfully worshipped Buddha with an offering of the three sweet substances3 and milk; and they obtained thereby auspicious blessings.
62. They obtained pieces of his nails and hairs for a A^aitya and they also received a prophecy of their future birth, and having received the additional promise, ‘Ye shall also obtain a stone4,’ they then proceeded on their way elsewhere.
63. Then Buddha accepted alms in his bowl, offered by the goddess who dwelt in the Datura grove, and he blessed her with benedictions.
64. The Cina then blessed the four bowls as one, which were offered by the four Maharajas 5, and ate with pleasure the offering of milk.
65. Then one day the Gina ate there an Harltaki fruit 6 which was offered to him by Yakra, and having planted the seed he caused it to grow to a tree.
66. The king of the Devas carried the news thereof joyfully to the Deva-heavens; and gods, men, and de¬ mons watered it with reverential circumambulations.
67. On hearing the news of the Haritaki seed, and remembering the whole history from first to last, a daughter of the gods named Bhadrika, who had been a cow in her former birth 7, came from heaven.
1 Northern Orissa.
2 Pretadosha? or the evil inflicted by a preta?
3 Sc. sugar, honey, and ghee.
4 With the mark of Buddha’s feet on it?
6 The rulers of the lowest devaloka.
6 Terminalia chebula. 7 Cf. MaWtbh. V, 7553.
68. She, the daughter of the gods, smiling with her companions, thus addressed the Gina, bringing him a garment of rags, dependent from a bough: 69. ‘ I beg to bring to thy notice — what? O Buddha! — accept this garment of rags, by whose influence I am now a daughter of heaven named Bhadrika.’
70. ‘ By the further development of this merit thou shalt become a Bodhisattva ’ — uttering this blessing the Teacher accepted the rags.
71. Beholding the tattered rags, the gods, crowd¬ ing in the sky, filled with wonder, and uttering cries of h i hi, flung down upon him garments of heavenly silk.
72. ‘ These are not fit for a religious mendicant,’ — so saying, he did not accept even one of them, — only thinking in his calm apathy, ‘ these are fit for imperial pomp and a householder’s luxury.’
73. He desired a stone slab and some water in order to wash the dirt away, — 6akra at that moment dug out a great river full of water; 74. And four stones are brought to him by the four Mahard^as, — on one he himself sat, on another he performed the washing; 75. On another he performed the drying, and another he flung up into the sky; the stone as it flew up reached the blazing city 1 and astonished all the worlds.
76. After paying their worship in many ways, Trapusha and Bhallika duly raised an excellent ATaitya and they called it Ailagarbha.
77. The ascetics of that neighbourhood paid their 1 The sun? or the sphere of fire?
168 THE BUDDHA-SARITA OF ASVAGIIOSHA.
homage to the ‘ Three Stones ’ when they were made into a Waitya, and the noble stream flowed widely- known as the ‘ Holy River.’
78. Those who bathe and offer their worship in the holy river and reverence the Waitya of the three stones, become great-souled Bodhisattvas and obtain Nirvana.
79. Then seated under a palm-tree the holy one pondered: ‘ The profound wisdom so hard to be understood is now known by me.
80. ‘ These sin-defiled worlds understand not this most excellent (Law), and the unenlightened shame¬ lessly censure both me and my wisdom.
81. ‘Shall I proclaim the Law? It is only pro¬ duced by knowledge; having attained it thus in my lonely pondering, do I feel strong enough to deliver the world? ’ 82. Having remembered all that he had heard before, he again pondered; and resolving, ‘ I will explain it for the sake of delivering the world,’ 83. Buddha, the chief of saints, absorbed in con¬ templation, shone forth, arousing 1 the world, having emitted in the darkness of the night a light from the tuft of hair between his eyebrows.
84. When it became dawn, Brahman and the other gods, and the various rulers of the different worlds, besought Sugata to turn the wheel of the Law.
85. When the Gina by his silence uttered an assenting ‘ so be it,’ they returned to their own abodes; and the lion of the Gakyas also shone there, still remaining lost in contemplation.
86. Then the four divinities (of the Bodhi tree), Dharmaruii and the rest, addressed him, ‘ Where, O teacher of the world, will the holy one turn the wheel of the Law? ’ 87. ‘ In V&rciwasl, in the Deer Park will I turn the wheel of the Law; seated in the fourth posture \ O deities, I will deliver the world.’
88. There the holy one, the bull of the.Sakya race, pondered, ‘ For whom shall I first turn the wheel of the Law? ’ 89. The glorious one reflected that 1 2 Rudraka and Ar&tfa were dead3, and then he remembered those others, the five men united in a worthy society 4 *, who dwelt at K&jI.
90. Then Buddha set out to go joyfully to K4ii, manifesting as he went the manifold supernatural course of life of Magadha.
91. Having made a mendicant (whom he met) happy in the path of those who are illustrious through the Law, the glorious one went on, illu¬ mining the country which lies to the north of Gaya.
92. (Having stayed) in the dwelling of the prince of the Nagas, named Sudarsana, on the occurrence of night, he ate a morning meal consisting of the five kinds of amb osia, and departed, gladdening him with his blessing.
93. Near Va«ir46 he went under the shadow 1 Sc. the padmasana (Yoga-sfttras II, 46), described as that in •which the left foot is bent between the right leg and thigh, and the right foot is bent between the left foot and thigh.
2 It is written thus here, cf. XII, 86. s Nirvatau.
4 Bhadravargtya^, also called Paw^avargty&A, cf. XII, 89.
5 Query Varawa, one of the rivers from which Benares is said to derive its name, — or is it a village near V&r&wasi, the Anala of the Lalitav. p. 528?
of a tree and there he established a poor Brah¬ man named Nandin in sacred knowledge.
94. In Va«ara in a householder’s dwelling he was lodged for the night; in the morning he par¬ took of some milk and departed, having given his blessing.
95. In the village called Vuwdadvlra he lodged in the abode of a Yaksha named Vuwda1, and in the morning after taking some milk and giving his blessing he departed.
96. Next was the garden named Rohitavastuka, and there the Naga-king Kamawdalu with his courtiers also worshipped him.
97. Having delivered various beings in every¬ place, the compassionate saint journeyed on to Gandhapura and was worshipped there by the Yaksha Gandha.
98. When he arrived at the city Sarathi, the citizens volunteered to be charioteers in his ser¬ vice; thence he came to the Ganges, and he bade the ferryman cross.
99. ‘ Good man, convey me across the Ganges, may the seven blessings be thine.’ ‘ I carry no one across unless he pays the fee.’
100. ‘ I have nothing, what shall I give?’ So saying he went through the sky like the king of birds; and from that time Bimbisara abolished the ferry-fee for all ascetics.
1 01. Then having entered Varanasi, the Gina, illumining the city with his light, filled the minds of all the inhabitants of Kail with excessive in¬ terest.
1 This may be ATuwida.
BOOK XV, 94-IO9.
102. In the vSankhamedhlya garden, the king of righteousness, absorbed in meditation, passed the night, gladdening like the moon all those who were astonished at his appearance.
103. The next day at the end of the second watch \ having gone his begging round collecting alms, he, the unequalled one, like Hari, proceeded to the Deer Park.
104. The five disciples united in a worthy so¬ ciety 1 2, when they beheld him, said to one another, * This is Gautama who has come hither, the ascetic who has abandoned his self-control.
105. ‘He wanders about now, greedy3, of im¬ pure soul, unstable and with his senses under no firm control, devoted to inquiries regarding the frying-pan.
106. ‘ We will not ask after his health, nor rise to meet him, nor address him, nor offer him a welcome, nor a seat, nor bid him enter into our dwelling.’
107. Having understood their agreement, with a smiling countenance, spreading light all around, Buddha advanced gradually nearer, holding his staff and his begging-pot.
108. Forgetful of their agreement, the five friends, under his constraining majesty, rose up like birds in their cages when scorched by fire.
109. Having taken his begging-bowl and staff, they gave him an arghya, and water for washing his feet and rinsing his mouth; and bowing 1 Does this yamadvaye mean at noon, counting the ahoratra from sunrise to sunrise?
172 THE BUDDHA-JSTARITA OF ASVAGHOSHA.
reverentially they said to him, ‘ Honoured Sir, health to thee.’
no. ‘Health in every respect is ours, — that wisdom has been attained which is so hard to be won,’ — so saying, the holy one thus spoke to the five worthy associates: in. ‘But address me not as “worthy Sir,” — know that I am a Gina, — I have come to give the first wheel of the Law to you. Receive initiation from me, — ye shall obtain the place of Nirvana.’
112. Then the five, pure in heart, begged leave to undertake his vow of a religious life; and the Buddha, touching their heads, received them into the mendicant order.
1 13. Then at the mendicants’ respectful request the chief of saints bathed in the tank, and after eating ambrosia he reflected on the field of the Law 1.
1 1 4. Remembering that the Deer Park and the field of the 6 ina were there, he went joyfully with them and pointed out the sacred seats.
1 1 5. Having worshipped three seats, he desired to visit the fourth, and when the worthy disciples asked about it, the teacher thus addressed them: 1 16. ‘These are the four seats of the Buddhas of the (present) Bhadra Age, — three Buddhas have passed therein, and I here am the fourth possessor of the ten powers.’
1 1 7. Having thus addressed them the glorious one bowed to that throne of the Law, decked with tapestries of cloth and silk, and having its stone 1 Does this mean the country round Benares, as the land where all Buddhas turned the wheel of the Law?
BOOK XV, IIO- 1 19.
inlaid with jewels, like a golden mountain, guarded by the kings of kings, In the former fortnight of Ashia^a, on the day consecrated to the Regent of Jupiter, on the lunar day sacred to Vishnu, and on an auspicious conjunc¬ tion, under the asterism Anuradha x, and in the muhhrta called the Victorious, in the night, — he took his stand on the throne.
xi8. The five worthy disciples stood in front, with joyful minds, paying their homage, and the son of.Suddhodana performed that act of meditation which is called the Arouser of all worlds; Brahman and the other gods came surrounded by their attendants, summoned each from his own world; and Maitriya1 2 with the deities of the Tushita heaven came for the turning of the wheel of the Law.
1 1 9. So too when the multitude of the sons of the Ginas and the Suras gathered together from the ten directions of space, there came also the noble chief of the sons of the Ginas, named Dharma- iakra 3, carrying the wheel of the Law; With head reverentially bowed, having placed it, a mass of gold and jewels, before the Buddha and having worshipped him, he thus besought him, ‘ O thou lord of saints, turn the wheel of the Law as it has been done by (former) Sugatas.’
1 The seventeenth Nakshatra.
2 Is this the same as Maitreya, who is to be the future Buddha and who now awaits his time in the Tushita heaven? The Cam¬ bridge MS. interchanges Maitreya and Maitriya in XVI, 53.
* ‘Ein Buddha (der das Rad des Gesetzes in Bewegung setzt), Trikawrfaf. I, 1, 8/ St. Petersburg Diet.
BOOK XVI.
1. The omniscient lion of the.Sakyas then caused all the assembly, headed by those who be¬ longed to the company of Maitrlya 1, to turn the wheel of the Law.
2. ‘ Listen, O company belonging to Maitriya \ ye who form one vast congregation, — as it was proclaimed by those past arch-saints, so is it now proclaimed by Me.
3. ‘ These are the two extremes, O mendicants, in the self-control of the religious ascetic, — the one which is devoted to the joys of desire, vulgar and common, 4. ‘ And the other which is tormented by the excessive pursuit of self-inflicted pain in the mor¬ tification of the soul’s corruptions, — these are the two extremes of the religious ascetic, each devoted to that which is unworthy and useless.
5. ‘ These have nothing to do with true asce¬ ticism, renunciation of the world, or self-control, with true indifference or suppression of pain, or with any of the means of attaining deliverance.
6. ‘ They do not tend to the spiritual forms of knowledge, to wisdom, nor to Nirv<i«a; let him who is acquainted with the uselessness of inflicting pain and weariness on the body, BOOK XVI, I-l6. 175 7. ‘ Who has lost his interest 1 in any pleasure or pain of a visible nature, or in the future, and who follows this middle Path for the good of the world, — 8. ‘ Let him, the Tathagata, the teacher of the world, proclaim the good Law, beginning that mani¬ festation of the good Law which consists of the (four) noble truths, 9. ‘ And let the Buddha proclaim the Path with its eight divisions. I too who am now the perfectly wise, and the Tathagata in the world, 10. ‘Will proclaim the noble Law, beginning with those sublime truths and the eightfold Path which is the means to attain perfect knowledge.
11. ‘Instructing all the world I will show to it Nirvi#a; those four noble truths must be heard first and comprehended by the soul.
12. ‘That must be understood and thoroughly realised by the true students of wisdom, which has been known here by me, through the favour of all the Buddhas.
13. ‘ Having known the noble eightfold Path, and embraced it as realised with joy, — thus I declare to you the first means for the attainment of liber¬ ation.
14. ‘ Having thus commenced the noble truths, I will describe the true self-control; this noble truth is the best of all holy laws.
15. ‘Walk as long as existence lasts, holding fast the noble eightfold Path,— this noble truth is the highest law for the attainment of true liberation.
16. ‘Having pondered and held fast the noble 1 Nirata seems used here for virata.
176 THE BUDDHA-XARITA OF ASVAGHOSHA.
eightfold Path, walk in self-control; others, not understanding this, idle talkers full of self-conceit, 1 7. ‘ Say according to their own will that merit is the cause of corporeal existence, others maintain that the soul must be preserved (after death) for its merit is the cause of liberation.
1 8. ‘ Some say that everything comes spontane¬ ously; others that the consequence was produced before; others talk loudly that all also depends on a Divine Lord.
19. ‘If merit and demerit are produced by the good and evil fortune of the soul, how is it that good fortune does not always come to all embodied beings (at last), even in the absence of merit?
20. ‘How is the difference accounted for, which we see in form, riches, happiness, and the rest, — if there are no previous actions, how do good and evil arise here?
21. ‘If karman is said to be the cause of our actions, who would imagine cogency in this assump¬ tion? If all the world is produced spontaneously, who then would talk of the ownership of actions?
22. ‘If good is caused by good, then evil will be the cause of evil, — how then could liberation from existence be produced by difficult penances 1?
23. ‘ Others unwisely talk of Is vara as a cause, — how then is there not uniformity in the world if Isvara be the uniformly acting cause?
24. ‘ Thus certain ignorant people, talking loudly “ he is,” “ he is not,” — through the demerits of their false theories, are at last born wretched in the different hells.
1 I. e. viewed as an evil in themselves.
25. ‘ Through the merits of good theories vir¬ tuous men, who understand noble knowledge, go to heavenly worlds, from their self-restraint as regards body, speech, and thought.
26. " All those who are devoted to existence are tormented with the swarms of its evils, and being consumed by old age, diseases, and death, each one dies and is born again.
27. ‘ There are many wise men here who can dis¬ course on the laws of coming into being; but there is not even one who knows how the cessation of being is produced.
28. * This body composed of the five skandhas, and produced from the five elements, is all empty and without soul, and arises from the action of the chain of causation.
29. ‘ This chain of causation is the cause of coming into existence, and the cessation of the series thereof is the cause of the state of cessation.
30. ‘He who knowing this desires to promote the good of the world, let him hold fast the chain of causation, with his mind fixed on wisdom; 31. ‘Let him embrace the vow of self-denial for the sake of wisdom, and practise the four perfec¬ tions l, and go through existence always doing good to all beings.
32. ‘ Then having become an Arhat and con¬ quered all the wicked, even the hosts of Mara, and attained the threefold wisdom, he shall enter Nirv&wa.
33. ‘ Whosoever therefore has his mind indifferent 1 The four brahmavih&rSA, sc. charity, compassion, sympathy with others’ joy, and stoicism.
178 THE BUDDHA-JTARITA OF ASVAGHOSHA.
and is void of all desire for any further form of exist¬ ence, let him abolish one by one the several steps of the chain of causation b 34. ‘ When these effects of the chain of causation are thus one by one put an end to, he at last, being free from all stain and substratum, will pass into a blissful Nirv&zza.
35. ‘Listen all of you for your own happiness, with your minds free from stain, — I will declare to you step by step this chain of causation.
36. ‘ The idea of ignorance is what gives the root to the huge poison-tree of mundane existence with its trunk of pain.
37. ‘The impressions1 2 are caused by this, which produce [the acts of] the body, voice, and mind; and consciousness arises from these impressions, which produces as its development the five senses and the mind (or internal sense).
38. ‘ The organism 3 4 5 which is sometimes called sa.mjrna. or sa^zdarcana *, springs from this; and from this arises the six organs of the senses, including mind.
39. ‘ The association of the six organs with their objects is called “ contact and the consciousness of these different contacts is called “ sensation 6; ” 40. ‘ By this is produced thirst, which is the desire 3 These sawzskaraA constitute predispositions or tendencies.
3 Literally ‘ the name and the form,’ the individual, consisting of mind and body.
4 The Namarfipa is properly the organised body (rfipa) and the three mental skandhas, vedana, samgna, and the samskara/i, which are together called n&ma.
5 Vedanl.
of being troubled 1 by worldly objects; “ attachment to continued existence,” arising from this, sets itself in action towards pleasure and the rest; 41. 1 From attachment springs continued exist¬ ence, which is sensual, possessing form, or formless 2; and from existence arises birth through a returning to various wombs.
42. ‘ On birth is dependent the series of 0I4 age, death, sorrow and the like; by putting a stop to ignorance and what follows from it, all these succes¬ sively surcease.
43. ‘ This is the chain of causation, having many turns, and whose sphere of action is created by igno¬ rance, — this is to be meditated upon by you who enjoy the calm of dwelling tranquilly in lonely woods 3; ‘ He who knows it thoroughly reaches at last to absolute tenuity; and having become thus attenuated he becomes blissfully extinct.
44. ‘When you have thus learned this, in order to be freed from the bond of existence, you must cut down with all your efforts the root of pain, ignorance.
45. ‘ Then, being set free from the bonds of the prison-house of existence, as Arhats, possessing natures perfectly pure, you shall attain Nirvd«a.’
46. Having heard this lesson preached by the chief of saints, all the mendicants comprehended the course and the cessation of embodied existence.
1 Sawkleja, — should we read sawulesha?
2 I.e. in. the eleven kamalokas, the sixteen rupabrahmalokas, and the four arhpabrahmalokas.
5 The metre shows that two short syllables are wanting in the line, vi^ana (vana) viframafamibhi>4.
47. As these five ascetics listened to his words, their intellectual eye was purified for the attainment of perfect wisdom: 48. The eye of dharma1 was purified in six hundred millions of gods, and the eye of wisdom in eight hundred millions of Brahmans 2.
49. The eye of dharma was purified in eighty thousand men, and even in all beings an ardour for the Law was made visible.
50. Everywhere all kinds of evil became tran- quillised, and on every side an ardour for all that helps on the good Law manifested itself.
51. In the heavens everywhere the heavenly beings with troops of Apsarases uttered forth great shouts, ‘ Even so, O noble being of boundless energy! ’ 52. Then Maitreya addressed the holy one, ‘O great mendicant, in what form has the wheel been turned by thee? ’ 53. Having heard this question asked by the great-souled Maitreya, the holy one looked at him and thus addressed him: 54. ‘ The profound subtil wheel of the Law, so hard to be seen, has been turned by me, into which the disputatious Tlrthikas cannot penetrate.
55. ‘ The wheel of the Law has been turned, which has no extension, no origin, no birth, no home, isolated, and free from matter; 56. ‘ Having many divisions, and not being with¬ out divisions 3, having no cause, and susceptible of no definition, — that wheel, which is described as 1 Dharma^akshuA, the eye to discern the Law?
2 The divine inhabitants of the Brahmalokas.
* Anirvyfthazra?
l8l possessing perfect equilibrium, has been proclaimed by the Buddha.
57. ‘Everything subject to successive causation is like a delusion, a mirage, or a dream, like the moon seen in water or an echo, — it lies stretched out on the surface, not to be extirpated, but not eternal.
58. ‘ The wheel of the Law has been described as that in which all false doctrines are extirpated; it is always like the pure ether, involving no doubts, ever bright.
59. ‘ The wheel of the Law is described as with¬ out end or middle, existing apart from “ it is” or “it is not,” separated from soul or soullessness.
60. ‘ The wheel of the Law has been here set forth, with a description according to its real nature, — as it has a limit and as it has not a limit, in its actual quantity and quality.
61. ‘The wheel of the Law has been here set forth, described as possessing unique attributes, apart from the power of the eye and so too as regards the sense of hearing or smell; 62. ‘Apart from the tongue, the touch, or the mind, — without soul or exertion; ‘ Such is this wheel of the Law which has been turned by me; 63. ‘ He makes wise all the ignorant, — therefore is he called the Buddha 1; this knowledge of the laws of reality has been ascertained by me of myself, 64. ‘ Apart from all teaching by another, therefore is he called the self-existent, — having all laws under his control, therefore is he called the lord of Law.
65. ‘He knows what is right (naya) and wrong (anaya) in laws, therefore is he called Nayaka; he 1 Buddha seems here to identify himself with his Law.
1 82 THE BUDDHA-XARITA OF ASVAGHOSHA.
teaches unnumbered beings as they become fit to be taught.
66. ‘ He has reached the furthest limit of instruc¬ tion, therefore is he called Vi nay aka, from his point¬ ing out the best of good paths to beings who have lost their way.
67. ‘ He has reached the furthest limit of good teaching, he is the guide to all the Law, — attracting all beings by his knowledge of all the means of conciliation; 68. ‘ He has passed through the forest of mundane existence, therefore is he called the Leader of the Caravan; the absolute ruler over all law, therefore he is the (Pina, the lord of Law.
69. ‘ From his turning the wheel of the Law he is the lord of all the sovereigns of Law; the master- giver of the Law, the teacher, the master of the Law, the lord of the world; 70. ‘He who has offered the sacrifice, accom¬ plished his end, fulfilled his hope, achieved his success, the consoler, the loving regarder, the hero, the champion, the victorious one in conflict; 71. ‘He has come out from all conflict, released himself and the releaser of all, — he is become the light of the world, the illuminator of the knowledge of true wisdom; 72. ‘ The dispeller of the darkness of ignorance, the illuminer of the great torch, the great phy¬ sician, the great seer, the healer of all evils, 73. ‘ The extractor of the barb of evil from all those who are wounded by evil, — he who is pos¬ sessed of all distinctive marks and adorned with all signs, 74. ‘ With his body and limbs every way perfect, BOOK XVI, 66-8l.
of pure conduct and perfectly clear mind, possessed of the ten powers, having great fortitude, learned with all learning, 75. ‘ Endowed with all the independent states \ he who has attained the great Y ana, the lord of all Dharma, the ruler, the monarch of all worlds, the sovereign, 76. ‘ The lord of all wisdom, the wise, the destroyer of the pride of all disputers, the om¬ niscient, the Arhat, possessed of the perfect know¬ ledge, the great Buddha, the lord of saints; 77. ‘ The victorious triumphant overthrower of the insolence and pride of the evil Mara, the perfect Buddha, the Sugata, the wise one, he who brings the desired end to all beings, 78. * Ever cognisant of past acts, never speaking falsely, a mine of perfect excellence and of all good qualities, the destroyer of all evil ways, the guide in all good ways 2, 79. ‘ The ruler of the world, the bearer of the world, the master of the world, the sovereign of the world, the teacher of the world, the preceptor of the world, he who brings to the world the Law, virtue, and its true end, 80. ‘ The fount of an ambrosia which quenches the scorching of the flame of all pain, and the powerful luminary which dries up the great ocean of all pain, 81. ‘ He who brings all virtue and all true wealth, the possessor of perfect excellence and all good qualities, the guide on the road of wisdom, he who shows the way to Nirvana, 1 Eighteen in all. See Burnouf, Lotus, pp. 648, &c.
8 Query sadvrftti for sawvn'tti?
184 THE BUDDHA-JTARITA OF ASVAGHOSHA.
82. ‘ The Tathagata, without stain, without at¬ tachment, without uncertainty. — This is the com¬ pendious declaration in the turning of the wheel of the Law.
83. ‘A concise manifestation of a Tathagata’s qualities is nowr declared by me; for a Buddha’s knowledge is endless, unlimited like the ether; 84. ‘A narrator might spend a Kalpa, but the virtues of the Buddha would not come to an end, — thus by me has the multitude of the virtues of the Buddha been described.
85. ‘ Having heard this and welcomed it with joy go on ever in happiness; this, Sirs, is the Mah4yana, the instrument of the Law of the perfect Buddha, which is the establisher of the welfare of all beings, set forth by all the Buddhas.
86. ‘ In order that this methodical arrangement of the Law may be always spread abroad, do you yourselves always proclaim it and hand it on.
87. ‘Whosoever, Sirs, hears, sees, and welcomes with joy this methodical arrangement of the Law, which is a mine of happiness and prosperity, and honours it with folded hands, 88. ‘ Shall attain pre-eminent strength with a glorious form and limbs, and a retinue of the holy, and an intelligence of the highest reach, 89. ‘And the happiness of perfect contemplation, with a deep calm 1 of uninterrupted bliss, with his senses in their highest perfection, and illuminated by unclouded knowledge.
90. ‘ He shall assuredly attain these eight pre¬ eminent perfections, who hears and sees this Law 1 I read naishkarmya for naishkratnja.
with a serene soul and worships it with folded hands.
91. ‘Whosoever in the midst of the assembly shall gladly offer a pulpit to the high-minded teacher of the great Law, 92. ‘ That virtuous man shall assuredly attain the seat of the most excellent, and also the seat of a householder, and the throne of a universal monarch; 93. ‘He shall also attain the throne of one of the guardian-spirits of the world, and also the firm throne of,5akra, and also the throne of the Va^avartina^ gods, aye, and the supreme throne of Brahman; 94. ‘And also with the permission of the Bodhi- sattva who is seated on the Bodhi throne he shall obtain the throne of a teacher of the good Law who has risen to perfect knowledge.
95. ‘ These eight seats shall the pure-souled one attain who offers joyfully a seat to him who pro¬ claims the Law.
96. ‘Whosoever with a believing heart, after examination, shall utter applause to the pious man who proclaims this carefully arranged Law; 97. ‘ Shall become a truthful and pure speaker, and one whose words are to be accepted, — one whose utterances are welcome and delightful, whose voice is sweet and gentle;