Dialogues of the Buddha, Part II — trans. T. W. and C. A. F. Rhys Davids (1910)

* The Exalted One, lord, was once staying at Uruvela, on the bank of the Neranjara river, at the foot of the Goatherd's Banyan tree [268] before he attained to Enlightenment. I Now at that time, lord, the lady called Bhadda, in appearance as Sunshine, daughter of Timbaru, king of the Gandhabbas, was beloved by me. But that lady, lord, was in love with another — Sikhaddi, son of Matali the charioteer. And since I could not get the lady by any method whatever, I took my lyre of yellow Beluva wood, and going to the abode of Timbaru, king of the Gandhabbas, Ip. 303 played my lyre and recited these verses concerning the Awakened One, the Truth, the Arahants and Love : —

7. ' Lady, thy father Timbaru I greet
With honour due, O Glory-of-the-Sun,
In that he wrought a thing so nobly fair
As thou, O fount divine of all my joy !

Sweet as the breeze to one foredone with sweat,
Sweet as a cooling drink to one athirst,
So dear art thou, O presence radiant !
To me, dear as to Arahants the Truth.

As medicine bringing ease to one that's sick.

As food to
Starving man, so, lady, quench,
As with cool waters, me who am a-flame.

E'en as an elephant with heat oppressed,
Hies him to some still pool, upon whose face
Petals and pollen of the lotus float,
So would I sink within thy bosom sweet.

E'en as an elephant fretted by hook,
Oashes unheeding curb and goad aside,
So I, crazed by the beauty of thy form,
Know not the why and wherefore of my acts.

By thee my heart is held in bonds, and all
Bent out of course ; nor can I turn me back,
No more than fish, once he hath ta'en the bait.

Within thine arm embrace me, lady, me
With thy soft languid eyne embrace and hold,
O nobly fair ! This I entreat of thee.

Scanty in sooth, O maid of waving locks,
Was my desire, but now it swelleth aye,
Indefinitely great, e'en as the gifts
Made by the faithful to the Arahants.

Whate'er of merit to such holy ones
I've wrought, be thou, O altogether fair,
The ripened fruit to fall therefrom to me.

p. 304

Whate'er of other merit I have wrought
In the wide world, O altogether fair,
Be thou the fruit thereof to fall to me.

As the great Sakyan Seer, through ecstasy- Rapt and intent and self-possessed, doth brood Seeking ambrosia, even so do I Pursue the quest of thee, O Glory-of-the-Sun !

As would that Seer rejoice, were he to win

Ineffable Enlightenment, so I

With thee made one, O fairest, were in bliss.

And if perchance a boon were granted me

By Sakka, lord of Three-and-Thirty gods,

'Tis thee I'd ask of him, lady, so strong

My love. And for thy father, wisest maid —

Him as a sal- tree freshly burgeoning

I worship for such peerless offspring giv n.

' And when I had finished, lord, the Lady Suriyavaccasa said to me : —

" That Blessed One, sir, I have not seen face to face, and yet I heard of him when I went to dance at the Sudhamma Hall of the Three-and-Thirty gods \ Since you so extol the Blessed One, let there be a meeting between thee and me to-day. [269] So, lord, I met that lady, not on that day but afterwards."

8. Now Sakka, the king of the gods, thought : — ' Five-crest and the Exalted One are in friendly converse.' And he called to Five-crest and said : — ' Salute the Exalted One for me, dear Five-crest, and tell him : — " Sakka, lord, the ruler of the gods, with his ministers and suite, does homage at the foot of the Exalted One." [And Five-crest did so.] ,

1 May good fortune, Five-crest, attend Sakka, ruler of gods, and his ministers and suite. For they desire happiness— those gods and men, Asuras, Nagas, Gandhabbas, and whatever other numerous hosts there be ! '

1 When Sakka pronounced his eulogy in the Maha-govinda, says
Buddhaghosa.

p. 305

On this wise do the Tathagatas salute these dignitaries. And so saluted by the Exalted One, Sakka, the king of the gods, entered the cave of Indra's Sal-tree, and saluting the Exalted One stood on one side. Thus did also the Three-and-Thirty gods and Five-crest the Gandhabba.