Fetching
One moment.
Fetching
One moment.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1Dismounting then he stroked his horse’s head, and cried, ‘You now have borne me (well)!’ 421 1 There was a tower erected on the spot where Bodhisattva dismissed his coachman. See Fah-hien, p. 92. The distance given by Asvaghosha, viz. three yoganas, or about twenty miles, is much more probable than the eight hundred lis, given in later accounts as the length of Bodhisattva’s journey. Compare Fahhien p. 92, note 2. The name ‘Kanna’ may perhaps be more properly restored to ‘ Kandaka.’ 3 The text here seems to require the alteration of je into 5. ® Mi-tsang-li, not-yet-advantage; or, unheard of, or miraculous, profit. * ‘Ying’ is often used for ‘a proper measure vessel,’ i.e. an alms dish, 60 FO-SHO-HING-TSAN-KING. Il, 6. With loving eyes he looked at Kandaka, (eyes) like the pure cool surface of a placid lake (and said), ‘ Swift-footed! like a horse in pace, yea! swift as any light-winged bird, 422 ‘Ever have you followed after me when riding, and deeply have I felt my debt of thanks, but not yet had you been tried in other ways; I only knew you as a man true-hearted, 423 ‘My mind now wonders at your active powers of body; these two I now begin to see (are yours); a man may have a heart most true and faithful, but strength of body may not too be his; 424 ‘Bodily strength and perfect honesty of heart, I now have proof enough are yours. (To be content) to leave! the tinselled world, and with swift foot to follow me, 425 ‘Who would do this but for some profit, if without profit to his kin®?, who would not shun it? but you, with no private aim, have followed me, not seeking any present recompense; 426 ‘As we nourish and bring up a child, to bind together and bring honour to a family; so we also reverence and obey a father, to gain (obedience and attention) from a begotten son; 427 ‘In this way all think of their own advantage ; but you have come with me disdaining profit ; with many words I cannot hold you here, so let me say in brief to you, 428 ‘We have now ended our relationship ; take, then, my horse and ride back again; for me, during the * To reject and leave. 48 for 4B. * It may also be, ‘to himself and kin.’ II, 6. THE RETURN OF KANDAKA. 61 long night past}, that place I sought to reach now I have obtained.’ 429 Then taking off his precious neck-chain, he handed it to Kandaka, ‘ Take this,’ he said,‘I give it you, let it console you in your sorrow;’ 430 The precious? jewel in the tire that bound his head, bright-shining, lighting up his person, taking off and placing in his extended palm, like the sun which lights up Sumeru, 431 He said, ‘O Kandaka! take this gem, and going back to where my father is, take the jewel and lay it reverently® before him, to signify my heart's relation to him; 432 ‘And then, for me, request the king to stifle every fickle feeling of affection, and say that I, to escape from birth and age and death, have entered on the wild (forest)‘ of painful discipline, 433
2‘Not that I may get a heavenly birth, much less because I have no tenderness of heart, or that I 1 The long night is the dark passage of continued transmigration, or change; the sense is, that Bodhisattva having sought for the condition of being, or life, he now has reached through a succession of previous births, the relationship or connection with his charioteer as master and man, is at an end. * The head-jewel, or Afida-m4nzi. This crest-jewel is figured in various ways in Buddhist art; as a rule it may be taken to indicate ‘the highest’ (the head), and in this form it is placed on the head of the figures of Buddha (in Ceylon); and is found at Sanchi and Amarfvati as an object of reverence ; it symbolises the supreme authority of Buddha, Dharma, Sangha. 5 Or, holding the jewel, worship reverently at the king’s feet. 4 The ‘forest of mortification,’ i.e. the place where mortification was to be endured. For an account of Bodhisattva’s penance (six years’ penance [Shadvarshika-vrata]), see Rajendralala Mitra’s Buddha Gay, p. 26. 62 FO-SHO-HING-TSAN-KING. II, 6. cherish any cause of bitterness, but only that I may escape this weight of sorrow; 434 ‘The accumulated long-night! weight of covetous desire (love), I now desire to ease the load (cause a break), so that it may be overthrown for ever ; therefore I seek the way (cause) of ultimate escape; 435 ‘If I should obtain emancipation, then shall I never need to put away my kindred?, to leave my home, to sever ties of love. O! grieve not for your son! 436 ‘The five desires of sense beget the sorrow’; those held by lust themselves induce the sorrow; my very ancestors, victorious kings, thinking (their throne) established and immovable, 437 ‘Have handed down to me their kingly wealth ; I, thinking only on religion, put it all away; the royal mothers at the end of life their cherished treasures leave for their sons, 438 ‘ Those sons who covet much such worldly profit ; but I rejoice to have acquired religious wealth; if you say that I am young and tender, and that the time for seeking wisdom is not come, 439 ‘You ought to know that to seek true religion, there never is a time not fit; impermanence and fickleness*, the hate of death, these ever follow us, 440 ‘And therefore I (embrace) the present day, con- 1 The ‘long night’ of previous life. ® As, for instance, in the Vessantara GAtaka (birth), in which Bodhisattva gave up home, children, and wife, in pursuance of religious perfection. 3 The five desires are the root of sorrow. * This line may also be rendered, ‘impermanence, no fixed condition, this!’ 11, 6. THE RETURN OF KANDAKA. 63 vinced that now is time to seek religion’. With such entreaties as the above, you must make matters plain on my behalf; 441 ‘But, pray you, cause my father not to think longingly after me; let him destroy all recollection of me?, and cut out from his soul the ties of love; 442
363 vinced that now is time to seek religion’. With such entreaties as the above, you must make matters plain on my behalf; 441 ‘But, pray you, cause my father not to think longingly after me; let him destroy all recollection of me?, and cut out from his soul the ties of love; 442 ‘And you, grieve not® because of what I say, but recollect to give the king my message.’ Aandaka hearing respectfully the words of exhortation, blinded and confused through choking sorrow, 443 With hands outstretched did worship; and answering the prince, he spoke, ‘The orders that you give me, will, I fear, add grief to grief, 444 ‘And sorrow thus increased will deepen, as the elephant who struggles into deeper mire. When the ties of love are rudely snapped, who, that has any heart, would not grieve! 445 ‘ The golden ore may still by stamping be broken up, how much more the feelings choked with sorrow‘! the prince has grown up in a palace, with every care bestowed upon his tender person, 446 ‘And now he gives his body to the rough and thorny forest ; how will he be able to bear a life of privation®? When first you ordered me to equip your steed, my mind was indeed sorely troubled, 447 * Convinced (resolved) that this is the time to seek the practice of the law, i.e. to engage in the work of religion. * Let him destroy all recollection of me as a form, or, a living person: this does not forbid him to recollect the office and dignity of Bodhisattva. * Or, let not slip my words. * How much rather, may the heart be broken, choked with sorrow! 5 Concealed or kept securely in his palace. * Fu-hing; the practice of austerities, or mortification. 64 FO-SHO-HING-TSAN-KING. IT, 6. ‘But the heavenly powers urged me on, causing me to hasten the preparation (of the horse!), but what is the intention that urges the prince, to resolve thus to leave his secure palace? 448 ‘The people of Kapilavastu, and all the country afflicted with grief; your father, now an old man, mindful of his son, loving him moreover tenderly*; 449 ‘Surely this determination to leave your home, this is not according to duty; it is wrong, surely, to disregard father and mother,—we cannot speak of such a thing with propriety! 450 ‘Gotamt, too, who has nourished you so long, fed you with milk when a helpless child, such love as hers cannot easily be forgotten; it is impossible surely to turn the back on a benefactor; 451 ‘The highly gifted (virtuous) mother of a child, is ever respected by the most distinguished families? ; to inherit distinction* and then to turn round, is not the mark of a distinguished man: 452 ‘The illustrious child of Yasodhara&, who has inherited a kingdom, rightly governed, his years now gradually ripening, should not thus go away from and forsake his home; 453 ‘But though he has gone away from his royal father, and forsaken his family and his kin, forbid it ? To hasten on the decoration, i.e. the harnessing, of the horse.
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1Dismounting then he stroked his horse’s head, and cried, ‘You now have borne me (well)!’ 421 1 There was a tower erected on the spot where Bodhisattva dismissed his coachman. See Fah-hien, p. 92. The distance given by Asvaghosha, viz. three yoganas, or about twenty miles, is much more probable than the eight hundred lis, given in later accounts as the length of Bodhisattva’s journey. Compare Fahhien p. 92, note 2. The name ‘Kanna’ may perhaps be more properly restored to ‘ Kandaka.’ 3 The text here seems to require the alteration of je into 5. ® Mi-tsang-li, not-yet-advantage; or, unheard of, or miraculous, profit. * ‘Ying’ is often used for ‘a proper measure vessel,’ i.e. an alms dish, 60 FO-SHO-HING-TSAN-KING. Il, 6. With loving eyes he looked at Kandaka, (eyes) like the pure cool surface of a placid lake (and said), ‘ Swift-footed! like a horse in pace, yea! swift as any light-winged bird, 422 ‘Ever have you followed after me when riding, and deeply have I felt my debt of thanks, but not yet had you been tried in other ways; I only knew you as a man true-hearted, 423 ‘My mind now wonders at your active powers of body; these two I now begin to see (are yours); a man may have a heart most true and faithful, but strength of body may not too be his; 424 ‘Bodily strength and perfect honesty of heart, I now have proof enough are yours. (To be content) to leave! the tinselled world, and with swift foot to follow me, 425 ‘Who would do this but for some profit, if without profit to his kin®?, who would not shun it? but you, with no private aim, have followed me, not seeking any present recompense; 426 ‘As we nourish and bring up a child, to bind together and bring honour to a family; so we also reverence and obey a father, to gain (obedience and attention) from a begotten son; 427 ‘In this way all think of their own advantage ; but you have come with me disdaining profit ; with many words I cannot hold you here, so let me say in brief to you, 428 ‘We have now ended our relationship ; take, then, my horse and ride back again; for me, during the * To reject and leave. 48 for 4B. * It may also be, ‘to himself and kin.’ II, 6. THE RETURN OF KANDAKA. 61 long night past}, that place I sought to reach now I have obtained.’ 429 Then taking off his precious neck-chain, he handed it to Kandaka, ‘ Take this,’ he said,‘I give it you, let it console you in your sorrow;’ 430 The precious? jewel in the tire that bound his head, bright-shining, lighting up his person, taking off and placing in his extended palm, like the sun which lights up Sumeru, 431 He said, ‘O Kandaka! take this gem, and going back to where my father is, take the jewel and lay it reverently® before him, to signify my heart's relation to him; 432 ‘And then, for me, request the king to stifle every fickle feeling of affection, and say that I, to escape from birth and age and death, have entered on the wild (forest)‘ of painful discipline, 433
2‘Not that I may get a heavenly birth, much less because I have no tenderness of heart, or that I 1 The long night is the dark passage of continued transmigration, or change; the sense is, that Bodhisattva having sought for the condition of being, or life, he now has reached through a succession of previous births, the relationship or connection with his charioteer as master and man, is at an end. * The head-jewel, or Afida-m4nzi. This crest-jewel is figured in various ways in Buddhist art; as a rule it may be taken to indicate ‘the highest’ (the head), and in this form it is placed on the head of the figures of Buddha (in Ceylon); and is found at Sanchi and Amarfvati as an object of reverence ; it symbolises the supreme authority of Buddha, Dharma, Sangha. 5 Or, holding the jewel, worship reverently at the king’s feet. 4 The ‘forest of mortification,’ i.e. the place where mortification was to be endured. For an account of Bodhisattva’s penance (six years’ penance [Shadvarshika-vrata]), see Rajendralala Mitra’s Buddha Gay, p. 26. 62 FO-SHO-HING-TSAN-KING. II, 6. cherish any cause of bitterness, but only that I may escape this weight of sorrow; 434 ‘The accumulated long-night! weight of covetous desire (love), I now desire to ease the load (cause a break), so that it may be overthrown for ever ; therefore I seek the way (cause) of ultimate escape; 435 ‘If I should obtain emancipation, then shall I never need to put away my kindred?, to leave my home, to sever ties of love. O! grieve not for your son! 436 ‘The five desires of sense beget the sorrow’; those held by lust themselves induce the sorrow; my very ancestors, victorious kings, thinking (their throne) established and immovable, 437 ‘Have handed down to me their kingly wealth ; I, thinking only on religion, put it all away; the royal mothers at the end of life their cherished treasures leave for their sons, 438 ‘ Those sons who covet much such worldly profit ; but I rejoice to have acquired religious wealth; if you say that I am young and tender, and that the time for seeking wisdom is not come, 439 ‘You ought to know that to seek true religion, there never is a time not fit; impermanence and fickleness*, the hate of death, these ever follow us, 440 ‘And therefore I (embrace) the present day, con- 1 The ‘long night’ of previous life. ® As, for instance, in the Vessantara GAtaka (birth), in which Bodhisattva gave up home, children, and wife, in pursuance of religious perfection. 3 The five desires are the root of sorrow. * This line may also be rendered, ‘impermanence, no fixed condition, this!’ 11, 6. THE RETURN OF KANDAKA. 63 vinced that now is time to seek religion’. With such entreaties as the above, you must make matters plain on my behalf; 441 ‘But, pray you, cause my father not to think longingly after me; let him destroy all recollection of me?, and cut out from his soul the ties of love; 442
363 vinced that now is time to seek religion’. With such entreaties as the above, you must make matters plain on my behalf; 441 ‘But, pray you, cause my father not to think longingly after me; let him destroy all recollection of me?, and cut out from his soul the ties of love; 442 ‘And you, grieve not® because of what I say, but recollect to give the king my message.’ Aandaka hearing respectfully the words of exhortation, blinded and confused through choking sorrow, 443 With hands outstretched did worship; and answering the prince, he spoke, ‘The orders that you give me, will, I fear, add grief to grief, 444 ‘And sorrow thus increased will deepen, as the elephant who struggles into deeper mire. When the ties of love are rudely snapped, who, that has any heart, would not grieve! 445 ‘ The golden ore may still by stamping be broken up, how much more the feelings choked with sorrow‘! the prince has grown up in a palace, with every care bestowed upon his tender person, 446 ‘And now he gives his body to the rough and thorny forest ; how will he be able to bear a life of privation®? When first you ordered me to equip your steed, my mind was indeed sorely troubled, 447 * Convinced (resolved) that this is the time to seek the practice of the law, i.e. to engage in the work of religion. * Let him destroy all recollection of me as a form, or, a living person: this does not forbid him to recollect the office and dignity of Bodhisattva. * Or, let not slip my words. * How much rather, may the heart be broken, choked with sorrow! 5 Concealed or kept securely in his palace. * Fu-hing; the practice of austerities, or mortification. 64 FO-SHO-HING-TSAN-KING. IT, 6. ‘But the heavenly powers urged me on, causing me to hasten the preparation (of the horse!), but what is the intention that urges the prince, to resolve thus to leave his secure palace? 448 ‘The people of Kapilavastu, and all the country afflicted with grief; your father, now an old man, mindful of his son, loving him moreover tenderly*; 449 ‘Surely this determination to leave your home, this is not according to duty; it is wrong, surely, to disregard father and mother,—we cannot speak of such a thing with propriety! 450 ‘Gotamt, too, who has nourished you so long, fed you with milk when a helpless child, such love as hers cannot easily be forgotten; it is impossible surely to turn the back on a benefactor; 451 ‘The highly gifted (virtuous) mother of a child, is ever respected by the most distinguished families? ; to inherit distinction* and then to turn round, is not the mark of a distinguished man: 452 ‘The illustrious child of Yasodhara&, who has inherited a kingdom, rightly governed, his years now gradually ripening, should not thus go away from and forsake his home; 453 ‘But though he has gone away from his royal father, and forsaken his family and his kin, forbid it ? To hasten on the decoration, i.e. the harnessing, of the horse.
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
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