The Sanskrit Epics

by Delphi Classics

  16. And she cast with her left hand, languid with passion, the lotus from her ear on to his shoulder and rubbed the stick of paint she was using up and down his face while his eyes were half shut.

  17. Then Nanda feigned terror and prostrated himself with his head at her lotus-like feet, which were girt with tremulous anklets and the toes of which gleamed with the brilliance of their nails.

  18. With his head peeping over the fallen flower by the golden table he then appeared, as he conciliated his mistress, like a naga tree broken down by the wind from its excessive burden of flowers on to its golden rail.

  19. She clasped him with her arms, so that the strings of pearls swung loose from her breasts, and raised him up. ‘What a sight you are!’ she said and laughed out loud with the earrings hanging across her face.

  20. Then looking repeatedly at the face of her husband who had the mirror in his hand, she completed the painting on her cheek, the surface of which was wet from the tamâla leaf.

  21. Her face seemed like a lotus with the tamala leaf for its water-weed, her dark red lips for its flaming tip and her long flashing eyes for the bees settled on it.

  22. Then Nanda respectfully held the mirror which bore witness to her decoration (by its reflection) and, turning his eyes sideways to see the paint, beheld the mischievous face of his mistress.

  23. As Nanda looked thus at the face of his beloved on which the lines of paint were rubbed away at the end by her earrings so that it resembled a lotus pressed down by a Karandava bird, he became a still greater source of delight to her.

  24. While Nanda was thus taking his delight inside his palace which was like a palace of the gods, the Tathagata, Whose time for begging had come, entered his house in search of alms.

  25. He stood in His brother’s house, just as He would have in any other house, with downcast gaze and making no request for alms; then as the negligence of the servants led to His receiving nothing He went away again.

  26. For one woman was pounding ointment, another perfuming clothes, another preparing the bath and others weaving sweet-smelling garlands.

  27. Therefore none of the young women in that house saw the Buddha, as they were busily employed in providing for their master’s amusements, or so the Buddha certainly thought.

  28. But a woman, who was at the top of the house, turned her eyes towards the window and saw the Blessed One going away like the blazing sun emerging from the heart of a cloud.

  29. Considering the reverence of her master towards the Saint and because of her devotion to Him and His worshipfulness, she stood before Nanda to tell him and at his bidding spoke:

  30. ‘His Holiness the Guru entered our house, presumably to do us a favour, but failed to obtain alms or speech with anyone or a seat; so He is going away again as if from an uninhabited forest’.

  31. Hearing that the great Seer had entered his house and departed again without receiving: a welcome, he started so as to resemble in the agitation of his beautiful ornaments, clothes and garlands a tree of Paradise shaken by the wind.

  3.2. Then joining his hands like a lotus bud and raising them to his head, he asked his beloved for leave to go, saying ‘I want to go and do reverence to the Guru; please give me leave for this’.

  33. She clasped him trembling, as a creeper stirred by the wind clasps a sâla tree, and, gazing at him with rolling eyes swimming with tears, said to him with a long sigh: —

  34. ‘It is not meet for me to hinder you in the performance of your duty to go and see the Guru. Go, my lord, but return quickly before this paint is dry.

  35. Should you however delay longer, I shall inflict a grievous punishment on you; as you lie asleep, I shall repeatedly waken you by beating you with my breasts and shall refuse to speak to you.

  36. But if you return to me quickly before the paint is dry, I shall hug you with my unadorned arms with the ointment still wet on them.’

  37. She spake to him with unsteady voice and embraced him; and he replied, ‘So will I do. Let me go, cruel one, before the Guru is gone too far’.

  38. Then she freed him from her arms which were covered with sandalwood paste from her breasts but she did not let him go in her mind. He took off the clothes suited for lovemakins: which he was wearing and assumed the appearance proper for offering hospitality.

  39. With eyes which were stony and bleak from brooding she watched her lover going away, just as a hind with ears pricked and wild look and the grass dropping from her mouth watches the stag wandering away.

  40. But Nanda both hurried to start with mind drawn by desire to see the Sage and at the same time went slowly with backturned gaze, looking at her as a bull-elephant looks at a sportive cow-elephant.

  41. Looking with a sidelong glance at Sundari, who with her slender waist and swelling breasts and thighs resembled a golden rift of a mountain with a narrow interior and spurs on each side covered with billowing cloud, he could no more be satisfied with looking than if he were drinking water out of one hand.

  42. Reverence for the Buddha drew him forward, love for his wife drew him back again; from irresolution he neither went away nor stood still, like a royal goose pressing forwards on the waves.

  43. But when he had gone out of her sight, he descended quickly from the palace roof; then hearing the tinkling of her anklets he tarried again, gripped in his heart.

  “. — Held back by the passion of his love and drawn forward by his inclination for the Law, he went on reluctantly, half-turned round like a boat on a river going against the stream.

  45. Then he stepped out with long strides, thinking ‘Perhaps the Guru has already gone’, and ‘Perhaps I can manage to embrace my mistress, whose excellencies are so lovable, while the paint is still wet.’

  46. Then he saw on the road the Dasabala, Who was revered as the Tathàgata and was free from arrogance even in His father’s city, stopping and being saluted on all sides, like the flag of Indra when it flies in a procession and is worshipped.

  CANTO V. THE INITIATION OF NANDA

  THEN THE SKYAS, dismounting from their horses, chariots and elephants and clothed according to their wealth, devoutly made obeisance to the Great Sage, as did the merchants from their great shops.

  2. Some paying reverence to Him followed Him a moment, others after making obeisance went away under stress of their business, while others stood in their dwellings with hands clasped in adoration and eyes absorbed in gazing.

  3. Then the Buddha went along, cleaving the great stream of devout people there on the royal highway with as much difficulty as if He were entering the stream of a river at the onset of the rains.

  4. Thus Nanda was unable to make obeisance to the Tathâgata because of the noblemen flocking to salute Him in the road, but he rejoiced in the exaltation of the Guru.

  5. Then as the Blessed One desired to be free of His own following on the road, while retaining the devotion of those who followed other creeds, and wished to lay hold of Nanda who was turning homewards, He took another road.

  6. Then He Who knew the good Path and Whose mind had attained discrimination entered a lonely lane, and Nanda, going in front, made obeisance to the Foremost Leader, Who (in His equanimity) was untouched by the feeling of delight.

  7. While walking along slowly and respectfully, with one shoulder covered by his shawl and his body half-bowed, with hands clasped downwards and eyes uplifted, he uttered this speech with sobs: —

  8. ‘I heard when I was on the roof that His Holiness had honoured us with a visit, so I came hurrying in my anger with (the negligence of) my great household (of servants).

  9. Therefore kindly, O Lover of the virtuous, Best of mendicants, out of graciousness for me let Thy time for questing alms be passed in our house; for there is the sun about to reach the centre of the firmament, recalling as it were that it is time (for the midday meal).’

  10. So he addressed Him humbly, with eyes that looked up at Him full of affection and reverence; but the Blessed One made a sign to show th
at He felt no need of food.

  11. Then he made obeisance to the Sage and decided to go home, but the Blessed One, Whose eye was like a lotus petal, honoured him by handing to him His begging bowl.

  12. Then piously with lotuslike hands which were better suited to holding a bow he took the vessel of the Incomparable Vessel, Who gave it (not for alms but) for the fruit to be obtained in the world.

  13. But Nanda turned away, suddenly conscious that the Blessed One was attentive to something else and not interested in him, and stepped from the road to go home, though he had the bowl in his hand, keeping his eye on the Sage.

  14. Then when Nanda, though still holding the bowl, wanted to go home out of love for his wife, the Sage confounded him by blocking up the entry of the street.

  15. For the Sage perceived that knowledge, the origin of salvation, was weak in Nanda, that the passion of the sins was fierce in him and that he was inclined to the sins and sensuous indulgences; therefore He compelled him to follow.

  16. The sins are classified in two categories, and so too the means of purification, namely, that in which a man, in whom the internal impulse is strong, is self-dependent, and that in which a man, to whom external conditions are of most weight, is dependent on outside agency.

  17. For he in whom the impulse is strong obtains salvation without difficulty immediately on receipt of a stimulus, but he whose understanding is susceptible only to external conditions obtains salvation with difficulty and only by dependence on another.

  18. And Nanda, whose mind was susceptible only to external conditions, identified himself with whomsoever he went to for support; therefore the Sage made this effort in order to draw him out of the slough of love.

  19. But Nanda, writhing with grief, followed the Guru slowly and helplessly, thinking of his wife’s face with eyes restlessly watching for him and with the paint still wet.

  20. Then the Seer led him, who had suffered the assaults of the season of spring and to whom garlands and strings of pearls were dear, to the monastery, famed as the pleasure ground of knowledge, in which pleasure in women was destroyed.

  21. Then the Compassionate One, considering his wretchedness for a moment and pitying him, caressed his head with His hand, the palm of which bore the wheelmark, and spoke to him thus: —

  22. ‘My friend, make up your mind to work for tranquillity against the day that fearsome Death arrives; for Death is present on all occasions and slays with every sort of attack.

  23. Restrain your restless mind from the unsubstantial pleasure of love, whose enjoyment is shared with others (who may rob you of it) and which is (illusory) as a dream; for the world no more reaches satiety with love than a fire, fanned by the wind, with oblations.

  24. The riches of faith are the best of all riches, the taste of wisdom is the most satisfying of all tastes, internal joy is the chief of all joys and to take delight in intellectual knowledge is the most grievous of all pleasures.

  25. He who speaks what is advantageous is the best of friends, exertion directed towards Righteousness is the most meritorious of all toils, labour for knowledge is the highest of actions; what is gained by accepting slavery to the senses?

  26. Choose then the certain, everlasting, holy joy of tranquillity, which is free from fear, distress and sorrow, which is not dependent on others and cannot be taken away by them; what is the good of suffering calamity for the sake of the objects of the senses?

  27. Old age has no equal in taking men’s beauty, no calamity in the world equals disease, no danger on earth equals death; yet you must undergo these three whether you would or no.

  28. There is no bond equal to affection, no destructive stream equal to desire, no fire equal to the fire of love; if these three did not exist, happiness would be yours.

  29. It is certain that separation from one’s dear ones must take place therefore grief is an inevitable experience, and the frenzy of grief made even other royal seers helplessly lose their self-control.

  30. Gird on therefore the armour of wisdom, for the arrows of grief are powerless against the man endowed with patience; and kindle your courage to put an end to existence, just as you would kindle a small fire to burn up a great heap of grass.

  31. Just as no knowledgeable man, who takes protective herbs in his hand, is bitten by a snake, so he who has attained indifference and conquered the illusion of the world is not bitten by the snake of grief.

  32. By practising Yoga and arriving at the ultimate truth, a man remains unamazed in the hour of death, like a warrior who strives for victory in battle and who, girt with harness and having a good bow, is skilled in the use of arms’.

  33. Thus the Tathàgata Who takes pity on all beings addressed him, and Nanda replied to the Blessed One, with bold voice but sinking heart, ‘Very well’.

  34. Then the great Seer, with His heart full of benevolence, wishing to rescue him from the state of thoughtlessness and deeming him now to be a vessel of knowledge, said ‘Ànanda, initiate Nanda into the mendicant’s life so as to bring him to tranquillity’.

  35. Then the Vaideha sage said to Nanda who was weeping in his mind, ‘Come hither’; then Nanda going slowly to him said, ‘I will not become a mendicant’.

  36. On this the Vaideha sage hearing Nanda’s intention told it to the Buddha; the Great Sage, learning from him too about Nanda’s state of mind, spoke to the latter again: —

  37. ‘I, your elder, have become a mendicant, your brothers have followed Me in this and you see that our kinsfolk who have not left their homes have taken vows on themselves; are you, therefore, who have not conquered yourself, experiencing satisfaction in your mind or not?

  38. Surely you have forgotten about the royal seers, who joyfully adopted the forest life, spewing out the passions, passionate only for tranquillity and so not attached to the miserable passions.

  39. Again when you consider the evils of a householder’s life and perceive the peace of mind to be gained by abandoning it, how can you refuse to leave your home? It is only the man at the point of death who would refuse to leave a plague-stricken country; why imitate him?

  40. How can you be so devoted to the wilderness of the cycle of existence and not wish to take the holy way when your feet have been set in that very road? You are like a traveller separated from his caravan, who does not wish to take the right road, even when set on it.

  41. Only the man who would lie down to sleep in a house everywhere in flames and would be so stupid as not to leave it, would remain heedless in the world which is being burnt in the fire of Death with the flames of disease and old age.

  42. That man must be deplored who, though Death stands over him with the fatal net, yet remains heedless and perverse in mind, like a man sentenced to death who is drunk and laughs and babbles on the way to the stake.

  43. Since kings and heads of houses have gone, are going and will go (to the forest), leaving their relations and possessions, why have so much regard for the fleeting union with your dear ones?

  “. — I perceive nothing pleasurable in which by its change of state suffering might not arise. Seeing, therefore, that attachment to any object is out of place, it is equally out of place to grieve at its loss.

  45. So, my friend, understand this world to be unstable, a mere phantasmagoria, a magician’s kaleidoscopic show. Abandon the snare of delusion, namely your mistress, if it is your intention to cut through the snare of suffering.

  46. It is better to take disagreeable food which enures to one’s good than savoury food which does not agree with one. Therefore I urge you to a way which, though unpleasant, is holy and pure.

  47. Just as a child’s nurse holds him firmly to pull out a clod of earth he has put in his mouth, so indeed in My wish to pull out the dart of passion I have spoken to you harshly for your good.

  48. Just as a doctor compels a patient to take medicine though it be disagreeable to taste, so, though what I have told you is repellent to you, yet it is conducive to your good and is for your bene
fit.

  49. Devote your mind then to the highest good, so long as this favourable moment endures, so long as Death does not come to you and so long as your youth permits you to carry out Yoga’.

  50. Thus the Teacher, the Benevolent and Compassionate One, addressed Nanda, who said, ‘I shall do, Lord, all Thou sayest in accordance with Thy commands ‘.

  51. Then the sage of Videha, taking him, kept hold of him and led him off despite his reluctance, and had the Good Fortune of his beautiful hair parted from the royal umbrella of his head; and all the while his eyes overflowed with tears.

  52. So his face, covered with tears and bowed down while his hair was being banished, resembled a lotus in a pond with the top of its stalk bent when it is being soaked with rainwater.

  53. Then Nanda, dressed in clothes of the mournful colour of ochre-yellow tree-bark and despondent as a freshly captured elephant, appeared like the full moon entering the dark fortnight at night’s close and bathed in the rays of the rising sun.

  CANTO VI. SUNDARl’S DESPAIR

  1. DISMAYED THEN, with her lord carried away by his respect for his elder brother and with her ecstasy vanished, Sundari remained in the same place on the palace roof but appeared no longer the same.

  2. Resting her breasts against the window in expectation of her lord’s return, she leant out from the palace roof looking at the gateway, while her earrings dangled across her face.

  3. With her necklaces of pearls hanging down and their strings swaying, as she bent down from the pavilion, she resembled some fair Apsaras watching her lover fall from the heavenly mansion on the exhaustion of the merit he had acquired by austerities.

  4. She stood, wrongly suspecting her lord, with her forehead dripping with anxiety, the paint on her face sucked in by her sobs and her eyes restless with brooding.

  5. Then from fatigue with standing so long she fell, as she stood, on the couch and lay across it with her necklaces scattered about and her feet half hanging out of her slippers.