Buddhacarita by Ven Asvaghosa - Ancient Buddhist Texts

Buddha-carita, or Life of Buddha - 107
81. Thus the king, in his grief for his separation from his son, – losing
all his innate firmness which was stedfast like the earth, – loudly
lamented as one distraught, like Daśaratha, a prey to his sorrow for
Rāma.
82. Then the wise counsellor, endued with religious learning, courtesy,
and virtue, and the old family priest, spoke to him as was befitting in
these well-weighed words, neither with their faces overwhelmed by
grief nor yet wholly unmoved:
83. ‘Cease, O noblest of men, thy grief, regain thy firmness, – surely
thou wilt not, O firm hero, shed tears like one of no self-control;
many kings on this earth have gone into the forests, throwing away
their royal pomp like a crushed wreath.
84. ‘Moreover, this his state of mind was all predetermined; remember
those words long ago of the holy sage Asita; "He will never be made
to dwell even for a moment contentedly in heaven or in an emperor’s
domain."
85. ‘But if, O best of men, the effort must be made, quickly speak the
word, we two will at once go together; let the battle be waged in
every way with thy son and his fate whatever it be.’
86. Then the king commanded them both, ‘Do you both go quickly
hence, – my heart will not return to quiet, any more than a bird’s in
the woods longing for its young.’