Buddhacarita by Ven Asvaghosa - Ancient Buddhist Texts

Buddha-carita, or Life of Buddha - 120
60. ‘So too Drumākṣa, the king of the Śālvas, came to his city from
Brahmarṣi, received his royal dignity from the saint Vaśiṣṭha.’
61. ‘Such men as these, illustrious in glory and virtue, left the forests
and came back to their houses; therefore it is no sin to return from a
hermitage to one’s home, if it be only for the sake of duty.’
62. Then having heard the affectionate and loyal words of the
minister, who was as the eye of the king, – firm in his resolve, the
king’s son made his answer, with nothing omitted or displaced, neither
tedious nor hasty:
63. ‘This doubt whether anything exists or not, is not to be solved for
me by another’s words; having determined the truth by asceticism or
quietism, I will myself grasp whatever is ascertained concerning it.
64. ‘It is not for me to accept a theory which depends on the unknown
and is all controverted, and which involves a hundred prepossessions;
what wise man would go by another’s belief Mankind are like the
blind directed in the darkness by the blind.
65. ‘But even though I cannot discern the truth, yet still, if good and
evil are doubted, let one’s mind be set on the good; even a toil in vain
is to be chosen by him whose soul is good, while the man of base soul
has no joy even in the truth.