The Buddha-Carita or The Life of Buddha by Ven. Aśvaghoṣa
A Sanskrit and English line by line (interlinear) version of one of the most important and influential biographies of the Buddha (together with extensive annotation).
A Sanskrit and English line by line (interlinear) version of one of the most important and influential biographies of the Buddha (together with extensive annotation).
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<strong>Buddha</strong>-carita, <strong>or</strong> <strong>The</strong> <strong>Life</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Buddha</strong> - 122<br />
60. ‘So too Drumākṣa, the king <strong>of</strong> the Śālvas, came to his city from the f<strong>or</strong>est with his<br />
son; and Sākti Antideva, 1 after he had become a Brahmarṣi, received his royal<br />
dignity from the saint Vaśiṣṭha.’<br />
evavidhā dharmayaśaḥpradīptā vanāni hitvā bhavanānyabhīyuḥ |<br />
tasmānna doṣo ’sti gha praveṣṭu tapovanāddharmanimittameva || 9.61 (9.71)<br />
61. ‘Such men as these, illustrious in gl<strong>or</strong>y and virtue, left the f<strong>or</strong>ests and came back to<br />
their houses; theref<strong>or</strong>e it is no sin to return from a hermitage to one’s home, if it be<br />
only f<strong>or</strong> the sake <strong>of</strong> duty.’<br />
tato vacastasya niśamya matriṇaḥ priya hita caiva npasya cakṣuṣaḥ |<br />
anūnamavyastamasaktamadruta dhtau sthito rājasuto ’bravīdvacaḥ || 9.62<br />
(9.72)<br />
62. <strong>The</strong>n having heard the affectionate and loyal w<strong>or</strong>ds <strong>of</strong> the minister, who was as<br />
the eye <strong>of</strong> the king, — firm in his resolve, the king’s son made his answer, with<br />
nothing omitted <strong>or</strong> displaced, 2 neither tedious 3 n<strong>or</strong> hasty:<br />
ihāsti nāstīti ya eṣa saśayaḥ parasya vākyairna mamātra niścayaḥ |<br />
avetya tattva tapasā śamena vā svaya grahīṣyāmi yadatra niścitam || 9.63<br />
(9.73)<br />
63. ‘This doubt whether anything exists <strong>or</strong> not, is not to be solved f<strong>or</strong> me <strong>by</strong> another’s<br />
w<strong>or</strong>ds; having determined the truth <strong>by</strong> asceticism <strong>or</strong> quietism, I will myself grasp<br />
whatever is ascertained concerning it.<br />
na me kṣama sagaśata hi darśana grahītumavyaktapara parāhatam |<br />
buddhaḥ parapratyayato hi ko vrajejjano ’dhakāre ’dha ivādhadeśitaḥ || 9.64<br />
(9.74)<br />
64. ‘It is not f<strong>or</strong> me to accept a the<strong>or</strong>y which depends on the unknown and is all<br />
controverted, and which involves a hundred prepossessions; what wise man would go<br />
<strong>by</strong> another’s belief? Mankind are like the blind directed in the darkness <strong>by</strong> the blind.<br />
1 This might mean Atideva (cf. I, 57, IX, 20) the son <strong>of</strong> Sakti, but in Mahābh. XII, 1013 we<br />
have Ratideva the son <strong>of</strong> Sakti; cf. Burnouf on Rudraka and Udraka, Introduction, p.<br />
386. [<strong>The</strong> Tibetan takes sākti as s<strong>by</strong>in·sreg·da·bcas, ‘together with burnt <strong>of</strong>fering’. H.W.]<br />
Would this imply an old reading sāhuti?— F<strong>or</strong> Atideva’s connection with Vaśiṣṭha see<br />
Mahābh. XII, 8591.<br />
2 I read avyastam.<br />
3 Or ‘prejudiced’?
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