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> - 63<br />
jagati kṣayadharmake mumukṣurmgaye ’ha śivamakṣaya pada tat |<br />
ajano ’nyajanairatulyabuddhirviṣayebhyo vinivttarāgadoṣaḥ || 5.18<br />
18. ‘Desiring liberation in a w<strong>or</strong>ld subject to destruction, I seek that happy<br />
indestructible abode, isolated from mankind, with my thoughts unlike those <strong>of</strong> others,<br />
and with my sinful passions turned away from all objects <strong>of</strong> sense.<br />
nivasan kvacideva vkṣamūle vijane vāyatane girau vane vā |<br />
vicarāmyaparigraho nirāśaḥ paramārthāya yathopapannabhikṣuḥ || 5.19<br />
19. ‘Dwelling anywhere, at the root <strong>of</strong> a tree, <strong>or</strong> in an uninhabited house, a mountain<br />
<strong>or</strong> a f<strong>or</strong>est, — I wander without a family and without hope, a beggar ready f<strong>or</strong> any<br />
fare, seeking only the highest good.’<br />
iti paśyata eva rājasūn<strong>or</strong>idamuktvā sa nabhaḥ samutpapāta |<br />
sa hi tadvapuranyabuddhidarśī smtaye tasya sameyivān divaukāḥ || 5.20<br />
20. When he had thus spoken, while the prince was looking on, he suddenly flew up to<br />
the sky; it was a heavenly inhabitant who, knowing that the prince’s thoughts were<br />
other than what his outward f<strong>or</strong>m promised, had come to him f<strong>or</strong> the sake <strong>of</strong> rousing<br />
his recollection.<br />
gagana khagavadgate ca tasmin nvaraḥ sajahṣe visismiye ca |<br />
upalabhya tataśca dharmasajñāmabhiniryāṇavidhau mati cakāra || 5.21<br />
21. When the other was gone like a bird to heaven, the f<strong>or</strong>emost <strong>of</strong> men was rejoiced<br />
and astonished; and having comprehended the meaning <strong>of</strong> the term dharma, 1 he set his<br />
mind on the manner <strong>of</strong> the accomplishment <strong>of</strong> deliverance.<br />
tata idrasamo jitedriyaśca pravivikṣuḥ paramāśvamāruroha |<br />
parivartya jana tvavekṣamāṇastata evābhimata vana na bheje || 5.22<br />
22. <strong>The</strong>n like Indra himself, and having tamed his senses, — desiring to return home<br />
he mounted his noble steed; and having made him turn back as he looked f<strong>or</strong> his<br />
friends, from that moment he sought no m<strong>or</strong>e the desired f<strong>or</strong>est.<br />
sa jarāmaraṇakṣaya cikīrṣurvanavāsāya mati smtau nidhāya |<br />
praviveśa punaḥ pura na kāmādvanabhūmeriva maḍala dvipedraḥ || 5.23<br />
23. Ever seeking to make an end <strong>of</strong> old age and death, fixing his thoughts in mem<strong>or</strong>y<br />
on dwelling in the woods, he entered the city again but with no feelings <strong>of</strong> longing,<br />
like an elephant entering an exercise-ground 2 after roaming in a f<strong>or</strong>est-land.<br />
1 Dharmasajñām?<br />
2 Cf. II, 3.
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