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> - 88<br />
duḥkhātmaka naikavidha tapaśca svargapradhāna tapasaḥ phala ca |<br />
lokāśca sarve pariṇāmavataḥ svalpe śramaḥ khalvayamāśramāṇām || 7.20<br />
20. ‘<strong>The</strong> penance is full <strong>of</strong> pain and <strong>of</strong> many kinds, and the fruit <strong>of</strong> the penance is<br />
mainly heaven at its best, and all the w<strong>or</strong>lds are subject to change; verily the labour <strong>of</strong><br />
the hermitages is spent f<strong>or</strong> but little gain.<br />
śriya ca badhūn viṣayāśca hitvā ye svargahetau niyama carati |<br />
te viprayuktāḥ khalu gatukāmā mahattara sva vanameva bhūyaḥ || 7.21<br />
21. ‘Those who abandoning wealth, kindred, and w<strong>or</strong>ldly objects, undertake vows f<strong>or</strong><br />
the sake <strong>of</strong> heaven, — they, when parted, only wish to go to a still greater wood <strong>of</strong><br />
their own again. 1<br />
kāyaklamairyaśca tapo ’bhidhānaiḥ pravttimākākṣati kāmahetoḥ |<br />
sasāradoṣānaparīkṣamāṇo duḥkhena so ’nvicchati duḥkhameva || 7.22<br />
22. ‘He who <strong>by</strong> all these bodily toils which are called penances, seeks a sphere <strong>of</strong><br />
action f<strong>or</strong> the sake <strong>of</strong> desire, — not examining the inherent evils <strong>of</strong> mundane<br />
existence, he only seeks pain <strong>by</strong> pain.<br />
trāsaśca nitya maraṇātprajānā yatnena cecchati punaḥ prasūtim |<br />
satyā pravttau niyataśca mtyustatraiva magno yata eva bhītaḥ || 7.23<br />
23. ‘<strong>The</strong>re is ever to living creatures fear from death, and they with all their eff<strong>or</strong>ts<br />
seek to be b<strong>or</strong>n again; where there is action, there must inevitably be death, — he is<br />
always drowned therein, just because he is afraid.<br />
ihārthameke praviśati kheda svargārthamanye śramamāpnuvati |<br />
sukhārthamāśākpaṇo ’ktārthaḥ patatyanarthe khalu jīvalokaḥ || 7.24<br />
24. ‘Some undergo misery f<strong>or</strong> the sake <strong>of</strong> this w<strong>or</strong>ld, others meet toil f<strong>or</strong> the sake <strong>of</strong><br />
heaven; all living beings, wretched through hope and always missing their aim, fall<br />
certainly f<strong>or</strong> the sake <strong>of</strong> happiness into misery.<br />
na khalvaya garhita eva yatno yo hīnamutsjya viśeṣagāmī |<br />
prājñaiḥ samānena pariśrameṇa kārya tu tadyatra punarna kāryam || 7.25<br />
25. ‘It is not the eff<strong>or</strong>t itself which I blame, — which flinging aside the base pursues a<br />
high path <strong>of</strong> its own; but the wise, <strong>by</strong> all this common toil, ought to attain that state in<br />
which nothing needs ever to be done again.<br />
1 <strong>The</strong>ir desired heaven will only be a fresh penance-grove.
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