Lives of Alcyone

FORTY-SEVENTH LIFE 265
temple, not now in order to make money out of them, but in order to
save them from the rapacity of his compeers—which naturally
increased the hatred of the latter for him. His position was therefore
always a precarious one, for though he had the favour of the King
and the gratitude of many people, he had to face ceaseless intrigue
and scarcely veiled malevolence in all sorts of small every-day
matters. Still, for more than twenty years he contrived to carry on the
work, and in that time introduced many useful reforms into the
administration of the temple, in the teeth of much opposition. He was
all the while quite openly and professedly a follower of the Buddha,
and was living according to His teaching, though still remaining an
orthodox Brahman; and in this he was by no means singular,, for the
Buddha did not take people away from the older religion, and no one
except those who actually assumed the yellow robe attached
themselves exclusively to Him.
The end of Mizar’ s life was from a worldly point of view
unfortunate. In 566 Bimbisara was murdered by his unnatural son
Ajatshatru, who thus seized upon the throne. His plot had been
carried out by the aid of the Brahmans, and he therefore favoured
them and their religion, and was openly opposed to Buddhism. So,
when the Brahmans of the temple preferred a complaint against
Mizar, the new King readily gave ear to them and deposed him, and
confiscated most of his property. He still had a little land, and he
retired and lived upon this in comparative poverty and obscurity until
his death in 562 at the age of sixty-six.
Meanwhile Alcyone had attached himself to the Lord Buddha,
and never again left Him until death, but travelled with Him up and
down the ganges valley for many years, drinking ever more and