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Buddha-carita, or Life of Buddha by Ven. Aśvaghoṣa

An English translation of this famous life of the Buddha, one of the great pieces of Sanskrit literature, with additions to help complete the text.

An English translation of this famous life of the Buddha, one of the great pieces of Sanskrit literature, with additions to help complete the text.

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<strong>Buddha</strong>-<strong>carita</strong>, <strong>or</strong> <strong>Life</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Buddha</strong> - 132<br />

13. ‘When it had rained a golden shower from heaven, and when he<br />

had conquered the continents and the four oceans, and had even<br />

obtained the half <strong>of</strong><br />

with w<strong>or</strong>ldly objects.<br />

14. ‘Though he had enjoyed the kingdom <strong>of</strong> the gods in heaven, when<br />

pride he had made the great śiṣis bear his litter, Nahuṣa fell,<br />

unsatisfied with pleasures.<br />

15. ‘King (Purūravas) the son <strong>of</strong> Iḍā, having penetrated into the<br />

furthest heaven, and brought the goddess Urvaśī into his power, –<br />

– being<br />

unsatisfied with pleasures, fell into destruction.<br />

16. ‘Who would put his trust in these w<strong>or</strong>ldly objects, whether in<br />

heaven <strong>or</strong> in earth, unsettled as to lot <strong>or</strong> family, – which passed from<br />

Bali to Indra, and from Indra to Nahuṣa, and then again from Nahuṣa<br />

back to Indra?<br />

17. ‘Who would seek these enemies bearing the name <strong>of</strong> pleasures, <strong>by</strong><br />

whom even those sages have been overcome, who were devoted to<br />

other pursuits, whose only clothes were rags, whose food was roots,<br />

fruits, and water, and who w<strong>or</strong>e their twisted locks as long as snakes?<br />

18. ‘Those pleasures f<strong>or</strong> whose sake even Ugrāyudha, armed terribly<br />

as he was with his weapon, found death at Bhiṣma’s hands, – is not

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