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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> - 148<br />

39. ‘Through these causes, O wise prince, the stream <strong>of</strong> "t<strong>or</strong>p<strong>or</strong>" is set<br />

in motion; be pleased to consider that in the absence <strong>of</strong> the cause<br />

there is the absence <strong>of</strong> the effect.<br />

40. ‘Let the wise man who has right views know these four things, O<br />

thou who desirest liberation, – the illuminated and the unilluminated,<br />

the manifested and the unmanifested.<br />

41. ‘The soul, having once learned to distinguish these four properly,<br />

having abandoned all (ideas <strong>of</strong>) straightness <strong>or</strong> quickness, attains to<br />

the imm<strong>or</strong>tal sphere.<br />

42. ‘F<strong>or</strong> this reason the Brāhmans in the w<strong>or</strong>ld, discoursing on the<br />

supreme Brahman, practise here a rig<strong>or</strong>ous course <strong>of</strong> sacred study and<br />

let other Brāhmans live with them to follow it also.’<br />

43. The prince, having heard this discourse from the seer, asked<br />

concerning the means and the final state.<br />

44. ‘Wilt thou please to explain to me how, how far, and where this<br />

life <strong>of</strong> sacred study is to be led, and the limit <strong>of</strong> this course <strong>of</strong> life?’<br />

45. Then Arāḍa, acc<strong>or</strong>ding to his doctrine, declared to him in another<br />

way that course <strong>of</strong> life clearly and succinctly.<br />

46. ‘The devotee, in the beginning, having left his house, and assumed<br />

the signs <strong>of</strong> the mendicant, goes on, following a rule <strong>of</strong> conduct which<br />

extends to the whole life.

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