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> - 170<br />
66. ‘Him whose one desire is to deliver mankind bound in soul <strong>by</strong> the<br />
fast snares <strong>of</strong> illusion, – thy wish to overthrow him is not w<strong>or</strong>thy,<br />
wearied as he is f<strong>or</strong> the sake <strong>of</strong> unloosing the bonds <strong>of</strong> the w<strong>or</strong>ld.<br />
67. ‘To-day is the appointed period <strong>of</strong> all those actions which have<br />
been perf<strong>or</strong>med <strong>by</strong> him f<strong>or</strong> the sake <strong>of</strong> knowledge, – he is now seated<br />
on this seat just as all the previous saints have sat.<br />
68. ‘This is the navel <strong>of</strong> the earth’s surface, endued with all the<br />
highest gl<strong>or</strong>y; there is no other spot <strong>of</strong> the earth than this, – the home<br />
<strong>of</strong> contemplation, the realm <strong>of</strong> well-being.<br />
69. ‘Give not way, then, to grief but put on calm; let not thy greatness,<br />
O Māra, be mixed with pride; it is not well to be confident, – f<strong>or</strong>tune<br />
is unstable, – why dost thou accept a position on a tottering base?’<br />
70. Having listened to his w<strong>or</strong>ds, and having seen the unshaken<br />
firmness <strong>of</strong> the great saint, Māra departed dispirited and broken in<br />
purpose with those very arrows <strong>by</strong> which, O w<strong>or</strong>ld, thou art smitten in<br />
thy heart.<br />
71. With their triumph at an end, their labour all fruitless, and all<br />
their stones, straw, and trees thrown away, that host <strong>of</strong> his fled in all<br />
directions, like some hostile army when its camp has been destroyed<br />
<strong>by</strong> the enemy.<br />
72. When the flower-armed god thus fled away vanquished with his<br />
hostile f<strong>or</strong>ces and the passionless sage remained vict<strong>or</strong>ious, having
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