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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> - 190<br />

37. Then again Māra, the l<strong>or</strong>d <strong>of</strong> the w<strong>or</strong>ld <strong>of</strong> Desire, lost to shame,<br />

taking the f<strong>or</strong>m <strong>of</strong> the head <strong>of</strong> a family, thus addressed him from the<br />

sky:<br />

38. ‘I w<strong>or</strong>shipped thee long ago, f<strong>or</strong>etelling that thou wouldest become<br />

a <strong>Buddha</strong>; and <strong>by</strong> my blessings thou hast to-day become <strong>Buddha</strong><br />

Tathāgata.<br />

39. ‘As thou didst come from thine own kingdom, so now having<br />

returned as Tathāgata, with a name c<strong>or</strong>responding to the reality be a<br />

king Tathāgata.<br />

40. ‘Having gone to that royal station, do thou meditate on the three<br />

jewels, and cherish thy father and mother, and delight Yaśodharā, –<br />

41. ‘Possessed <strong>of</strong> a thousand sons, and able to deliver the w<strong>or</strong>ld, be<br />

successively the supreme l<strong>or</strong>d <strong>of</strong> every w<strong>or</strong>ld from the Yāma heaven<br />

onwards’.<br />

42. ‘Having become also the supreme l<strong>or</strong>d <strong>of</strong> all Bodhisattvas, thou<br />

shalt attain Nirvāṇa; O wise seer, repair to the hermitage <strong>of</strong> Kapila in<br />

<strong>or</strong>der to beget those sons.<br />

43. ‘As thou art the king <strong>of</strong> the Law, so shall thy sons also be all<br />

Tathāgatas, and all the activity and cessation <strong>of</strong> existence shall depend<br />

upon thee, O Jina.’

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