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> - 204<br />
15. ‘Walk as long as existence lasts, holding fast the noble eightfold<br />
Path, – this noble truth is the highest law f<strong>or</strong> the attainment <strong>of</strong> true<br />
liberation.<br />
16. ‘Having pondered and held fast the noble eightfold Path, walk in<br />
self-control; others, not understanding this, idle talkers full <strong>of</strong> selfconceit,<br />
17. ‘Say acc<strong>or</strong>ding to their own will that merit is the cause <strong>of</strong><br />
c<strong>or</strong>p<strong>or</strong>eal existence, others maintain that the soul must be preserved<br />
(after death) f<strong>or</strong> its merit is the cause <strong>of</strong> liberation.<br />
18. ‘Some say that everything comes spontaneously; others that the<br />
consequence was produced bef<strong>or</strong>e; others talk loudly that all also<br />
depends on a Divine L<strong>or</strong>d.<br />
19. ‘If merit and demerit are produced <strong>by</strong> the good and evil f<strong>or</strong>tune <strong>of</strong><br />
the soul, how is it that good f<strong>or</strong>tune does not always come to all<br />
embodied beings (at last), even in the absence <strong>of</strong> merit?<br />
20. ‘How is the difference accounted f<strong>or</strong>, which we see in f<strong>or</strong>m,<br />
riches, happiness, and the rest, if there are no previous actions, how<br />
do good and evil arise here?<br />
21. ‘If karman is said to be the cause <strong>of</strong> our actions, who would<br />
imagine cogency in this assumption? If all the w<strong>or</strong>ld is produced<br />
spontaneously, who then would talk <strong>of</strong> the ownership <strong>of</strong> actions?
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