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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> - 55<br />

76. ‘So too in old time Parāśara, overpowered <strong>by</strong> passion on the bank<br />

<strong>of</strong> the Yamunā, lay with the maiden Kālī who was the daughter <strong>of</strong> the<br />

son <strong>of</strong> the Water (Agni).<br />

77. ‘The sage Vaśiṣṭha through lust begot a son Kapiñjalāda on<br />

Akṣamālā a despised low-caste woman.<br />

78. ‘And the seer-king Yayāti, even when the vigour <strong>of</strong> his prime was<br />

gone, sp<strong>or</strong>ted in the Caitraratha f<strong>or</strong>est with the Apsaras Viśvācī.<br />

79. ‘And the Kaurava king Pāṇḍu, though he knew that intercourse<br />

with his wife would end in death, yet overcome <strong>by</strong> the beauty and<br />

good qualities <strong>of</strong> Mādrī yielded to the pleasures <strong>of</strong> love.<br />

80. ‘And so Karālajanaka, when he carried <strong>of</strong>f the Brāhman’s<br />

daughter, incurred loss <strong>of</strong> caste there<strong>by</strong>, but he would not give up his<br />

love.<br />

81. ‘Great heroes such as these pursued even contemptible desires f<strong>or</strong><br />

the sake <strong>of</strong> pleasure, how much m<strong>or</strong>e so when they are praisew<strong>or</strong>thy<br />

<strong>of</strong> their kind?<br />

82. ‘And yet thou, a young man, possessed <strong>of</strong> strength and beauty,<br />

despisest enjoyments which rightly belong to thee, and to which the<br />

whole w<strong>or</strong>ld is devoted.’<br />

83. Having heard these specious w<strong>or</strong>ds <strong>of</strong> his, well-supp<strong>or</strong>ted <strong>by</strong><br />

sacred tradition, the prince made reply, in a voice like the thundering<br />

<strong>of</strong> a cloud:

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