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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> - 67<br />

deep sleep was suddenly thrown on that company <strong>of</strong> women and their<br />

limbs and gestures became dist<strong>or</strong>ted.<br />

48. One was lying there, resting her cheek on her trembling arm;<br />

leaving as in anger her lute, though dearly loved, which lay on her<br />

side, dec<strong>or</strong>ated with gold-leaf.<br />

49. Another shone with her flute clinging to her hand, lying with her<br />

white garments fallen from her bosom, – like a river whose banks are<br />

smiling with the foam <strong>of</strong> the water and whose lotuses are covered<br />

with a straight line <strong>of</strong> bees.<br />

50. Another was sleeping, embracing her drum as a lover, with her<br />

two arms tender like the shoot <strong>of</strong> young lotus and bearing their<br />

bracelets closely linked, blazing with gold.<br />

51. Others, decked with new golden <strong>or</strong>naments and wearing peerless<br />

yellow garments, fell down alas! helpless with sleep, like the boughs<br />

<strong>of</strong> the Karṇikāra broken <strong>by</strong> an elephant.<br />

52. Another, leaning on the side <strong>of</strong> a window, with her willow-f<strong>or</strong>m<br />

bent like a bow, shone as she lay with her beautiful necklace hanging<br />

down, like a statue in an archway made <strong>by</strong> art.<br />

53. The lotus-face <strong>of</strong> another, bowed down, with the pinguent-lines on<br />

her person rubbed <strong>by</strong> the jewelled earrings, appeared to be a lotus<br />

with its stalk bent into a half-circle, and shaken <strong>by</strong> a duck standing on<br />

it.

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