..续本文上一页joiced,

　　and, knowing the king”s mind to be perplexed, he addressed him, saying: [16]

　　"The king, like the moon when full, should feel great joy,

　　for he has begotten a wondrously noble son. [17]

　　"I do not worship Brahma, but I worship this child;

　　and the gods in the temples will descend from their places of honour to adore him. [18]

　　"Banish all anxiety and doubt.

　　The spiritual omens manifested indicate that the child now born

　　will bring delliverance to the whole world. [19]

　　"Recollecting that I myself am old,

　　on that account I could not hold my tears;

　　for now my end is coming on and I shall not see the glory of this babe.

　　For this son of thine will rule the world. [20]

　　"The wheel of empire will come to him.

　　He will either be a king of kings to govern all the lands of the earth,

　　or verily will become a Buddha.

　　He is born for the sake of everything that lives. [21]

　　"His pure teaching will be like the shore that receives the ship-wrecked.

　　His power of meditation will be like a cool lake;

　　and all creatures parched with the drought of lust may freely drink thereof. [22]

　　"On the fire of covetousness he will cause the cloud of his mercy to rise,

　　so that the rain of the law may extinguish it.

　　The heavy gates of despondency will be open,

　　and give deliverance to all creatures ensnared in the self-entwined meshes of folly and ignorannce. [23]

　　"The king of the law has come forth

　　to rescue from bondage all the poor, the miserable, the helpless." [24]

　　When the royal parents heard Asita”s words they rejoiced in their hearts

　　and named their new-born infant Siddhattha,

　　that is, "he who has accomplished his purpose." [25]

　　And the queen said to her sister, Pajapati:

　　"A mother who has borne a future Buddha will never give birth to another child.

　　I shall soon leave this world, my husband, the king, and Siddhattha, my child.

　　When I am gone, be thou a mother to him." [26]

　　And Pajapati wept and promised. [27]

　　When the queen had departed from the living,

　　Pajapati took the boy Siddhattha and reared him.

　　And as the light of the moon increases little by little,

　　so the royal child grew from day to day in mind and in body;

　　and truthfulness and love resided in his heart. [28]

　　When a year had passed Suddhadana the king made Pajapati his queen

　　and there was never a better stepmother than she. [29]

　　The Ties of Life

　　When Siddhattha had grown to youth, his father desired to see him married,

　　and he sent to all his kinsfolk, commanding them to bring their princesses

　　that the prince might select one of them as his wife. [1]

　　But the kinsfolk replied and said:

　　"The prince is young and delicate;

　　nor has he learned any of the sciences.

　　He would not be able to maintain our daughter,

　　and should there be war he would be unable to cope with the enemy." [2]

　　The prince was not boisterous, but pensive in his nature.

　　He loved to stay under the great jambu-tree in the garden of his father,

　　and, observing the ways of the world,

　　gave himself up to meditation. [3]

　　And the prince said to his father:

　　"Invite our kinsfolk that they may see me and put my strength to the test."

　　And his father did as his son bade him. [4]

　　When the kinsfolk came, and the people of the city Kapilavatthu had assembled

　　to test the prowess and scholarship of the prince,

　　he proved himself manly in all the exercises both of the body and of the mind,

　　and there was no rival among the youths and men of India

　　who could surpass him in any test, bodily or mental. [5]

　　He replied to all the questions of the sages;

　　but when he questioned them,

　　even the wisest among them were silenced. [6]

　　Then Siddhattha chose himself a wife.

　　He selected Yasodhara, his cousin, the gentle daughter of the king of Koli.

　　And Yasodhara was betrothed to the prince. […

《The life of the Buddha》全文未完，请进入下页继续阅读…