of
autumn, which, though it seems to bloom, is not a reality. A man who,
midst his tribe and kindred, deeply loves a spotless son, at every
proper time in recollection of it has joy; O! that you would cause me to
revive!"

The Rishi, knowing the king-sire to be thus greatly afflicted at heart,
immediately addressed the Maharaga: "Let not the king be for a moment
anxious! the words I have spoken to the king, let him ponder these, and
not permit himself to doubt; the portents now are as they were before,
cherish then no other thoughts! But recollecting I myself am old, on
that account I could not hold my tears; for now my end is coming on. But
this son of thine will rule the world, born for the sake of all that
lives! this is indeed one difficult to meet with; he shall give up his
royal estate, escape from the domain of the five desires, with
resolution and with diligence practise austerities, and then awakening,
grasp the truth. Then constantly, for the world's sake (all living
things), destroying the impediments of ignorance and darkness, he shall
give to all enduring light, the brightness of the sun of perfect wisdom.
All flesh submerged in the sea of sorrow; all diseases collected as the
bubbling froth; decay and age like the wild billows; death like the
engulfing ocean; embarking lightly in the boat of wisdom he will save
the world from all these perils, by wisdom stemming back the flood. His
pure teaching like to the neighboring shore, the power of meditation,
like a cool lake, will be enough for all the unexpected birds; thus deep
and full and wide is the great river of the true law; all creatures
parched by the drought of lust may freely drink thereof, without stint;
those enchained in the domain of the five desires, those driven along by
many sorrows, and deceived amid the wilderness of birth and death, in
ignorance of the way of escape, for these Bodhisattva has been born in
the world, to open out a way of salvation. The fire of lust and
covetousness, burning with the fuel of the objects of sense, he has
caused the cloud of his mercy to rise, so that the rain of the law may
extinguish them. The heavy gates of gloomy unbelief, fast kept by
covetousness and lust, within which are confined all living things, he
opens and gives free deliverance. With the tweezers of his diamond
wisdom he plucks out the opposing principles of lustful desire. In the
self-twined meshes of folly and ignorance all flesh poor and in miser