ince having dismissed Kandaka, as he entered the Rishis' abode,
his graceful body brightly shining, lit up on every side the forest
"place of suffering"; himself gifted with every excellence, according to
his gifts, so were they reflected. As the lion, the king of beasts, when
he enters among the herd of beasts, drives from their minds all thoughts
of common things, as now they watch the true form of their kind, so
those Rishi masters assembled there, suddenly perceiving the miraculous
portent, were struck with awe and fearful gladness, as they gazed with
earnest eyes and hands conjoined. The men and women, engaged in various
occupations, beholding him, with unchanged attitudes, gazed as the gods
look on King Sakra, with constant look and eyes unmoved; so the Rishis,
with their feet fixed fast, looked at him even thus; whatever in their
hands they held, without releasing it, they stopped and looked; even as
the ox when yoked to the wain, his body bound, his mind also restrained;
so also the followers of the holy Rishis, each called the other to
behold the miracle. The peacocks and the other birds with cries
commingled flapped their wings; the Brahmakarins holding the rules of
deer, following the deer wandering through mountain glades, as the deer
coarse of nature, with flashing eyes, regard the prince with fixed gaze;
so following the deer, those Brahmakarins intently gaze likewise,
looking at the exceeding glory of the Ikshvaku. As the glory of the
rising sun is able to affect the herds of milch kine, so as to increase
the quantity of their sweet-scented milk, so those Brahmakarins, with
wondrous joy, thus spoke one to the other: "Surely this is one of the
eight Vasu Devas"; others, "this is one of the two Asvins"; others,
"this is Mara"; others, "this is one of the Brahmakayikas"; others,
"this is Suryadeva or Kandradeva, coming down; are they not seeking here
a sacrifice which is their due? Come let us haste to offer our religious
services!"

The prince, on his part, with respectful mien addressed to them polite
salutation. Then Bodhisattva, looking with care in every direction on
the Brahmakarins occupying the wood, each engaged in his religious
duties, all desirous of the delights of heaven, addressed the senior
Brahmakarin, and asked him as to the path of true religion. "Now having
just come here, I do not yet know the rules of your religious life. I
ask you therefore for information, and I pray explain to me what