ndly, with no regard for self, through years of care, as the
cow deprived of her calf, weeps and laments, forgetting to eat or sleep;
you surely ought to return to her at once, to protect her life from
evil; as a solitary bird, away from its fellows, or as the lonely
elephant, wandering through the jungle, losing the care of their young,
ever think of protecting and defending them, so you the only child,
young and defenceless, not knowing what you do, bring trouble and
solicitude; cause, then, this sorrow to dissipate itself; as one who
rescues the moon from being devoured, so do you reassure the men and
women of the land, and remove from them the consuming grief, and
suppress the sighs that rise like breath to heaven, which cause the
darkness that obscures their sight; seeking you, as water, to quench the
fire; the fire quenched, their eyes shall open."

Bodhisattva, hearing of his father the king, experienced the greatest
distress of mind, and sitting still, gave himself to reflection; and
then, in due course, replied respectfully: "I know indeed that my royal
father is possessed of a loving and deeply considerate mind, but my fear
of birth, old age, disease, and death, has led me to disobey, and
disregard his extreme kindness. Whoever neglects right consideration
about his present life, and because he hopes to escape in the end,
therefore disregards all precautions in the present: on this man comes
the inevitable doom of death. It is the knowledge of this, therefore,
that weighs with me, and after long delay has constrained me to a
hermit's life; hearing of my father, the king, and his grief, my heart
is affected with increased love; but yet, all is like the fancy of a
dream, quickly reverting to nothingness. Know then, without fear of
contradiction, that the nature of existing things is not uniform; the
cause of sorrow is not necessarily the relationship of child with
parent, but that which produces the pain of separation, results from the
influence of delusion; as men going along a road suddenly meet midway
with others, and then a moment more are separated, each one going his
own way, so by the force of concomitance, relationships are framed, and
then, according to each one's destiny, there is separation; he who
thoroughly investigates this false connection of relationship ought not
to cherish in himself grief; in this world there is rupture of family
love, in another life it is sought for again; brought together fo