Part 2 (1/2)

29. Q. _But how did he acquire this boundless love?_

A. Throughout numberless births and aeons of years he had been cultivating this love, with the unfaltering determination to become a Buddha.

30. Q. _What did he this time relinquish?_

A. His beautiful palaces, his riches, luxuries and pleasures, his soft beds, fine dresses, rich food, and his kingdom; he even left his beloved wife and only son, Rahula.

31. Q. _Did any other man ever sacrifice so much for our sake?_

A. Not one in this present world-period: this is why Buddhists so love him, and why good Buddhists try to be like him.

32. Q. _But have not many men given up all earthly blessings, and even life itself, for the sake of their fellow-men?_

A. Certainly. But we believe that this surpa.s.sing unselfishness and love for humanity showed themselves in his renouncing the bliss of Nirvana countless ages ago, when he was born as the Brahmana Sumedha, in the time of Dipankara Buddha: he had then reached the stage where he might have entered Nirvana, had he not loved mankind more than himself. This renunciation implied his voluntarily enduring the miseries of earthly lives until he became Buddha, for the sake of teaching all beings the way to emanc.i.p.ation and to give rest to the world.

33. Q. _How old was he when he went to the jungle?_

A. He was in his twenty-ninth year.

34. Q. _What finally determined him to leave all that men usually love so much and go to the jungle?_

A. A _Deva_[1] appeared to him when driving out in his chariot, under four impressive forms, on four different occasions.

35. Q. _What were these different forms?_

A. Those of a very old man broken down by age, of a sick man, of a decaying corpse, and of a dignified hermit.

36. Q. _Did he alone see these?_

A. No, his attendant, Channa, also saw them.

37. Q. _Why should these sights, so familiar to everybody, have caused him to go to the jungle?_

A. We often see such sights: he had not seen them, so they made a deep impression on his mind.

38. Q. _Why had he not also seen them?_

A. The Brahmana astrologers had foretold at his birth that he would one day resign his kingdom and, become a BUDDHA. The King, his father, not wis.h.i.+ng to lose an heir to his kingdom, had carefully prevented his seeing any sights that might suggest to him human misery and death. No one was allowed even to speak of such things to the Prince. He was almost like a prisoner in his lovely palaces and flower gardens. They were surrounded by high walls, and inside everything was made as beautiful as possible, so that he might not wish to go and see the sorrow and distress that are in the world.

39. Q. _Was he so kind-hearted that the King feared he might really wish to leave everything for the world's sake?_

A. Yes; he seems to have felt for all beings so strong a pity and love as that.

40. Q. _And how did he expect to learn the cause of sorrow in the jungle?_

A. By removing far away from all that could prevent his thinking deeply of the causes of sorrow and the nature of man.

41. Q. _How did he escape from the palace?_

A. One night, when all were asleep, he arose, took a last look at his sleeping wife and infant son; called Channa, mounted his favourite white horse Kanthaka, and rode to the palace gate. The _Devas_ had thrown a deep sleep upon the King's guard who watched the gate, so that they could not hear the noise of the horse's hoofs.