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And the last sorrow, which is spoken of as the hcaped-up skandhas, con- sists in the presence of all the former. Such, then, Kasyapa, are the eight sorrows, of which the origin and source is to be found in ' Bii'th.-" With respect to old age, the Devas and Buddha are purely exempt from this, but men may or may not experience it. But in all the three worlds ' birth' SCRIPTURES FROM THE CHINESE. 163 is certain, and is therefore characterised as the origin and fount of evil. And yet men are so beclouded, that they actually covet and desire birth, whilst they hate and detest old ao-e and death. But with the Bodhisatwas it is not so, for they observe that it is this priority of ' birth' that leads to the after sorrow. Kasyapa ! it is just as if there were a woman who came to a certain man's house, a woman of elegant form and lovely beyond comparison -, her body adorned with every decoration and costly ornament. The Master of the house having seen her, immediately sends to ask her name and her family, to which she replies that she is a Goddess, and her name is Merit (Kung tih). The Master again demands why she had come to his poor abode. To which she replies, I have come that I may give you every kind of precious treasure — gold and silver, gems and pearls of every sort, elephants and horses, chariots and slaves. The Master having heard it, his heart is filled with exultation, he dances for joy, and his happiness knows no bounds. ^ What blessedness is mine,' he says, ' that you should have come to me, and found out my poor abode.' Then he honours her with incense and flowers, and pays her every kind of worship. "^But,inthemeantime,athis gate he beholds another woman, her appearance revolting and hideous; her garments worn and bedaubed with filth ; her skin haggard and wrinkled, and of a sickly white colour. On seeing her, he demands also her name and family; to which she replies, 'My name is '' Blackness and darkness." '^ Again he asks why she is called by such a name ; to which she answers, ' To whatever place I go, my office is to destroy and consume whatever wealth or costly gems there are in the abode.' On hearing this, the Master forthwith draws his sword and speaks thus : ' Be off ! and that at once ! for if not, I will kill you.' The woman, in reply, says: 'How very foolish and deluded you are! utterly ^ The expression simply means "Dark," and is proloably a translation of the Sanscrit Kala, which in one sense means " Darkness" and in another " Time" or " the God of Death." m2 164 A CATENA OF EUDBHIST without wisdom !' The Master replies, ' Wliat mean you by these words " dekision" and *' wisdom ?'■"' The woman answers : ' She who is now in your house is my sister ; I ever accompany her wherever she goes, and we dwell together. If you drive me from your door, you must expel her also.' The Master forth^\^th returns within his house, and addresses the Goddess Merit thus: "^ Outside my door is a woman, who says she is your sister ; is it true or not ?' The Goddess Merit replies : ' It is true, indeed ; she is my sister; we ever accompany one another, and dwell together; never yet have we been parted ; wherever we dwell, I ever bring good, but she ever brings evil. I ever cause gain, she ever contrives ruin ; if you love me, you must also love her ; if you reverence and worship me, you must reverence her also.' The Master, on this, replies at once, 'If the case be even thus, I will have neither of you with me ; you may both of you depart as soon as you please.' On this, the two women, hand in hand, return from whence they came; on which the Master of the House, beholding their departure, is filled with joy, and exceedingly glad. Then the two women, going side by side, come to a certain poor man's house, who, when he sees them, is glad, and forthwith asks them, as a favour, from that moment to take up their abode and ever dwell with him. Then the Goddess Merit said, ' We have just been driven away from yonder house. What, then, can induce you to invite us within to dwell with you?' To which the poor man replied, ' Because your presence, 0 Goddess, will ever remind me of your sister, and, thinking of her, I shall pay her reverence ; this is why I ask you to dwell with me.' "Kasyapa! even so it is with the Bodhisatwa Mahasatwa: he desires not birth even as a God, because birth ever brings with it old age, disease, and deatli, A^Tiereas fool- ish men, not knowing the after-grief which comes from these, are ever coveting life which must result in death. "Again, Kasyapa, we may compare the case to the young child of a Brahman, who, being pressed with hunger. SCRIPTURES FROM THE CHINESE. 165 and seeing a man in the middle of some filth with a mango (amra) in his hand, immediately goes and takes it. This being witnessed by a person of prudence^ he chides the boy and says ' You are a Brahman ! your caste requires of you purity ; how dare you, then, take that dirty fruit from the middle of the filth ?' To which the boy replies, red with shame and confusion, ' I indeed was not going to eat it, I was going to wash it clean and put it back on the stalk from which it was taken. ^ The prudent man then speaks to him thus: 'Foolish boy! even if you were to take it back to its stem, it would never grow.' " Illustrious disciple ! the Bodhisatwa Mahasatwa is even thus ! He deals thus with this matter of Birth, he neither takes it nor lets it go ; and so, like that prudent man who chid the boy, he also chides those jiretended philosophers who love life but hate death, and would try to join the fruit once plucked to its parent stem again. ''Again, Kasyapa, the case may be compared to a man seated at the head of four cross ways with a large vessel full of food, of beautiful colour, odour, and taste, desirous to sell it. At this time, a man coming from a distance, being very hungry and famished, seeing this desirable food, so beautiful in colour, and of exquisite odour and taste, coming up to the man, inquire* ' What is this ?' The mer- chant replies ' This is very superior food, as you see from its colour and flavour and scent ; by eating this you get beauty and strength, you will never hunger or thirst any more, you will be as one of the Gods. It only has one drawback, which is called " impermanency^^ (life-ending).' The traveller, hearing this, begins to think, ' if I do not avail myself of this chance of getting beauty and strength, and being like a God, at any rate I shall not be subject to death'; and then he addresses the Merchant, ' having eaten this food, and so become subject to death, tell me, I pray you, what real good I shall do myself by buying it ?' To whom the merchant replied, ' You are a wise man in declin- ing the purchase. It is only foolish men, who don't know these things, that trade with me, and covet to eat.^ 1G6 A CATENA OF BUDDHIST V " Illustrious disciple^ the case is even so with the Bodhi- satwa Mahasatwa; he neither desires to be born in Heaven, nor to inherit beauty or strength, nor to be as one of the Gods. And why ? Because, with it all, he cannot escape all the sorrows of bodily suffering- and mental pain.^ Where- as the pretended philosophers of the world, foolish and de- luded men, follow after modes of life, deeply enamoured of the idea, not remembering that the consequence of Bii'th must be old age, disease, and death. " Again, illustrious disciple, we may compare the case to a poisonous tree, the root and branches of which are deadly throughout. Tea, the very flowers and fruit ! So, also, is Birth in either of the twenty -five Bhuvanas, where life, de- pendent on the five skandhas, is enjoyed; all such life is poisonous and deadly as the Tree in question. " Again, Kasyapa, the case is like a pile of filth, there may be little or much, but the smell of it is equally disgust- ing. So, illustrious disciple, is the question of Birth, be it we live for 80,000 years, or only for the brief span of ten years ; yet is our life nothing but sorrow. " Again, Kasyapa, we may compare the case to the exist- ence of a deep abyss, above which some foliage is spread ; along its side there is growing ambrosial fruit, by tasting which our life may extend to% thousand years, free from all disease, at rest and in the enjoyment of every happiness !