Page:Buddhist Birth Stories, or, Jātaka Tales.djvu/243

Rh Arahatship. The king never practised in solitude the Great Struggle.

Now as soon as he had realized the Fruit of Conversion, he took the Buddha's bowl, and conducted the Blessed One and his retinue to the palace, and served them with savoury food, both hard and soft. And when the meal was over, all the women of the household came and did obeisance to the Blessed One, except only the mother of Rāhula.

But she, though she told her attendants to go and salute their lord, stayed behind, saying, "If I am of any value in his eyes, my lord will himself come to me; and when he has come I will pay him reverence."

And the Blessed One, giving his bowl to the king to carry, went with his two chief disciples to the apartments of the daughter of the king, saying, "The king's daughter shall in no wise be rebuked, howsoever she may be pleased to welcome me." And he sat down on the seat prepared for him.

And she came quickly and held him by his ankles, and laid her head on his feet, and so did obeisance to him, even as she had intended. And the king told of the fullness of her love for the Blessed One, and of her goodness of heart, saying, "When my daughter heard, Master, that you had put on the yellow robes, from that time forth she dressed only in yellow. When she heard of your taking but one meal a day, she adopted the same custom. When she heard that you renounced the use of elevated couches, she slept on a mat spread on the floor. When she heard you had given up the use of garlands and unguents, she also used them no more. And when her relatives sent a message, saying, 'Let us take care of you,' she paid them no attention at all. Such is my daughter's goodness of heart, O Blessed One!"