Page:Gospel of Buddha.djvu/113

 And the Blessed One recited the following stanza:

"Rise from dreams and loiter not Open to truth thy mind. Practise righteousness and thou Eternal bliss shalt find."

Then the king conducted the prince into the palace, and the ministers and all the members of the royal family greeted him with great reverence, but Yasodharā, the mother of Rāhula, did not make her appearance. The king sent for Yasodharā, but she replied: "Surely, if I am deserving of any regard, Siddhattha will come and see me."

The Blessed One, having greeted all his relatives and friends, asked: "Where is Yasodharā?" And on being informed that she had. refused to come, he rose straightway and went to her apartments.

"I am free," the Blessed One said to his disciples, Sāriputta and Moggallāana, whom he had bidden to accompany him to the princess's chamber; "the princess, however, is not as yet free. Not having seen me for a long rime, she is exceedingly sorrowful. Unless her grief be allowed its course her heart will cleave. Should she touch the Tathāgata, the Holy One, ye must not prevent her."

Yasodharā sat in her room, dressed in mean garments, and her hair cut. When Prince Siddhattha entered, she was, from the abundance of her affection, like an overflowing vessel, unable to contain her love.

Forgetting that the man whom she loved was the Buddha, the Lord of the world, the preacher of truth, she held him by his feet and wept bitterly.

Remembering, however, that Suddhodana was present, she felt ashamed, and rising, seated herself reverently at a little distance.

The king apologized for the princess, saying: "This arises from her deep affection, and is more than a temporary 85