Page:Sacred Books of the Buddhists Vol 1.djvu/242

 he directed his mind to the exercise of meditation and before long came to the possession of the four ecstatic trances (dhyâna) and the five kinds of transcendent knowledge (abhigñâ).

Now, while he was enjoying the exquisite happiness of tranquillity, the remembrance of the king, accompanied by a feeling of compassion, appeared to his mind. And, as he was concerned about the present state of that prince, he directed his thoughts towards him, and saw that his ministers were each enticing him to the tenets of the (false) doctrine which he professed. One among them endeavoured to win him for the doctrine according to which there should be no causality, taking for examples such instances, where it is difficult to demonstrate causality.

17. 'What,' said he, 'is the cause of the shape, the colour, the arrangement, the softness and so on of the stalks, the petals, the filaments and the pericarps of the lotuses? Who diversifies the feathers of the birds in this world ? In just the same manner this whole universe is the product of the work of essential and inherent properties, to be sure.'

Another, who held a Supreme Being (Îsvara) for the first cause, expounded him the tenets of his lore.

18. 'It is not probable that this universe should exist without a cause. There is some being who rules it, Eternal and One. It is He who in consequence of the fixation of His mind on His transcendental volition, creates the world and again dissolves it.'

Another, on the contrary, deceived him by this doctrine: This universe is the result of former actions, which are the cause of fortune, good and ill; personal energy has no effect at all to modify it.

19. 'How, indeed, may one being create at the same time the manifold and boundless variety of the different substances and properties ? No, this universe is the product of former actions. For even he who