Page:Sacred Books of the East - Volume 10.djvu/78

 CHAPTER IV.

FLOWERS1

44. Who shall overcome this earth, and the world of Yama (the lord of the departed), and the world of the gods? Who shall find out the plainly shown path of virtue, as a clever man finds out the (right) flower?

45. The disciple will overcome the earth, and the world of Yama, and the world of the gods. The disciple will find out the plainly shown path of virtue, as a clever man finds out the (right) flower.

, 45. If I differ from the translation of Fausboll and Weber, it is because the commentary takes the two verbs, vi^essati and pa^essati, to mean in the end the same thing, i. e. sai^^i-karissati, nissati, though it should be remembered that the overcoming of the earth and of the worlds below and above, as here .alluded to, is meant to be achieved by means of knowledge. Pa>^essati, ' he will gather' (cf. vi-^i, Indische Spriiche, 4560), means also, like *to gather' in English, *he will perceive or understand,' and the dham- mapada, or *path of virtue,' is distinctly explained by Buddha- ghosa as consisting of the thirty-seven states or stations which lead to Bodhi. (See Burnouf, Lotus, p. 430 ; Hardy, Manual, p. 497.) Dhammapada might, no doubt, mean also 'a law-verse,' and sudesita, * well taught,* and this double meaning may be intentional here as elsewhere. Buddha himself is called Mdrga-darjaka and Marga-de^ika (cf. Lai. Vist. p. 551). There is a curious similarity between these verses and verses 6540-41, and 9939 of the S^Lnii^ parva: Pushpd//iva vi^nvantam anyatragatamanasam, Anavapteshu kdmeshu mrrtyur abhyeti mdnavam. Digitized by Google
 * See Beal, Dhammapada, p. 75.
 * he will perceive.' I have not ventured to take vi^essate for v^-
 * Death approaches man^like one who is gathering flowers, and