Page:Sacred Books of the East - Volume 17.djvu/110

96 the Blessed One preached to him in due course; that is to say, he talked about the merits obtained by alms-giving, about the duties of morality, about heaven, about the evils, the vanity, and the defilement of lusts, and about the blessings of the abandonment of lusts. When the Blessed One saw that the mind of Bela//>5a Ka-fc^na was prepared, impressible, free from obstacles (to understanding the Truth), elated, and believing, then he preached what is the principal doctrine of the Buddhas, namely, Suffering, the Cause of suffering, the Cessation of suffering, the Path. Just as a clean cloth free from black specks properly takes the dye, thus Bela//^ Ka^/^na, even while sitting there, obtained the pure and spotless Eye of the Truth (that is, the knowledge) : * Whatsoever is subject to the condition of origination is subject also to the condition of cessation.'

9. And Bela//^ Kai^na, having seen the Truth, having mastered the Truth, having understood the Truth, having penetrated the Truth, having over- come uncertainty, having dispelled all doubts, having gained full knowledge, dependent on nobody else for the knowledge of the doctrine of the Teacher, said to the Blessed One : * Glorious, Lord ! glorious, Lord! Just as if one should set up, Lord, what had been overturned, or should reveal what had been hidden, or should point out the way to one who had lost his way, or should bring a lamp into the darkness, in order that those who had eyes might see visible things, thus has the Blessed One preached the doctrine in many ways. I take my refuge. Lord, in the Blessed One, and in the Dhamma, and in the fraternity of Bhikkhus; may