Page:Sacred Books of the East - Volume 17.djvu/22

8 One, and took his seat on one side. And when he was thus seated, the Blessed One addressed the venerable Sona, and said : 'Is it not true, Sona, that in your mind, when you had gone apart and were plunged in meditation, there sprung up this thought : "Though I have become (&c., as in J 13, down to the end)?"'

'Even so, Lord!'

'Now what think you, Sona, — you were skilled, were you not, when you formerly lived in the world, in the music of the lute ?'

'That was so, Lord ! '

'Now what think you, Sona, — when the strings of your lute ^ were too much stretched, had your lute then any sound, was it in a fit state to be played upon ? *

'Not so, Lord!'

'Now what think you, Sona, — when the strings of your lute were too loose, had your lute then any sound, was it in a fit state to be played upon ?'

'Not so, Lord!'

'Now what think you, Sona, — when the strings of your lute were neither too much stretched nor too loose, but fixed in even proportion, had your lute sound then, was it then in a fit state to be played upon?' 'Yes, Lord!'

'And just so, Sona, does too eager a determination conduce to self-righteousness, and too weak a deter-

Vînâ. On the construction of the ancient Indian lute, see Milinda Pawha (p. 53, ed. Trenckner), where all the various parts are mentioned. Compare also the Guttila Gataka (No. 243, ed. Fausbcll).