Page:Sacred Books of the East - Volume 21.djvu/367

 knowledge, bear the contemptuous words of un- believers who are rooted in pride ;

25. Let him, always zealous, strenuous, studious, of good memory, without any other pre-occupation in his mind, practise meditation, during ko/is of ^Eons ;

26. Let him, whether living in the forest or enter- ing upon a vagrant life 1, go about, avoiding sloth and torpor 2, for ko/is of iEons ;

27. Let him as a philosopher, a great philosopher 3 who finds his delight in meditation, in concentration of mind, pass eight thousand ko/is of ^Eons ;

28. Let him energetically pursue enlightenment with the thought of his reaching all-knowingness, and so arrive at the highest degree of meditation ;

29. Then the merit accruing to those who practise the virtues oft described, during thousands of ko/is of iEons,

30. (Is less than that of) a man or a woman who, on hearing the duration of my life, for a single mo- ment believes in it ; this merit is endless.

31. He who renouncing doubt, vacillation, and misgiving shall believe even for a short moment, shall obtain such a reward.

32. The Bodhisattvas also,who have practised those virtues during ko/is of iEons, will not be startled at hearing of this inconceivably long life of mine.

33. They will bow their heads (and think) : ' May I also in future become such a one and release ko/is of living beings ! Kankramam abhiruhya. Sty£namiddhan£a var^itvS. Middha, well known from Buddhistic writings, is a would-be Sanskrit form ; it ought to be mnddha, from Vedic mr/'dhyati. I. e. a Yogin, a contemplative mystic.