271. Blessed indeed is that mother,—
Blessed indeed is that father,—
Blessed indeed is that wife,—
Who owns this Lord so glorious!
Hearing this, the Bodisat thought to himself, "On catching sight of such a one the heart of his mother is made happy, the heart of his father is made happy, the heart of his wife is made happy! This is all she says. But by what can every heart attain to lasting happiness and peace?" And to him whose mind was estranged from sin the answer came, "When the fire of lust is gone out, then peace is gained; when the fires of hatred and delusion are gone out, then peace is gained; when the troubles of mind, arising from pride, credulity, and all other sins, have ceased, then peace is gained! Sweet is the lesson this singer makes me hear, for the Nirvāna of Peace is that which I have been trying to find out. This very day I will break away from household cares! I will renounce the world! I will follow only after the Nirvāna itself![1]
Then loosing from his neck a string of pearls worth a hundred thousand, he sent it to Kisā Gotamī as a teacher's fee. Delighted at this, she thought, "Prince Siddhattha has fallen in love with me, and has sent me a present." But the Bodisat, on entering his palace in great splendour, reclined on a couch of state.
Thereupon women clad in beautiful array, skilful in
- ↑ The force of this passage is due to the fullness of meaning which, to the Buddhist, the words nibbuta and nibbānaŋ convey. No words in Western languages cover exactly the same ground, or connote the same ideas. To explain them fully to any one unfamiliar with Indian modes of thought would be difficult anywhere, and impossible in a note; but their meaning is pretty clear from the above sentences. Where in them, in the song, the words blessed, happy, peace, and the words gone out, ceased, occur, nibbuta stands in the original in one or other of its two meanings; where in them the words Nirvāna, Nirvāna of Peace occur, nibbānaŋ) stands in the original. Nirvāna is a lasting state of happiness and peace, to be reached here on earth by the extinction of the 'fires' and 'troubles' mentioned in this passage.
