16.—Gwai-men nyo-Bosatsu; nai shin nyo-Yasha.
In outward aspect a Bodhisattva; at innermost heart a demon.[1]
17.—Hana wa né ni kaeru.
The flower goes back to its root.[2]
18.—Hibiki no koë ni ozuru ga gotoshi.
Even as the echo answers to the voice.[3]
19.—Hito wo tasukéru ga shukké no yuku.
The task of the priest is to save mankind.
- ↑ Yasha (Sanscrit Yaksha), a man-devouring demon.
- ↑ This proverb is most often used in reference to death,—signifying that all forms go back into the nothingness out of which they spring. But it may also be used in relation to the law of cause-and-effect.
- ↑ Referring to the doctrine of cause-and-effect. The philosophical beauty of the comparison will be appreciated only if we bear in mind that even the tone of the echo repeats the tone of the voice.
Buddhism.—The proverb alludes to a celebrated fable in the Avadânas, about a number of blind men who tried to decide the form of an elephant by feeling the animal. One, feeling the leg, declared the elephant to be like a tree; another, feeling the trunk only, declared the elephant to be like a serpent; a third, who felt only the side, said that the elephant was like a wall; a fourth, grasping the tail, said that the elephant was like a rope, etc.
