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Ktadanta said: "I have faith in the glory and excellency of thy doctrines. My eye cannot as yet endure the light; but I now understand that there is no self, and the truth dawns upon me. Sacrifices cannot save, and invocations are idle talk. But how shall I find the path to life everlasting? I know all the Vedas by heart and have not found the truth."66
Said the Buddha: "Learning is a good thing; but it availeth[Pg 160] not. True wisdom can be acquired by practice only. Practise the truth that thy brother is the same as thou. Walk in the noble path of righteousness and thou wilt understand that while there is death in self, there is immortality in truth."67
Said Ktadanta: "Let me take my refuge in the Blessed One, in the Dharma, and in the brotherhood. Accept me as thy disciple and let me partake of the bliss of immortality."68
And the Blessed One thus addressed the brethren:1
"Those only who do not believe, call me Gotama, but you call me the Buddha, the Blessed One, the Teacher. And this is right, for I have in this life entered Nirvna, while the life of Gotama has been extinguished.2
"Self has disappeared and the truth has taken its abode in me. This body of mine is Gotama's body and it will be dissolved in due time, and after its dissolution no one, neither God nor man, will see Gotama again. But the truth remains. The Buddha will not die; the Buddha will continue to live in the holy body of the law.3
"The extinction of the Blessed One will be by that passing away in which nothing remains that could tend to the formation of another self. Nor will it be possible to point out the Blessed One as being here or there. But it will be like a flame in a great body of blazing fire. That flame has ceased; it has vanished and it cannot be said that it is here or there. In the body of the Dharma, however, the Blessed One can be pointed out; for the Dharma has been preached by the Blessed One.4
[Pg 163] "Ye are my children, I am your father; through me have ye been released from your sufferings.5
"I myself having reached the other shore, help others to cross the stream; I myself having attained salvation, am a saviour of others; being comforted, I comfort others and lead them to the place of refuge.6
"I shall fill with joy all the beings whose limbs languish; I shall give happiness to those who are dying from distress; I shall extend to them succor and deliverance.7
"I was born into the world as the king of truth for the salvation of the world.8
"The subject on which I meditate is truth. The practice to which I devote myself is truth. The topic of my conversation is truth. My thoughts are always in the truth. For lo! my self has become the truth.9
"Whosoever comprehendeth the truth will see the Blessed One, for the truth has been preached by the Blessed One."10
And the Tathgata addressed the venerable Kassapa, to dispel the uncertainty and doubt of his mind, and he said:1
"All things are made of one essence, yet things are different according to the forms which they assume under different impressions. As they form themselves so they act, and as they act so they are.2
"It is, Kassapa, as if a potter made different vessels out of the same clay. Some of these pots are to contain sugar, others rice, others curds and milk; others still are vessels of impurity. There is no diversity in the clay used; the diversity of the pots is only due to the moulding hands[Pg 164] of the potter who shapes them for the various uses that circumstances may require.3
"And as all things originate from one essence, so they are developing according to one law and they are destined to one aim which is Nirvna.4
"Nirvna comes to thee, Kassapa, when thou understandest thoroughly, and when thou livest according to thy understanding, that all things are of one essence and that there is but one law. Hence, there is but one Nirvna as there is but one truth, not two or three.5
"And the Tathgata is the same unto all beings, differing in his attitude only in so far as all beings are different.6
"The Tathgata recreates the whole world like a cloud shedding its waters without distinction. He has the same sentiments for the high as for the low, for the wise as for the ignorant, for the noble-minded as for the immoral.7
"The great cloud full of rain comes up in this wide universe covering all countries and oceans to pour down its rain everywhere, over all grasses, shrubs, herbs, trees of various species, families of plants of different names growing on the earth, on the hills, on the mountains, or in the valleys.8
"Then, Kassapa, the grasses, shrubs, herbs, and wild trees suck the water emitted from that great cloud which is all of one essence and has been abundantly poured down; and they will, according to their nature, acquire a proportionate development, shooting up and producing blossoms and their fruits in season.9
"Rooted in one and the same soil, all those families of plants and germs are quickened by water of the same essence.10
"The Tathgata, however, O Kassapa, knows the law whose essence is salvation, and whose end is the peace of Nirvna. He is the same to all, and yet knowing the[Pg 165] requirements of every single being, he does not reveal himself to all alike. He does not impart to them at once the fulness of omniscience, but pays attention to the disposition of various beings."11
Before Rhula, the son of Gotama Siddhattha and Yasodhar, attained to the enlightenment of true wisdom, his conduct was not always marked by a love of truth, and the Blessed One sent him to a distant vihra to govern his mind and to guard his tongue.1
After some time the Blessed One repaired to the place, and Rhula was filled with joy.2
And the Blessed One ordered the boy to bring him; basin of water and to wash his feet, and Rhula obeyed.3
When Rhula had washed the Tathgata's feet, the Blessed One asked: "Is the water now fit for drinking?"4
