reap In future existences the harvest sown now and in the past."59
"Verily, O Lord," rejoined Kūtadanta, "this is not a fair retribution. I cannot recognize the justice that others after me will reap what I am sowing now."60
The Blessed One waited a moment and then replied: "Is all teaching in vain? Dost thou not understand that those others are thou thyself? Thou thyself wilt reap what thou sowest, not others.61
"Think of a man who is ill-bred and destitute, suffering from the wretchedness of his condition; As a boy he was slothful and indolent, and when he grew up he had not learned a craft to earn a living. Wouldst thou say his misery is not the product of his own action, because the adult is no longer the same person as was the boy?62
"Verily, I say unto thee: Not in. the heavens, not in the midst of the sea, not if thou hidest thyself away in the clefts of the mountains, wilt thou find a place where thou canst escape the fruit of thine evil actions.63
"At the same time thou art sure to receive the blessings of thy good actions.64
"The man who has long been traveling and who returns home in safety, the welcome of kinsfolk, friends, and acquaintances awaits. So, the fruits of his good works bid him welcome who has walked in the path of righteousness, when he passes over from the present life into the hereafter."65
Kūtadanta said: "I have faith in the glory and excellency of thy doctrines. My eye cannot as yet endure the fight; 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
