THE BUDDHA-KARITA
OF
ASVAGHOSHA.
BOOK I.
1. That Arhat is here saluted, who has no counterpart,—who, as bestowing the supreme happiness, surpasses (Brahman) the Creator,—who, as driving away darkness, vanquishes the sun,—and, as dispelling all burning heat, surpasses the beautiful moon.
2. There was a city, the dwelling-place[1] of the great saint Kapila, having its sides surrounded by the beauty of a lofty broad table-land as by a line of clouds, and itself, with its high-soaring palaces[2], immersed in the sky.
3. By its pure and lofty system of government it, as it were, stole the splendour of the clouds of Mount Kailâsa, and while it bore the clouds which came to it through a mistake, it fulfilled the imagination which had led them thither[3].
4. In that city, shining with the splendour of gems, darkness like poverty could find no place;
