[454] Not hard to attain are heavenly sport and play,
Nor upon earth the world-wide monarch's sway,
Nymphs too in golden homes by these are won
Who with concupiscence long since have done.

To pass from Realm of Sense with life renewed
To World of Form, with higher powers endued,
Is by rebirth in sphere of Arhats won
By these who with concupiscence have done.

The bliss that doth all sense of pain transcend,
Unwavering, unconditioned, without end,
Is by pure souls, now in Nirvana, won
Who with concupiscence long since have done."

[456] Thus did the Great Being, after bringing about their attainment of the Eternal Great Nirvana, end his lesson. And the elves and mighty serpents and the like in the Himalayas, and the angels standing in the air, all applauded, saying, "Bravo! spoken with all the charm of a Buddha." Ananda, the vulture king, Narada, the brahmin angel, Punnamukha, the royal cuckoo, each with his own following, retired to their respective places, and the Great Being too departed to his own abode. But the others from time to time returned and received instruction at the hands of the Great Being, and abiding by his admonition became destined to Heaven.

The Master here ended his lesson and identifying the Birth repeated the final stanza:

Udayi royal cuckoo was, Ananda vulture king,
Good Sariputta Narada, Kunala I that sing.

Thus are ye to understand this Birth.

Now these Brethren, when they came, came by the supernatural power of the Master, and on returning returned by their own power. And the Master revealed to them in the Great Forest the means by which ecstasy may be induced, and that very day they attained to Arhatship. There was a mighty gathering of angelic beings, so the Blessed One declared to them the Mahasamayasutta (the discourse preached to a great company).

Footnotes

^219:1 The text of this Birth Story is not very satisfactory, and in many places it is almost impossible to distinguish the words of the story itself from the explanations of the commentary. Compare Jat. I. No. 74, Rukkhadhamma-Jataka and Dhammapada, p. 351; also Hardy's Manual, pp. 134-140.

^219:2 May and June.

^219:3 Compare Rogers' translation of Buddhaghosha's Parables, Ch. XXVI., for an account of Gotama's family.

^220:1 Sutta-Nipata, IV. 15, p. 173.

^220:2 Jat. I. p. 327, nilaramsim vissajjetva.

^220:3 Jat. IV. No. 475.

^220:4 parapatti, cf. Jat. III. 77. 27.

^220:5 Jat. III. No. 322.

^220:6 Jat. III. No. 357.

^220:7 Jat. I. No. 74.

^220:8 Vol. I. No. 33, Sammodamana-Jataka, is what is called Vattaka-Jataka in the text.

^222:1 uddarakca. For the form compare marjaraka, a cat.

^222:2 Specified in the text.

^222:3 amajja. For this word compare Taittiriya Samhhita, VII. 5. 12, 2.