THE BUDDHA-KARITA

OF ASVAGHOSHA.

BOOK I.

1. That Arhat a perfected person or saint in Buddhism is here saluted, who has no counterpart—who, as bestowing the supreme happiness, surpasses original: "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 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, immersed in the sky.
3. By its pure and lofty system of government, it, as it were, stole the splendor of the clouds of Mount Kailâsa, and while it bore the clouds which came to it through a mistake They had thought that it was Kailâsa., it fulfilled the imagination which had led them thither.
4. In that city, shining with the splendor of gems, darkness like poverty could find no place;