XIV.
BRAHMĀS REQUEST.
The Blessed One having attained Buddhahood while resting under the shepherd's Nigrodha tree on the banks of the river Nerañjarā, pronounced this solemn utterance: 1
"How blest in happy solitude
Is he who hears of truth the call!
How blest to be both kind and good,
To practice self-restraint to all!
How blest from passion to be free,
All sensuous joys to let pass by!
Yet highest bliss enjoyeth he
Who quits the pride of 'I am I.'2
"I have recognized the deepest truth, which is sublime and peace-giving, but difficult to understand; for most men move in a sphere of worldly interests and find their delight in worldly desires.3
"The worldling will not understand the doctrine, for to him there is happiness in selfhood only, and the bliss that lies in a complete surrender to truth is unintelligible to him.4
"He will call resignation what to the enlightened mind is the purest joy. He will see annihilation where the perfected one finds immortality. He will regard as death what the conqueror of self knows to be life everlasting.5
"The truth remains hidden from him who is in the bondage of hate and desire. Nirvāna remains incomprehensible and mysterious to the vulgar whose minds are beclouded with worldly interests. Should I preach the doctrine and mankind not comprehend it, it would bring me only fatigue and trouble."6
Māra, the Evil One, on hearing the words of the Blessed Buddha, approached and said: "Be greeted, thou Holy One. Thou hast attained the highest bliss and it is time for thee to enter into the final Nirvāna."7
Then Brahmā Sahampati descended from the heavens and, having worshipped the Blessed One, said:8
"Alas! the world must perish, should the Holy One, the Tathāgata, decide not to teach the Dharma.9
"Be merciful to those that struggle; have compassion upon the sufferers; pity the creatures who are hopelessly entangled in the snares of sorrow.10
"There are some beings that are almost free from the dust of worldliness. If they hear not the doctrine preached, they will be lost. But if they hear it, they will believe and be saved."11
The Blessed One, full of compassion, looked with the eye of a Buddha upon all sentient creatures, and he saw among them beings whose minds were but scarcely covered by the dust of worldliness, who were of good disposition and easy to instruct. He saw some who were conscious of the dangers of lust and wrong doing.12
And the Blessed One said to Brahmā Sahampati: "Wide open be the door of immortality to all who have ears to hear. May they receive the Dharma with faith."13
And the Blessed One turned to Māra, saying: "I shall not pass into the final Nirvāna, O Evil One, until there be not only brethren and sisters of an Order, but also lay-disciples of both sexes, who shall have become true hearers, wise, well trained, ready and learned, versed in the scriptures, fulfilling all the greater and lesser duties, correct in life, walking according to the precepts—until they, having thus themselves learned the doctrine, shall be able to give information to others concerning it, preach it, make it known, establish it, open it, minutely explain it, and make it clear—until they, when others start vain doctrines, shall be able to vanquish and refute them, and so to spread the wonder-working truth abroad. I shall not die until the pure religion of truth shall have become successful, prosperous, widespread, and popular in all its full extent—until, in a word, it shall have been well proclaimed among men!"14
Then Brahmā Sahampati understood that the Blessed One had granted his request and would preach the doctrine.15
