and entering the city, begged his food from door to door. The whole city at the sight of his beauty was thrown into commotion, like that other Rājagaha by the entrance of Dhana-pālaka, or like heaven itself by the entrance of the Ruler of the Gods.
The guards went to the king and said, describing him, "king! such and such a being is begging through the town. We cannot tell whether he is a god, or a man, or a Nāga, or a Supaṇṇa,[1] or what he is."
The king, watching the Great Being from his palace, became full of wonder, and gave orders to his guards, saying, "Go, my men, and see. If it is a superhuman being, it will disappear as soon as it leaves the city; if a god, it will depart through the air; if a snake, it will dive into the earth; if a man, it will eat the food just as it is."
But the Great Being collected scraps of food. And when he perceived there was enough to support him, he left the city by the gate at which he had entered. And seating himself, facing towards the East, under the shadow of the Paṇḍava rock, he began to eat his meal. His stomach, however, turned, and made as if it would come out of his mouth. Then, though distressed by that revolting food, for in that birth he had never even beheld such food with his eyes, he himself admonished himself, saying, "Siddhattha, it is true you were born in a family where food and drink were easily obtainable, into a state of life where your food was perfumed third-season's rice, with various curries of the finest kinds. But ever since you saw one clad in a mendicant's garb, you have been thinking, 'When shall I become like him, and live by begging my food? would that that time were come!' And now that you have left all for that very purpose, what is this that you are doing?" And overcoming his feelings, he ate the food.
- ↑ These are the superhuman Snakes and Winged Creatures, who were supposed, like the gods or angels, to be able to assume the appearance of men.
