place ye will meet with the corpse of an elephant, fallen down the mountain-plateau. The flesh of its limbs ye must take to serve for provisions on the journey, and provide yourselves with water, putting it in its bowels instead of bags; after which ye have to go farther in the very same direction. So ye will overcome this wilderness without much hardship.' With such comforting language the High-minded One induced them to set out, but himself, running quickly by another way, ascended to the top of that mountain. Standing there, about to give up his own body for the purpose of rescuing that body of people, he strengthened his determination[1], truly, by representing to his mind something like this.
21. 'This performance does not tend to the attainment of a high state for myself, neither the magnificence of a king of men, the possessor of the royal umbrella, nor Heaven with the singular flavour of its surpassing enjoyments, nor the bliss of Brahma's world, nor even the happiness of release[2];
22. 'But if there be any merit of mine in thus striving to help those men lost in the wilderness, may I become by it the Saviour of the World, of those creatures erring in the wilderness of Samsâra !!'
Having thus resolved, and not minding because of his gladness, the painful death he would suffer by being crushed down that deep descent, the Highminded One gave up his body according to his design by precipitating himself down that steep mountain.
23. While falling, he shone like an autumn-cloud or like the moon sinking with reversed disc behind the
- ↑ This strong determination' is the pranidhi, also called pranidhầna. By it he who performs some extraordinary meritorious action with the object of attaining some definite result in a future existence proclaims his design before carrying out his performance. Its counterpart in the ritual of Hinduism is the so-called sam kalpa preceding the ceremony and contributory to its success. For other instances of it, though the name of pranidhi is not used there, see Story I, stanzas 30-32; VIII, stanzas 53-55.
- ↑ Viz. 'final extinction' or nirvâna.
