The Buddha Part 8

He was the youngest but the wisest of them, and they reverenced him as master. He outdid them all in fasting. One day Nanda, the shepherd's daughter, saw him faint, and he might have died from exhaustion right on the spot if Nanda had not given him rice milk to drink.

_Y._ O good Kala, what shall I do? What shall I do? Here I sit at home, a poor, helpless woman, unable to a.s.sist him or to take care of him! O Kala, advise me, what can I do?

_KING SUDDHODANA (S) and VISAKHA (V) come out of the palace.

The Princess retires into the palace. GOPA hides behind the bushes._

_S._ I am glad to see you back. Have you seen my son?

_K._ I have sire.

_S._ Where did you find him?

_K._ At Uruvela, the place of mortification where saints try to see visions and reach a state of bliss.

_V._ And has Siddhattha succeeded?

_K._ It does not seem so; he is starving himself to death.

_V._ Is he dying?

_K._ Not exactly, but I do not see how he can live--on that diet.

_S._ Oh, Visakha, how have I been deprived of my son through a whim!

_Both return into the palace. VISAKHA comes back._

_V._ It seems that Siddhattha is ruining himself.

_K._ At the rate he is going now, he won't stand it long. He may not live another month. It is pitiable. You should have seen him. That beautiful young man looks like a consumptive in his last stage. I did not dare to tell what I thought. The Princess would not have borne the sad news.

_V._ Too bad. It looks pretty hopeless.

_K._ I do not see how the Prince can survive.

_V._ What is the idea of these fasts?

_K._ These pious recluses believe that the self is imprisoned in the body and that the senses are the prison gates. They want to liberate the soul, and many of them behold visions, but Siddhattha seems to doubt whether the saints of Uruvela proceed on the right track. Indeed he denies the very existence of the self.

_V._ I know he does. His views should be branded as purely human wisdom. As the senses are finger touch, eye touch, ear touch, nose and tongue touch, so the mind is to him mere thought touch. He claimed that the mind originates through a co-operation of the senses.

_K._ His disciples begin to break away from him.

_V._ That is right. They ought to have done so long ago. I always said that Siddhattha is an unbeliever. He spurns faith and relies too much on his own observation and reasoning. He will never find enlightenment. He is too negative, too nihilistic, and his quest of Buddhahood will end in a lamentable failure.

_K._ It would be a pity, sir. He is certainly in earnest to find the truth--the real truth, not what the priests say nor the Vedas declare, but the truth, provable truth.

_V._ Yes that is his fault. When the king speaks with you tell him all, explain the hopelessness of his situation. The king ought to know the facts.

_VISAKHA retires into the palace._

_K._ [_Calls in a low voice_] Gopa, Gopa!

[_GOPA appears from behind the bush._]

_K._ [_Aside_] I knew she would not be far.

_G._ What do you want?

_K._ I want to have a talk with you.

_G._ Well?

_K._ Let us set our marriage day.

_G._ I do not care to marry you--just yet.

_K._ I want a kiss, Gopa.

_G._ You shan't have it!

_K._ I will leave Kapilavatthu and go back to the Bodhisatta.

_G._ He will tell you that a youth must not kiss a girl.

_K._ That rule holds only for monks.

_G._ Go and turn monk. Then it applies to you.

_K._ The world would die out if everybody turned monk.

_G._ First, you are not everybody, and secondly, would it not be a blessing if the whole world would try to be sanctified?

_K._ Pshaw! Mankind consists of different castes and professions, of soldiers and merchants, of peasants and artisans and teachers. Mankind is like a body with various limbs, a head and hands, feet and chest and neck. A man who were head only could not live, and if mankind consisted of Buddhas only we would starve. We need a Buddha, but there must also be householders. Now quick give me a kiss.

_She pouts._

_K._ If you do not kiss me I shall go back to the forest of Uruvela.

Nanda, the shepherd's daughter, is a very pretty girl. She is as pretty as you are. She is,--well, her cheeks are rosier than yours.

She is a little taller, and she is so graceful when she milks the kine. The shepherd needs a helper. I am sure he would like to have a son-in-law.

_RAHULA enters._

_R._ Gopa! Mother wants you.

_G._ [_Kisses K. quickly_] Here is a kiss, but you must forget Nanda.

[_Runs away._]

_K._ Stay a moment longer!