Suppressing his feelings, but not extinguishing his memory, lightly he
advanced and proceeded beyond the city, pure and spotless as the lily
flowers which spring from the mud; looking up with earnestness at his
father's palace, he announced his purpose--unwitnessed and
unwritten--"If I escape not birth, old age, and death, for evermore I
pass not thus along." All the concourse of Devas, the space-filling
Nagas and spirits followed joyfully and exclaimed, "Well! well!" in
confirmation of the true words he spoke. The Nagas and the company of
Devas acquired a condition of heart difficult to obtain, and each with
his own inherent light led on the way shedding forth their brightness.
Thus man and horse, both strong of heart, went onwards, lost to sight
like streaming stars, but ere the eastern quarter flashed with light,
they had advanced three yoganas.
[Footnote 91: Mara, the king of the world of desire. According to the
Buddhist theogony he is the god of sensual love. He holds the world in
sin. He was the enemy of Buddha, and endeavored in every way to defeat
him. He is also described as the king of death.]
[Footnote 92: That is, the Brahman wearing the twice-born thread.]
[Footnote 93: The "eternal draught" or "sweet dew" of Ambrosia. This
expression is constantly used in Buddhist writings. It corresponds with
the Pali amatam, which Childers explains as the "drink of the gods.
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