"
Kandaka hearing respectfully the words of exhortation, blinded and
confused through choking sorrow, with hands outstretched did worship;
and answering the prince, he spoke, "The orders that you give me will, I
fear, add grief to grief, and sorrow thus increased will deepen, as the
elephant who struggles into deeper mire. When the ties of love are
rudely snapped, who, that has any heart, would not grieve! The golden
ore may still by stamping be broken up, how much more the feelings
choked with sorrow! the prince has grown up in a palace, with every care
bestowed upon his tender person, and now he gives his body to the rough
and thorny forest; how will he be able to bear a life of privation? When
first you ordered me to equip your steed, my mind was indeed sorely
troubled, but the heavenly powers urged me on, causing me to hasten the
preparation of the horse, but what is the intention that urges the
prince, to resolve thus to leave his secure palace? The people of
Kapilavastu, and all the country afflicted with grief; your father, now
an old man, mindful of his son, loving him moreover tenderly; surely
this determination to leave your home, this is not according to duty; it
is wrong, surely, to disregard father and mother--we cannot speak of
such a thing with propriety! Gotami, too, who has nourished you so long,
fed you with milk when a helpless child, such love as hers cannot easily
be forgotten; it is impossible surely to turn the back on a benefactor;
the highly gifted virtuous mother of a child, is ever respected by the
most distinguished families; to inherit distinction and then to turn
round, is not the mark of a distinguished man.
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