" And thus sorrow is
added to sorrow!
Then like a captive warrior is drawn before the king his master, so did
he enter the gates with tears, his eyes filled so that he said nought.
Then looking up to heaven he loudly groaned; and the white horse too
whined piteously; then all the varied birds and beasts in the palace
court, and all the horses within the stables, hearing the sad whinnying
of the royal steed, replied in answer to him, thinking "now the prince
has come back." But seeing him not, they ceased their cries!
And now the women of the after-palace, hearing the cries of the horses,
birds, and beasts, their hair dishevelled, their faces wan and yellow,
their forms sickly to look at, their mouths and lips parched, their
garments torn and unwashed, the soil and heat not cleansed from their
bodies, their ornaments all thrown aside, disconsolate and sad,
cheerless in face, raised their bodies, without any grace, even as the
feeble little morning star; their garments torn and knotted, soiled like
the appearance of a robber, seeing Kandaka and the royal horse shedding
tears instead of the hoped-for return, they all, assembled thus, uttered
their cry, even as those who weep for one beloved just dead. Confused
and wildly they rushed about, as a herd of oxen that have lost their
way.
Mahapragapati Gotami, hearing that the prince had not returned, fell
fainting on the ground, her limbs entirely deprived of strength, even as
some mad tornado wind crushes the golden-colored plantain tree; and
again, hearing that her son had become a recluse, deeply sighing and
with increased sadness she thought, "Alas! those glossy locks turning to
the right, each hair produced from each orifice, dark and pure,
gracefully shining, sweeping the earth when loose,[98] or when so
determined, bound together in a heavenly crown, and now shorn and lying
in the grass! Those rounded shoulders and that lion step! Those eyes
broad as the ox-king's, that body shining bright as yellow gold; that
square breast and Brahma voice; that you! possessing all these excellent
qualities, should have entered on the sorrow-giving forest; what fortune
now remains for the world, losing thus the holy king of earth? That
those delicate and pliant feet, pure as the lily and of the same color,
should now be torn by stones and thorns; O how can such feet tread on
such ground! Born and nourished in the guarded palace, clad with
garments of the finest texture, washed in richly scented water, anointed
with the choicest perfumes, and now exposed to chilling blasts and dews
of night, O! where during the heat or the chilly morn can rest be found!
Thou flower of all thy race! Confessed by all the most renowned! Thy
virtuous qualities everywhere talked of and exalted, ever reverenced,
without self-seeking! why hast thou unexpectedly brought thyself upon
some morn to beg thy food for life! Thou who wert wont to repose upon a
soft and kingly couch, and indulge in every pleasure during thy waking
hours: how canst thou endure the mountain and the forest wilds, on the
bare grass to make thyself a resting-place!"
Thus thinking of her son--her heart was full of sorrow, disconsolate she
lay upon the earth.
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