noticed the arrival of the potter. “Is it possible that this
oor man should, the whole night through, have had the
happiness for which he so longs, without in the least
suspecting it?”
“That is the way of fool
āriputra. “But let
us go. Now
“
ome by the pain.”
e
ely noticed what was happening around him. It
of
n the high walls
evertheless pierced his consciousness, and may well
th
Way crossing the
idnight sky. His lips moved.
er
ed
upon
p
s,” said S
he can, of course, be brought along.”
One moment,” called Ānanda, “he has been
overc
Indeed Kāmanīta’s blank stare showed that h
scarc
began to grow dark before his eyes, but the long strip
morning sky which showed betwee
n
have appeared to him like
e Milky
m
“The Gangā,” he murmured.
“His mind wanders,” said Ānanda.
Those standing next to Kāmanīta, who had heard
what he said, interpreted it differently.
“He now wishes to be taken to the Gangā in order
that the sacred waters may wash away his sins. But Moth
Gangā is far from here — who could possibly carry him
thither?”
“First to the Buddha, then the Gangā,” murmur
Sāriputra, with the wry pity a wise person bestows
the fool who, beyond the reach of help, falls out of one
superstition into another.
Suddenly, however, Kāmanīta’s eyes become won‐
derfully animated, a happy smile transfigured his face; he
sought to raise himself. Ānanda supported him.
“The Heavenly Gangā,” he whispered, with weak
but happy voice, and pointed with his right hand to the
strip of sky above his head. “The Heavenly Gangā! We
swore… by its waves… Vāsitthī…”
177
His body quivered, blood gushed from his mouth,
greeted the Master respectfully and sat down before him.
young
e
e but one desire, namely, to see the Master
ce t
d
rer,” began Sāriputra, “has been
”
and he passed away in Ānanda’s arms.
*
*
*
Scarcely half an hour later Sāriputra and Ānanda,
accompanied by the monks, entered the potter’s hall,
“Well, Sāriputra,” asked the Master, after having
given them a friendly greeting, “did the company of
monks under your leadership reach the end of their long
journey well and without accident? Did you have any lack
of food or medicine on the way? Are your disciples happy
and studious?”
“I am glad to be able to say, Master, that we lacked
for nothing and that the young monks, full of confidenc
and zeal, hav
fa
o face. I have brought these noble youths, who
know the essentials and have faith in the Dharma, in order
to present them without delay to the Blessèd One.”
And at these words three young monks arose an
greeted the Master with palms pressed together, in the
shape of a lotus bud:
“Greetings, Venerable Father.”
“Welcome,” said the Master, and with a gentle
glance and a small movement of his hand, invited them to
be seated again.
“And did you, Master, arrive after yesterday’s
journey without too much fatigue or other ill‐effects? And
have you spent a passable night in this hall?”
“Even so, Sāriputra, I arrived at dusk without ill‐
effects from my journey and spent the night in the com‐
pany of a young stranger, a wandering seeker.”
“That wande
robbed of his life in the streets of Rājagaha by a cow…
178
“…and never dreaming with whom he had passed
the night here,” added Ānanda. “His one desire was to be
brought to the feet of the Blessèd One.”
“Soon afterwards, to be sure, he demanded that he
should be carried to the Gangā,” remarked Sāriputra.
“Not so, Brother Sāriputra,” Ānanda corrected him;
e‐
he died.”
e?”
ame and wished to profess himself a follow‐
r of t
aspirations of his heart
ere
rim
āma
Paradise of the West — there to enjoy
e pl
“for he spoke of the Heavenly Gangā. With radiant count
nance he recalled a vow and, in doing so, uttered the
name of a woman — Vāsitthī, I believe — and so
“With the name of some woman on his lips he
went hence,” said Sāriputra. “I wonder where he has
entered again into existenc
“Foolish as an unreasonable child was the pilgrim
Kāmanīta,” said the Buddha. “This young seeker went
about in my n
e
he of the Buddha‐Dharma, yet when I expounded
the Teaching to him, entering into every detail, he took
offence at it. The longings and
w
centred on bliss and heavenly joys. The pilg
K
nīta, bhikkhus, has entered again into existence in
Sukhavatī — The
th
easures of heaven for thousands upon thousands
of years.”
179
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