Tricycle | Awake in the World

This passage is from the“Buddha-charita,”the first complete biography of the Buddha, written by the poet Ashvaghosha, probably in the first century C.E. The“Buddha-charita”is made up of twenty-eight songs recounting events in Shakyamuni Buddha’s life up to the time of his great awakening. These verses speak of Shakyamuni's family and the events that surrounded the birth of the historical Buddha. Original spellings and usages from this 1893 translation by Edward B. Cowell have been retained throughout. This installment marks the first in a series of excerpts from“The Buddha-Karita or Life of Buddha,”reprinted with permission from Cosmo Publications, New Delhi, India.

The Arhat is here saluted, who has no counterpart, - who, as bestowing the supreme happiness, surpasses (Brahman) the Creator, - who, as driving away darkness, vanquishes the sun, - and, as dispelling all burning heat, surpasses the beautiful moon.