The âtakamâlâstate of a householder is beset with occupations inimical to religious conduct and tranquillity. For this reason it does not please those who long only for the Self[139]. This will be taught by the following.
[139] Though the Buddhist lore denies the existence of the individual soul, the Self (âtman), Buddhist Sanskrit, as well as Pâli, often employs that name, as it is used in pagan and profane writings, in such cases as where it may suit to signify that part of the individual being, to whose profit or damage the good or evil karma will tend.
One time the Bodhisattva was born in a wealthy family, noted for their virtuous mode of life and good behaviour, so as to be much sought in alliance and highly esteemed by the people. That family was like a refreshing well to persons of good birth; they shared the stores of their treasuries and magazines with _S_rama_n_as and Brâhmans; their houses were open to friends and kinsmen; the poor and the mendicants lived by their gifts; the artisans found business and protection with them; and by their splendid riches they were permitted to bestow their favour and hospitality on the king. Being born in this family, he grew up in course of time, and studied such branches of science as are reputed of much value in the world, while he turned his mind with no less zeal to various arts, the knowledge of which is optional. Owing to his accomplished education, his beautiful figure pleasing the eyes of men, and the knowledge of the world he displayed without infringing the precepts of the Law, he won the hearts of his fellow-citizens, who considered him like their kinsman.
1, 2. For it is not on account of their relationship that we honour our relations, nor do we consider the rest of men as strangers because they are not related to us. No, men are considered relations or strangers, according as their virtues or vices make them meet with esteem or disregard.
But that Great Being had familiarised himself with world-renunciation.
3. He had had experience of the householder's life, and knew it to be a state not consistent with the practice of religious duties, since the pain of seeking after profit is necessarily implied by it. On the other hand, he understood the happiness of the penance-groves. So his mind became detached from the pleasures of the home-life.