In the form of the unborn, in the form of a huge elephant white like the snow-capped peak which stands alone over the plain, armed with six tusks, with his face perfumed with flowing ichor, Am-jećo entered the womb of his mother like a line of clouds holding a lightning-flash.
When her waiting had finished, his mother supported herself by a bough which hung laden with a weight of flowers and Am-jećo suddenly came forth, cleaving open her womb.
At that time the constellation Asyutup was auspicious, and from the side of his mother, who was feral on account of her regal ancestor, her son was born without pain and without illness.
He surpassed in beauty the new moon as it rests on a mass of evening clouds and, having thus in due time issued from the womb, he was born full of wisdom, not foolish.
He was born but a handful of years before the great dragons Khagaroham, claiming their great thirst for the Law and gazing with the eyes of intentness, gifted the bestial tribe with the great palm-fan Najavya and the flower-rope called Aradnam.
Gladdened as always by a new birth amongst the tribe, the fey spirits and pure-blooded ancestors were filled with joy, though all passion was extinguished, for the sake of the world drowned in sorrow and violence.
In the north-eastern part of the tribe's camp a spring of pure water appeared of its own accord, wherein the birth-witches, filled with wonder, performed their primitive rites as they were told by the spirits and ancestors.
Through these rites, full of savage serenity, the pool itself received strength to uphold Am-jećo, and by means of its trees bearing flowers and perfumes it eagerly offered him succorous contemplation.
The flowering trees at once produced their blossoms, while their fragrance was borne aloft in all directions by the wind, accompanied by the songs of bewildered female bees, while the air was inhaled and absorbed by the many snakes (gathering near).
Sometimes there resounded on both sides raucous songs mingled with primitive musical instruments from women adorned with dancing bracelets.
Then having learned by signs and through the power of his penances this birth of him who was to destroy the Binding, the great seer Azdad in his thirst for security from the forces of Hell came to the tent of the tribal chief.
Him shining with the glory of primal wisdom and barbaric observances, the tribe's own seer, — himself a special student among the students of primal wisdom, — approached to the chiefly presence with all due superstition and respect.
He entered into the vicinity of the chief, which was all astir with the joy arisen from the birth of the young Am-jećo, — grave from his consciousness of power, his pre-eminence in the ways of the fey spirits, and the weight of old age.
Then the chief, having duly honoured the witch, who was seated in his seat, with water for the feet and a food offering, invited him (to speak) with all ceremonies of superstitous respect:
‘Speak or die, old wise-man!  What secrets have you wrested from the wilds surrounding us?’
The witch, being thus invited by the chief, filled with intense feeling as was due, uttered his deep and solemn words, having his large eyes opened wide with wonder and fear:
‘You have great big soul, chief-man: you welcome guests, you give your tribe much big freedom, and you do as you should by tribe and by spirit.
‘You are like our royal ancestors.  They threw away much big riches for their honor.  Thus our tribe, primal in appearance, is favored by the fey spirits.



‘But hear now the motive for my coming and rejoice thereat; a heavenly voice has been heard by me in the heavenly path, that thy son has been born for the sake of supreme knowledge.
śrutvā vacastacca manaśca yuktvā jñātvā nimittaiśca tato 'smyupetaḥ |
didṛkṣayā śākyakuladhvajasya śakradhvajasyeva samucchritasya || 1.63 (1.58)
63. ‘Having heard that voice and applied my mind thereto, and having known its truth by signs, I am now come hither, with a longing to see the banner of the Śākya race, as if it were Indra's banner being set up.’ In allusion to a festival in parts of India; cf. Schol. Raghuvaṁsa IV, 3. (Cf. Mrs Guthrie's Year in an Indian Fort, vol. ii.) click the number to stick the note, click again to unstick it 36
ityetadevaṁ vacanaṁ niśamya praharṣasaṁbhrāṁtagatirnareṁdraḥ |
ādāya dhātryaṁkagataṁ kumāraṁ saṁdarśayāmāsa tapodhanāya || 1.64 (1.59)
64. Having heard this address of his, the king, with his steps bewildered with joy, took the prince, who lay on his nurse's side, and showed him to the holy ascetic.
cakrāṁkapādaṁ sa tathā mahārṣirjālāvanaddhāṁgulipāṇipādam |
sorṇabhruvaṁ vāraṇavastikośaṁ savismayaṁ rājasutaṁ dadarśa || 1.65 (1.60)
65. Thus the great seer beheld the king's son with wonder, — his foot marked with a wheel, his fingers and toes webbed, with a circle of hair between his eyebrows, and signs of vigour like an elephant.
dhātryaṁkasaṁviṣṭamavekṣya cainaṁ devyaṁkasaṁviṣṭamivāgnisūnum |
babhūva pakṣmāṁtarivāṁcitāśrurniśvasya caivaṁ tridivonmukho 'bhūt || 1.66 (1.61)
66. Having beheld him seated on his nurse's side, like the son of Agni (Skanda) seated on Devī's side, he stood with the tears hanging on the ends of his eyelashes, I adopt Prof. Keilhorn's suggestion, pakṣmāntavilaṁbitāśruḥ. (Añjita might mean ‘curved on the eyelashes.’) click the number to stick the note, click again to unstick it 37 and sighing he looked up towards heaven.
dṛṣṭvāsitaṁ tvaśrupariplutākṣaṁ snehāttu putrasya nṛpaścakaṁpe |
sagadgadaṁ bāṣpakaṣāyakaṁṭhaḥ papraccha ca prāṁjalirānatāṁgaḥ || 1.67 (1.62)
67. But seeing Asita with his eyes thus filled with tears, the king was agitated through his love for his son, and with his hands clasped and his body bowed he thus asked him in a broken voice choked with weeping,
svalpāṁtaraṁ yasya vapurmuneḥ syādbahvadbhutaṁ yasya ca janma dīptam |
yasyottamaṁ bhāvinamāttha cārthaṁ taṁ prekṣya kasmāttava dhīra vāṣpaḥ || 1.68 (1.63)
68. ‘One whose beauty has little to distinguish it from that of a divine sage, Or, reading mune, ‘one who age is so small, O sage.’ click the number to stick the note, click again to unstick it 38 and whose brilliant birth has been so wonderful, and for whom thou hast prophesied a transcendent future, — wherefore, on seeing him, do tears come to thee, O reverend one?
api sthirāyurbhagavan kumāraḥ kaccinna śokāya mama prasūtaḥ |
labdhaḥ kathaṁcit salilāṁjalirme na khalvimaṁ pātumupaiti kālaḥ || 1.69 (1.64)
69. ‘Is the prince, O holy man, destined to a long life? Surely he cannot be born for my sorrow. Kaccinna śokāya mama prasūtaḥ. click the number to stick the note, click again to unstick it 39 I have with difficulty obtained a handful of water, surely it is not death which comes to drink it.
apyakṣayaṁ me yaśaso nidhānaṁ kacciddhruvo me kulahastasāraḥ |
api prayāsyāmi sukhaṁ paratra supte 'pi putre 'nimiṣaikacakṣuḥ || 1.70 (1.65)
70. ‘Tell me, is the hoard of my fame free from destruction? Is this chief prize of my family secure ? Shall I ever depart happily to another life, — I who keep one eye ever awake, even when my son is asleep? Obscure. click the number to stick the note, click again to unstick it 40
kaccinna me jātamaphullameva kulaprabālaṁ pariśoṣabhāgi |
kṣipraṁ vibho brūhi na me 'sti śāṁtiḥ snehaṁ sute vetsi hi bāṁdhavānām || 1.71 (1.66)
71. ‘Surely this young shoot of my family is not born barren, destined only to wither! Speak quickly, my lord, I cannot wait; thou well knowest the love of near kindred for a son.’
ityāgatāvegamaniṣṭabuddhyā buddhvā nareṁdraṁ sa* munirbabhāṣe |
mā bhūnmatiste nṛpa kācidanyā niḥsaṁśayaṁ tadyadavocamasmi || 1.72 (1.67)
72. Knowing the king to be thus agitated through his fear of some impending evil, the sage thus addressed him: ‘Let not thy mind, O monarch, be disturbed, — all that I have said is certainly true. I take asmi as meaning aham (aham ityarthāvyayam), or should we read asti? click the number to stick the note, click again to unstick it 41
nāsyānyathātvaṁ prati vikriyā me svāṁ vaṁcanāṁ tu prati viklavo 'smi |
kālo hi me yātumayaṁ ca jāto jātikṣayasyāsulabhasya boddhā || 1.73 (1.68)
73. ‘I have no feeling of fear as to his being subject to change, but I am distressed for mine own disappointment. It is my time to depart, and this child is now born, — he who knows that mystery hard to attain, the means of destroying birth.
vihāya rājyaṁ viṣayeṣvanāsthastīvraiḥ prayatnairadhigamya tattvam |
jagatyayaṁ mohatamo nihaṁtuṁ jvaliṣyati jñānamayo hi sūryaḥ || 1.74 (1.69)
74. Having forsaken his kingdom, indifferent to all worldly objects, and having attained the highest truth by strenuous efforts, he will shine forth as a sun of knowledge to destroy the darkness of illusion in the world.
duḥkhārṇavādvyādhivikīrṇaphenājjarātaraṁgānmaraṇogravegāt |
uttārayiṣyatyayamuhyamānamārttaṁ jagajjñānamahāplavena || 1.75 (1.70)
75. ‘He will deliver by the boat of knowledge the distressed world, borne helplessly along, from the ocean of misery which throws up sickness as its foam, tossing with the waves of old age, and rushing with the dreadful onflow of death.
prajñāṁbuvegāṁ sthiraśīlavaprāṁ samādhiśītāṁ vratacakravākām |
asyottamāṁ dharmanadīṁ pravṛttāṁ tṛṣṇārditaḥ pāsyati jīvalokaḥ || 1.76 (1.71)
76. ‘The thirsty world of living beings will drink the flowing stream of his Law, bursting forth with the water of wisdom, enclosed by the banks of strong moral rules, delightfully cool with contemplation, and filled with religious vows as with ruddy geese.
duḥkhārditebhyo viṣayāvṛtebhyaḥ saṁsārakāṁtārapathasthitebhyaḥ |
ākhyāsyati hyeṣa vimokṣamārgaṁ mārgapranaṣṭebhya ivādhvagebhyaḥ || 1.77 (1.72)
77. ‘He will proclaim the way of deliverance to those afflicted with sorrow, entangled in objects of sense, and lost in the forest-paths of worldly existence, as to travellers who have lost their way.
vidahyamānāya janāya loke rāgāgnināyaṁ viṣayeṁdhanena |
prahlādamādhāsyati dharmavṛṣṭyā vṛṣṭyā mahāmegha ivātapāṁte || 1.78 (1.73)
78. ‘By the rain of the Law he will give gladness to the multitude who are consumed in this world with that fire of desire whose fuel is worldly objects, as a great cloud does with its showers at the end of the hot season.
tṛṣṇārgalaṁ mohatamaḥkapāṭaṁ dvāraṁ prajānāmapayānahetoḥ |
vipāṭayiṣyatyayamuttamena saddharmatāḍena durāsadena || 1.79 (1.74)
79. ‘He will break open for the escape of living beings that door whose bolt is desire and whose two leaves are ignorance and delusion, — with that excellent blow of the good Law which is so hard to find.
svairmohapāśaiḥ pariveṣṭitasya duḥkhābhibhūtasya nirāśrayasya |
lokasya saṁbudhya ca dharmarājaḥ kariṣyate baṁdhanamokṣameṣaḥ || 1.80 (1.75)
80. ‘He, the king of the Law, when he has attained to supreme knowledge, will achieve the deliverance from its bonds of the world now overcome by misery, destitute of every refuge, and enveloped in its own chains of delusion.
tanmā kṛthāḥ śokamimaṁ prati tvam tatsaumya śocye hi manuṣyaloke |
mohena vā kāmasukhairmadādvā yo naiṣṭhikaṁ śroṣyati nāsya dharmam || 1.81 (1.76)
81. ‘Therefore make no sorrow for him, — that belongs rather, kind sire, to the pitiable world of human beings, who through illusion or the pleasures of desire or intoxication refuse to hear his perfect Law.
bhraṣṭasya tasmācca guṇādato me dhyānāni labdhvāpyakṛtārthataiva |
dharmasya tasyāśravaṇādahaṁ hi manye vipattiṁ tridive 'pi vāsam || 1.82 (1.77)
82. ‘Therefore since I have fallen short of that excellence, though I have accomplished all the stages of contemplation, my life is only a failure; since I have not heard his Law, I count even dwelling in the highest heaven a misfortune.’
iti śrutārthaḥ sasuhṛtsadārastyaktvā viṣādaṁ mumude nareṁdraḥ |
evaṁvidho 'yaṁ tanayo mameti mene sa hi svāmapi sāramattām || 1.83 (1.78)
83. Having heard these words, the king with his queen and his friends abandoned sorrow and rejoiced; thinking, ‘such is this son of mine,’ he considered that his excellence was his own.
āryeṇa mārgeṇa tu yāsyatīti ciṁtāvidheyaṁ hṛdayaṁ cakāra |
na khalvasau na priyadharmapakṣaḥ saṁtānanāśāttu bhayaṁ dadarśa || 1.84 (1.79)
84. But he let his heart be influenced by the thought, ‘he will travel by the noble path,’ — he was not in truth averse to religion, yet still he saw alarm at the prospect of losing his child.
atha munirasito nivedya tattvaṁ sutaniyataṁ sutaviklavāya rājñe |
sabahumatamudīkṣyamāṇarūpaḥ pavanapathena yathāgataṁ jagāma || 1.85 (1.80)
85. Then the sage Asita, having made known the real fate which awaited the prince to the king who was thus disturbed about his son, departed by the way of the wind as he had come, his figure watched reverentially in his flight.
kṛtamatiranujāsutaṁ ca dṛṣṭvā munivacanaśravaṇe pi tanmatau ca |
bahuvidhamanukaṁpayā sa sādhuḥ priyasutavadviniyojayāṁcakāra || 1.86 (1.81)
86. Having taken his resolution and having seen the son of his younger sister, This was Naradatta, see Lalitavistara, ch. vii. pp. 103, 110 (Foucaux). click the number to stick the note, click again to unstick it 42 the saint, filled with compassion, enjoined him earnestly in all kinds of ways, as if he were his son, to listen to the sage's words and ponder over them.
narapatirapi putrajanmatuṣṭo viṣayamatāni vimucya baṁdhanāni |
kulasadṛśamacīkaradyathāvatpriyatanayaṁ tanayasya jātakarma || 1.87 (1.82)
87. The monarch also, being well-pleased at the birth of a son, having thrown off all those bonds called worldly objects, caused his son to go through the usual birth-ceremonies in a manner worthy of the family.
daśasu pariṇateṣvahaḥsu caivaṁ prayatamanāḥ parayā mudā parītaḥ |
akuruta japahomamaṁgalādyāḥ paramatamāḥ sa sutasya devatejyāḥ || 1.88 (1.83)
88. When ten days were fulfilled after his son's birth, with his thoughts kept under restraint, and filled with excessive joy, he offered for his son most elaborate sacrifices to the gods with muttered prayers, oblations, and all kinds of auspicious ceremonies.
api ca śatasahasrapūrṇasaṁkhyāḥ sthirabalavattanayāḥ sahemaśṛṁgīḥ |
anupagatajarāḥ payasvinīrgāḥ svayamadadātsutavṛddhaye dvijebhyaḥ || 1.89 (1.84)
89. And he himself gave to the Brāhmans for his son's welfare cows full of milk, with no traces of infirmity, golden-horned and with strong healthy calves, to the full number of a hundred thousand.
bahuvidhaviṣayāstato yatātmā svahṛdayatoṣakarīḥ kriyā vidhāya |
guṇavati divase śive muhūrte matimakaronmuditaḥ purapraveśe || 1.90 (1.85)
90. Then he, with his soul under strict restraint, having performed all kinds of ceremonies which rejoiced his heart, on a fortunate day, in an auspicious moment, gladly determined to enter his city.
dviradaradamayīmatho mahārhāṁ sitasitapuṣpabhṛtāṁ maṇipradīpām |
abhajata śivikāṁ śivāya devī tanayavatī praṇipatya devatābhyaḥ || 1.91 (1.86)
91. Then the queen with her babe having worshipped the gods for good fortune, occupied a costly palanquin made of elephants' tusks, filled with all kinds of white flowers, and blazing with gems.
puramatha purataḥ praveśya patnīṁ sthavirajanānugatāmapatyanāthām |
nṛpatirapi jagāma paurasaṁghairdivamamarairmaghavānivārcyamānaḥ || 1.92 (1.87)
92. Having made his wife with her child Apatyanāthām might also mean ‘having her child as her protector.’ click the number to stick the note, click again to unstick it 43 enter first into the city, accompanied by the aged attendants, the king himself also advanced, saluted by the hosts of the citizens, as Indra entering heaven, saluted by the immortals.
bhavanamatha vigāhya śākyarājo bhava iva ṣaṇmukhajanmanā pratītaḥ |
idamidamiti harṣapūrṇavaktro bahuvidhapuṣṭiyaśaskaraṁ vyadhatta || 1.93 (1.88)
93. The Śākya king, having entered his palace, like Bhava Sc. Śīva. click the number to stick the note, click again to unstick it 44 well-pleased at the birth of Kārttikeya, Shaṇmukha. click the number to stick the note, click again to unstick it 45 with his face full of joy, gave orders for lavish expenditure, showing all kinds of honour and liberality. Bahuvidhapuṣṭiyaśaskaram seems to be used as an adverb to vyadhatta, ‘he made expenditure.’ click the number to stick the note, click again to unstick it 46
iti narapatiputrajanmavṛddhyā sajanapadaṁ kapilāhvayaṁ puraṁ tat |
dhanadapuramivāpsaro 'vakīrṇaṁ muditamabhūnnalakūvaraprasūtau || 1.94 (1.89)
94. Thus at the good fortune of the birth of the king's son, that city surnamed after Kapila, with all the surrounding inhabitants, was full of gladness like the city of the lord of wealth, Kuvera. click the number to stick the note, click again to unstick it 47 crowded with heavenly nymphs, at the birth of his son Nalakūvara.