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LIFE OF BUDDHA. prished; he however still elected to live three months. And the narrative goes on: “ Thus the Blessed One deliberately and consciously rejected the rest of his allotted sum of life, and on his rejecting it there arose a mighty earthquake, awful and terrible, and the thunders of heaven burst forth, and when the Blessed One beheld this, he broke out into this hymn of exultation :
His sum of life the sage renounced, The course of life immeasurable or small; With inward joy and calm, he broke,
Like coat of mail, his life's own cause."" He then gave a summary of his most essential teachings to the assembled disciples, and concluded thus:
“My age is now full ripe, my life draws to its close:
I leave you, I depart, relying on myself alone! Be earnest then, O brethren! holy, full of thought! Be steadfast in resolve! Keep watch o'er your own hearts ! Who wearies not, but holds fast to this truth and law,
Shall cross this sea of life, shall make an end of grief." After still a few days' journeying, Buddha was seized with dysentery attended with sharp pain, which he bore
without complaint. At last he arrived at His death. Kusinara where he died, even in his last hours converting new disciples. His last words were, “Behold now, brethren, I exhort you, saying, Decay is inherent in all component things. Work out your salvation with diligence." His death was followed by earthquakes and thunders, and Brahma, the Supreme Deity or First Cause, is represented as uttering some of the most characteristic Buddhist doctrines, while his venerable disciple Anuruddha spoke thus:
“ When he who from all craving want was free, Who to Nirvana's tranquil state had reached, When the great sage finished his span of life, No gasping struggle vexed that steadfast heart. All resolute, and with unshaken mind, He calmly triumphed o'er the pain of death. E'en as a bright flame dies away, so was His last deliverance from the bonds of life!”
