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RISABHA DEVA
One day the king was celebrating his birthday with great pomp. All the leading chieftains. under him were present in his court, and the splendour was unequalled. Svayambuddha seized hold of a suitable opportunity to turn the conversation towards the great need for turning, to religion. “All pomp and prosperity," he said, "were due to merit acquired in the previous life. Those who squander away their time in the pursuit of pleasure have to put up with much misfortune in the future. Intolerable suffering, is the lot of those who are vicious, and who do not. mend their ways. Your glory, o king! is. entirely the reward of the merit earned by you in your past life. Let this thought spur your majesty on to greater effort for the conquest of the lower nature. For without tapas (austerities} no merit can be acquired by the soul !"
"Not so, friend Svayambuddha !” broke in Mahāmati, the materialist, “ there is no good in afflicting oneself with tapaścharaña. For whose benefit are the hardships to be endured ? For the soul's? Bah! I tell you there is no such, thing as a soul! No one has ever seen one; and you cannot prove its existence to me today. One should enjoy his days to the best of his ability; for there is a complete end when once the vital flame is extinguished.”
