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38. 1. )
45.
Then I thought " Verily, to them absolution is indeed revealed; they are free from the abode of the miseries of birth, old age and death. In the meantime the revered friars were seen by me; they, of course, by dint of absolution sat on jewelled thrones; their tangles of births had gone off; their mental activities were quietened; their bodies were resorted to and embellished by the splendour of absolution; they were the clusters of merits incarnate. There is no doubt about this; their knowledge of the absolute is complete. They were bowed to by me; me-who enjoyed quite a different condition of that type, indescribable and immensely beautiful; who placed the hands and knees on the earth; whose eyes bloomed under the influence of wonder; whose hair-ends bristled on the body; and whose eyes were full of the tears of joy. Having bowed down, I sat beside them. The Kevalin began the sermon. The groups of gods and men began to ask what they wished. Then I thought “What shall I ask these revered friars?" Then Vibhāvasu, who was a shaft in my heart came up to my mind “Now where is my friend Vibhāvasu again born? Well, I shall ask this." Thinking so I asked the revered Kevalin, “Revered sir, some time has elapsed since my friend is dead; so where is he born ? What another condition does he experience ? How in the mind of me who have unders:ood the path of the highest aim, is the sorrow born of the fire of separation ?" The Kevalin said “ Hear,
Here in the city of Gandhārapur, there is a washerman by the name of Usadatta. ( 38 ) He has a housebitch, named Madhupingā. In her womb, he ( i. e. the
