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I, 1.
THE BIRTH.
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anxiety; that one athirst, within reach of the eternal draught!, should after all reject and lose it! sad indeed! 88
'Forbid it, he should lose his wealth and treasure ! dead to his house! lost to his country! for he who has 2 a prosperous son in life, gives pledge that his . country's weal is well secured; 89
And then, coming to die, my heart will rest content, rejoicing in the thought of offspring surviving me; even as a man possessed of two eyes, one of which keeps watch, while the other sleeps ; 90
Not like the frost-flower of autumn, which though it seems to bloom, is not a reality. A man who, midst his tribe and kindred, deeply loves a spotless son, 91
At every proper time in recollection of it has joy; O! that you would cause me to revive !!! The Rishi, knowing the king-sire to be thus greatly afflicted at heart, 92
Immediately addressed the Mahârâga: 'Let not the king be for a moment anxious! the words I have spoken to the king, let him ponder these, and not permit himself to doubt; 93
*The portents now are as they were before, cherish
1 The eternal draught' or sweet dew' of Ambrosia. This expression is constantly used in Buddhist writings. It corresponds with the Pali amatam, which Childers explains as the drink of the gods.'
. Or, if I have. .
8 This sloka may be translated otherwise thus : 'A man among all his kindred loves deeply a spotless & son; at this time, in recollection thereof, speaking, cause me to revive;' or the latter lines may still be rendered, 'in memory of what you said before, cause me now, by speaking as before, to revive.'
• Wou-kwo-tsen ; either a faultless son' or nothing beyond his son.'
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