The Buddha Part 2

This child is but the beginning of new misery. It continues the old error in the eternal round on the wheel of life.

_She goes into the house._ DEVADATTA _withdraws into the garden_.

_B._ Now Kala speak.

_K._ O Prince Siddhattha, do not go into homelessness, do not leave us. I cannot live without you. You are my comfort, my teacher, my guide. I do not follow your instructions, but I love to hear them. Oh I could not live without you. Do not go, sweet Prince. Think of your wife, your dear good lovely wife, it will break her heart. Think of your child. Do not go, n.o.ble Prince. Let somebody else become the saviour of the world. Somebody else can just as well become the deliverer and the Buddha. I am sure there are many who would like to fill that place, and somebody can do it who has a less comfortable home to leave, who has a less lovely wife, who is not heir to a kingdom, and who has not such a sweet promising little boy as you have. I cannot live without you.

_B._ Wouldst thou go with me?

_K._ [_kneels_] Yes my Lord, I would.

Take me along and I will cheer you up.

_B._ Wouldst thou go begging food from house to house?

With bowl in hand, a homeless mendicant?

_K._ No sir, that would not suit me.

_B._ Wouldst thou by night sleep under forest trees?

_K._ No sir, I would catch cold. That's not for me. [_Rises_] If you needs must go, sir, you had better go alone. That life is not for me.

I will go and hear the nightingale.

SIDDHATTHA _follows the Princess into the palace_.

_K._ A Buddha's life Is not for every one.

He has no wife No pleasure and no fun.

He cannot laugh, He cannot cry; He cannot love He cannot sigh.

He's always preaching, preaching.

He's always teaching, teaching.

He wonders at time's transiency And ponders on man's misery, And findeth his salvation In dreary resignation.

That life I see Is not for me: 'Twould be ill spent; I would not find enlightenment.

I lift not the world's woe And in my quest for truth would fail [_Muses a moment._]

So I had better go And listen to the nightingale.

_KALA UDAYIN exit._

[During the last scene twilight has gradually set in.]

THIRD SCENE.

[The scene changes by open curtain. A veil comes down, and when its goes up again we see the bed chamber of Siddhattha and Yasodhara dimly lit by tapers.]

_YASODHARA (Y) on the bed with babe in arms, two maids in waiting. SIDDHATTHA (B) comes in. A halo of light (not too strong) surrounds his head. The princess rises, lays the babe down and advances toward her husband._

_Y._ O good my Lord, my Prince, my Husband!

_A pause. She changes her voice as if ashamed of her show of feeling. With a matter-of-fact intonation._

Rahula fell asleep again.

_B._ Why art thou sad, my good Yasodhara?

I see a tear that glitters in thine eye.

_Y._ An unspeakable melancholy steals over my soul when I hear you speak of your religious longings.

_B._ Wouldest thou not rejoice if I fulfilled My mission; if I reached the highest goal?

_Y._ Oh! Siddhattha! you do not love me.

_B._ My heart embraces all the world--and thee.

_Y._ If you loved me truly, there would not be much room for all the world. You think of the world all day long, and have not a minute's time for your wife.

_B._ I have, my dear!

_Y._ My n.o.ble Husband!

_B._ Speak!

_Y._ Scarcely do I dare to call you by that name. You are kind and gentle, but for a husband you are too lofty, too distant in your dignity. It may be wrong in me, it may be sinful, but I wish you were less lofty and more loving.

_B._ My dearest "Wife," I call thee so on purpose-- My dearest "Wife," thou dost not understand: The misery and ills of all the world Weigh heavy on my heart. I'll find no peace Until at last a remedy be found.

_Y._ Why dost thou trouble about others? Think of thy son, thy sweetest Rahula, and if thou lovest me a little only, think of me.

_B._ I think of thee, my loving Wife, but when I think of thee I think of all--of all The loving wives, the happy trembling mothers All over in the world. Happy they are, But trembling for their babes. Oh! bear in mind, We all are in the net of sorrow caught.

This world is full of pain, disease and death; And even death brings no relief. Because The wheel of life rolls on. The ills continue In births that constantly repeat themselves.

_Y._ Oh! do not speak of it my Lord, it makes me sad. Why do you think of misery, while here we are surrounded by wealth and comfort, and even the prospects of our future are most auspicious. Why borrow trouble before it comes?

_B._ My dear Yasodhara, change is the law Of being. Now we prosper, but the wheel Goes round and brings the high into the dust.

_Y._ You suffer from bad dreams;

_B._ Listen to me.

_They sit down._

In this luxurious palace and these gardens, Surrounding it, was I brought up with care.

I saw naught but the fair, the beautiful, The pleasant side of life.

_Y._ I know, Siddhattha-- I know it very well.

_B._ You know, my father Has kept me ignorant of evil things.

I might have thought that such is life throughout, But I began to doubt and asked for leave To see the world outside these palace walls.

Not without difficulty did I gain Permission, and with Channa in a chariot I drove away--when suddenly before me I saw a sight I'd never seen before.

There was a man with wrinkled face, bleared eyes, And stooping gait, a sight most pitiable.