“Pray, what happened?”
“When I handed up the petition and its translation, the King wanted to know who had composed your Tibetan petition. I told His Highness that you were your own author—which was nothing but truth—and he appeared to be well pleased. I then said that His Highness might judge the high merit of your composition by reading my translation of it, which was but a poor effort. The King took up my translation and began to read it. When he had finished going over the concluding part, where you said: ‘The Dalai Lama of Tibet is the incarnation of the God of Mercy and knoweth all. The fact that Ekai Kawaguchi, a priest of Japan, was allowed personally to wait on and be taught by Your Holiness who knoweth all, proveth that our Lord Buḍḍha willed that it should be even so; not only that, but the same fact proveth that the Gods guarding the four points of Your Holiness’ palace all willed so. Twenty years have elapsed since Your Holiness’ country adopted the policy of absolute seclusion, and no foreigner has been allowed to enter it during that interval; and the fact that I alone was suffered to visit it proveth that the Gods guarding the frontiers of your country had permitted me to do so. Furthermore I discern something profoundly significant in the combination of events which led Your Holiness that knoweth all generously to overlook Ekai’s entry into your land and impart to him the grand mysteries of your religion. Your Holiness knoweth as well as I that the only two countries in the world that maintain the Mahāyāna teaching of Buḍḍhism are the Empire of Japan and Tibet. There are others indeed, but they are insignificant and are in decadence now. The time is come when these two countries of Mahāyāna Budḍḍhism shall become acquainted and open intercourse with each other, and join in sending forth to the world the light of true Buḍḍhism. I think it was the advent of this new epoch that paved the way for my entrance into Tibet, and gave me an opportunity, most difficult to obtain, of being initiated into the grand mysteries even by your Holiness.’ The King was enraptured with the force and eloquence of your argument.”
I was well pleased that things were so, and I praised our Lord Buḍḍha, for by His protection and assistance my purpose in coming to Nepāl was accomplished.
I had to wait till about the 10th of March, in order to secure the promised royal gift. I thought it unwise to spend the interval in doing anything that would give an appearance of my being engaged in secret observations; so openly obtaining permission, I made a trip to the famous Nāgar Zong peak, a place sacred to Buḍḍhism.
On the 12th of March, a few days after my return from the trip, I was once more and for the last time summoned to the palace. I took with me then a red and a white piece of crape, which had arrived in the meantime from Japan, and presented them to the King, who accepted them only after much protest. His Highness then caused the Samskṛṭ Texts to be brought in and gave them to me. He at the same time signed to one of his English interpreters and through him said in an authoritative tone of voice:
“Mr. Kawaguchi, these are rare volumes; I have been able to collect only forty-one parts of the Scripture. I hope you will accept them from me as a mark of my appreciation of your presents to me.”
I tendered to His Highness my most heartfelt thanks and took leave of him after a most respectful farewell. The volumes were forwarded for me to Buḍḍha Vajra’s house, borne by two men.
Everything was done to oblige me, even to passing all my luggage—which had by that time become quite considerable—through the customs-house in advance at Kātmāndu instead of at Tispanī or Chisapani, which is the usual place where all outgoing freights are examined.