Thereupon the Bodisat bestowed the chariot and horses on that Brahman with exceeding great joy, and said, “O Brahman, by means of this gift of the chariot, a present free from the blemish of grudging, may I be enabled to direct the car of the sinless law directed by the most excellent Rishi!” When Viśvaṇtara had with exceeding great joy bestowed on the Brahman the splendid chariot he took Prince Kṛishṇa on his shoulder, and Madrī took Princess Jālinī.[3] They went forth into the forest, and at length arrived at the forest of penance.
In that penance-forest Viśvaṇtara dwelt, after he had taken the vow which pleased his heart. One day, when Madrī had gone to collect roots and fruits in the penance-forest, a Brahman came to Viśvaṇtara, and said, “O prince of Kshatriya race, may you be victorious! As I have no slave, and wander about alone with my staff, therefore is it meet that you should give me your two children.” As the Bodisat, Viśvaṇtara, after hearing these words, hesitated a little about giving his beloved children, the Brahman said to the Bodisat—
“O prince of Kshatriya race, as I have heard that you are the giver of all things, therefore do I ask why you still ponder over this request of mine. You are renowned all over the earth as the possessor of a compassion which [[263]]gives away all things: you are bound to act constantly in conformity with this renown.”
After hearing these words the Bodisat said to the Brahman, “O great Brahman, if I had to give away my own life I should not hesitate for a single moment. How, then, should I think differently if I had to give away my children? O great Brahman, under these circumstances I have bethought me as to how the children, when given by me, if I do give away these two children who have grown up in the forest, will live full of sorrow on account of their separation from their mother. And inasmuch as many will blame me, in that with excessive mercilessness I have given away the children and not myself, therefore is it better that you, O Brahman, should take me.”
Then said the Brahman to Viśvaṇtara, “O prince of Kshatriya race, descended from a great kingly family, as I have perceived how all over this earth your virtue is extolled, your goodness which takes pity on all beings—the presents, the hospitality, and the honour with which you welcome Śramaṇas, Brahmans, and strangers, and fulfil all the expectations of the poor and needy, the helpless and the hungry—it is not right that I, after having come to you, should remain without a present and deprived of the fruit of my journey, and that, with the knowledge that I have not obtained it, all the hopes which my mind had cherished should be brought to nought. Therefore is it meet that you, fulfilling my hopes, should give me the children. And why? One who gave away the earth, clothed with the ocean as with a garment, possessing the corn-fields as its incomparable eyes, the mighty hills as the upper parts of its body with breasts, and supporting towns and villages, would not be equal in might to you.”
When the Bodisat Viśvaṇtara had heard these words of the Brahman, he laid aside the longing which clung to the children, saying to himself, “If I give the two children to the Brahman, Madrī and I will feel the pain of parting with the children. But if I do not give them [[264]]to him, then I shall prove faithless to my vow, and the Brahman, disappointed in his hopes, will go away as he came. If he receives them, despairing grief for the loss of my children will be my lot upon earth. If I act otherwise, I break my promise and my vow disappears.”
Then the Bodisat Viśvaṇtara determined to give up his beloved children, and he said, “Well, then, this takes place in order that, by means of a hundred kinds of penance, I, like a pillared transit bridge resembling the full moon with spotless visage, may save from the sea of troubles, containing manifold terrors, those who sink into its bottomless depths.” After he had uttered these words with an untroubled countenance, his eyes filled with tears, and he gave his two children to the Brahman, and said, “As I am to obtain a very great recompense in return for the gift of the children, I shall save the world from the ocean of revolution.”
Immediately after the surrender of the children, the earth quaked in a sixfold manner. When the ascetics who dwelt in the forest, terrified by the earthquake, asked one another by whose power the earth had been shaken in so intolerable a manner, and wished to know who it was who possessed such power, an old ascetic of the Vaśishṭha race, who was versed in the meanings of signs, made the matter known to them, saying, “The earth has doubtless been set in movement because Viśvaṇtara, in order that he may completely redeem men reduced to despair by trouble, has given up his two bright-eyed, beloved children, who dwelt in the penance-forest, partaking of fruit and water.”
Now, when the two children saw that their father was about to give them away, they touched Viśvaṇtara’s feet, uttering mournful cries, and joining the palms of their hands, and saying, “O father, will you give us away in the absence of our mother? Be content to give us up after we have seen her.” Then the Bodisat gave way under the grief which had laid hold of his mind, and his face [[265]]was wet with tears as he embraced his two children and said, “O children, in my heart there is no unkindness, but only merciful compassion. As I have manifested virtue for the salvation of the whole world, I give you away, whereby I may attain unto complete insight, and, having myself obtained rest, may save the worlds which lie, deprived of support, in the ocean of woes.”
When the children perceived that their father’s resolve was firm to give them up, they paid honour to his feet with their heads, laid their palms together, and said with soft complaint, “If you have severed the cord, we have this to say: grant us forbearance. O father, be pleased to utter the words. Every fault which we, as children, have committed against you, our superior, or any words at any time uttered by us, which displeased you, or anything in which, not obeying you, we have wrongly left aught undone—grant us forgiveness of these things, regarding them as the faults of children.”