z:\ ambedkar\vol 011\vol11 03.indd MK SJ+YS 5 10 2013/YS 18 11 2013 172
172 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
kindred. Compassion for all creatures is the true religion.
II
“Religion is not wrought out only in the forests, the salvation of ascetics can be accomplished even in a city ; thought and effort are the true means; the forest and the badge are only a coward’s signs.
“The king of the Sakyas is drowned in a deep sea of sorrow, full of waves of trouble, springing from thee ; do thou therefore deliver him who is helpless and protectorless like an ox drowning in the sea.
“Consider also the queen, who brought thee up, who has not yet gone to the region inhabited by Agastya—wilt thou not take some heed of her, who ceaselessly grieves like a cow that has lost her calf?
“Surely thou wilt succour thy wife by the sight of thee, who now mourns as a widow yet with her lord still alive,—like a swan separated from her mate or a female elephant deserted in the forest by her companion.”
The Lord having heard the words of the family priest, reflected for a moment, knowing all the virtues of the virtuous, and then thus uttered his gentle reply :
§ 5. The Buddha’s Answer
“I well know the paternal tenderness of the king, especially that which he has displayed towards me ; yet knowing this as I do, still alarmed at the ill and sorrow which pervades the world, I am inevitably forced to leave my kindred.
“Who would not wish to see his dear kindred, if but this separation from beloved ones did not exist? But since even after it has been once, separation will still come again, it is for this that I abandon my father, however loving.
“I do not however approve that thou shouldst think the king’s grief as caused by me, when in the midst of his dream-like unions, he is afflicted by thoughts of separations in the future.
“Thus let thy thoughts settle into certainty,