z:\ ambedkar\vol 011\vol11 09.indd MK SJ+YS 5 10 2013/YS 18 11 2013 568
568 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
the emotions and bent whoever listened to his will.
VIII
He could create in the minds of his hearers that what he taught was not only a verity, but the very hope of their salvation.
His hearers could recognize in his words the truth that makes of slaves free men.
When he talked with men and women his serene look inspired them with awe and reverence and his lovely voice struck them with rapture and amazement.
Who could have converted the robber Augulimala or the Cannibal of Atavi ? Who could have reconciled King Pasenjit to his queen Mallika by a single word. To have come under his spell is to be his for ever. So charming was his personality.
§ 2. The Testimony of Eye-witnesses
This traditional view is supported by the testimony of eye-witnesses who saw him and met him while he was alive.
One such eye-witness is a Brahmin by name Sale. After seeing the Blessed One face to face he uttered the following sentiments in praise of him.
Arrived in the Lord’s presence, the Brahmin, seating himself after greetings, scanned the Lord’s body for the two and thirty marks of a Superman, and in time observed them.
Quite sure now about the presence of the two and thirty marks, Sale still did not know whether or not he had enlightenment. But he remembered hearing from old and aged Brahmins, teachers of teachers, that those who became Arahats, all enlightened, reveal themselves when their praises are sung, and so he made up his mind to extol the Lord to his face in the following lines of eulogy :
“Perfect of body, goodly, Lord, art thou, well grown, well liking, golden-hued, with teeth which gleam lustre; vigour fills the frame; the body’s full