z:\ ambedkar\vol 011\vol11 02.indd MK SJ+YS 4 10 2013/YS 18 11 2013 42
42 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
and wept aloud—self-possessed though she was by nature, yet in her distress she had lost her fortitude.
I
Seeing Yeshodhara thus bewildered with her wild utterances of grief and fallen on the ground, all the women cried out, with their faces streaming with tears like large lotuses beaten by the rain.
Having heard of the arrival of both Channa and Kanthaka, and having learned of the fixed resolve of his son, Suddhodana fell struck down by sorrow.
Distracted by his grief for his son, being held up for a moment by his attendants, Suddhodana gazed on the horse with his eyes filled with tears, and then falling on the ground wailed aloud.
Then Suddhodana got up and entered his temple, offered prayers, performed auspicious rites and vowed certain sacrifices for the safe return of his son.
So Suddhodana, Gautami and Yeshodhara passed their days asking : “How long, O God, how long, before, shall we see him again ?”