‘Rishyasringa said, ‘Here came to-day a religious student with a mass of
hair on his head. And he was neither short nor tall. And he was of a
spirited look and a golden complexion, and endued with eye large as
lotuses; and he was shining and graceful as a god. And rich was his
beauty blazing like the Sun; and he was exceedingly fair with eyes
graceful and black. And his twisted hair was blue-black and neat and long
and of a fragrant scent and tied up with strings of gold. A beautiful
ornament was shining on his neck which looked like lightning in the sky.
And under the throat he had two balls of flesh without a single hair upon
them and of an exceedingly beautiful form. And his waist was slender to a
degree and his navel neat; and smooth also was the region about his ribs.
Then again there shone a golden string from under his cloth, just like
this waist-string of mine. And there was something on his feet of a
wonderful shape which give forth a jingling sound. Upon his wrists
likewise was tied a pair of ornaments that made a similar sound and
looked just like this rosary here. And when he walked, his ornaments
uttered a jingling sound like those uttered by delighted ganders upon a
sheet of water. And he had on his person garments of a wonderful make;
these clothes of mine are by no means beautiful like those. And his face
was wonderful to behold; and his voice was calculated to gladden the
heart; and his speech was pleasant like the song of the male blackbird.
And while listening to the same I felt touched to my inmost soul. And as
a forest in the midst of the vernal season, assumes a grace only when it
is swept over by the breeze, so, O father! he of an excellent and pure
smell looks beautiful when fanned by the air. And his mass of hair is
neatly tied up and remains adhering to the head and forehead evenly
sundered in two. And his two eyes seemed to be covered with wonderful
Chakravaka birds of an exceedingly beautiful form. And he carried upon
his right palm a wonderful globur fruit, which reaches the ground and
again and again leaps up to the sky in a strange way. And he beats it and
turns himself round and whirls like a tree moved by the breeze. And when
I looked at him, O father! he seemed to be a son of the celestials, and
my joy was extreme, and my pleasure unbounded. And he clasped my body,
took hold of my matted hair, and bent down my mouth, and, mingling his
mouth with my own, uttered a sound that was exceedingly pleasant. And he
doth not care for water for washing his feet, nor for those fruits
offered by me; and he told me that such was the religious observance
practised by him. And he gave unto me a number of fruits. Those fruits
were tasteful unto me: these here are not equal to them in taste. They
have not got any rind nor any stone within them, like these. And he of a
noble form gave me to drink water of an exceedingly fine flavour; and
having drunk it, I experienced great pleasu e; and the ground seemed to
be moving under my feet. And these are the garlands beautiful and
fragrant and twined with silken threads that belong to him. And he,
bright with fervent piety, having scattered these garlands here, went
back to his own hermitage. His departure hath saddened my heart; and my
frame seems to be in a burning sensation! And my desire is to go to him
as soon as I can, and to have him every day walk about here. O father,
let me this very moment go to him. Pray, what is that religious
observance which is being practised by him. As he of a noble piety is
practising penances, so I am desirous to live the same life with him. My
heart is yearning after similar observances My soul will be in torment if
I see him not,’”