The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1894-12-05

ed loudly: Let go the cobwebl 1t is
minel' At once the oobweb broke, and
Kandata fell back into hell.
"The illusion of self was still upon
Kandata. He did not know the miracu-
lous power of a sincere longing to rise
upward and enter the noble path Of
righteousness. 1t is thin like cobweb
but it will carry millions of people, and
the more there are that climb it the
easier will be the efforts of every one of
them But as soon as in n mans heart
the idea arises: This is mine. Let the
bliss of righteousness be mine alone and
let no one else partake of it, the thread
breaks and you fall back into your old
condition of selfhood, for selfhood is
damnation and truth is bliss What is
hell? 1t is nothing but egotism, and
Nirvana is Il life of righteousness. -
LET me take hold of a spider
web, " said the dying robber chief when
the shramaua had finished his story,
"and | shall pull myself up out of tho
depth of hell. "
Mahaduta lay for awhile quiet to col
lect his thoughts Then he continued:
"Iisten. honorable sir. ] will make
q confession. / was the servant Of Pan
du, the jewcor of Kau-hamii, but
when he unjustly had me tortured / ran
away and became chief of robbers
Some time ago when | heard through
my spies that he was passing through
the mountains | succeeded in robbing
him Of great part of his wealth. Will
you now 20 TO him and tell him that |
have forgiven him from the bottom Of
my heart the injury which Ec has UNI
justly inflicted upon me and ask him TO
to pardon mo for having robbed him?
| While | staid with him his heart was
as hard as stone, and | learned to imi
tate tho selfsh nCss of his character.
have heard that he has become bcuevo-
! lent and is now pointed ont as an exam
! pie of goodness and justice do not
wish to remain in his debt Therefore
inform him that have kept the gold
crown which he wrought for the king
and all his trca urCs and have hidden
them in IL cave near by. There Were
only two of the robbers under my com
mand who knew of it, and both arc
now dead Let Pandu take a number Of
take back the property of which have
deprived him"
Then Mahaduta described the situa-
ton of the cave and died in the arms of
Panthaka.
As soon as Panthaka, the young shra-
mana, had reached Kaushambi he went
to the jewcler and gave him a full ac-
count of his recent adventure in the
forest, And Pandu went with an escoIt
of armed men and secured the treasures
which the robber chief had concealed in
the cave and they buried the robbor
chief and his slain comrades with al
honors, and Panthaka spoke at thu
grave, discOursing on the words OF
Buddha:
"By oneself evil is done; by oneself
one suffers.
by oneself evil is left undone; by
oneself one is purified
Purity and impurity belong to one
self. No one can purify another.
"You yourself must make an effort
The Buddhas are only preachers.
"Odr karma,' the shramana said
sis rot the work of Ishvara or Brahm:
or Indra or of any one of the gods. Oul
karma is the product of our own actions
My action is the womb that bears me
1t is the inheritance which devolve
upon me. 1t is the curse of my miSdced'
and the blessing Of my Righteousness
My action is the resource by which alOn,
can work ont my salvation.
Pandu carried all his treasures bacl
to Kaushanbi, and using with discro
tion the wealth thus unexpectedly re
gained he became richer and moro pow
erful than he had ever been before, al,
when he was dying at an advanced az
he had all his sons and daughters an,
grandchildren gat hered round him an,
said unto them:
My dear children, do not hlam
others for yonr lack Of success. Seek tn
cause of your ills in yourself, UnleS
you are blinded Ivy vanity you will fin,
it, and having found it you will see TN
way out Of it, The remedy of your ills
too, lies III yourself. Let never you
mental eye be covered by the veil o
Maya, and remember the words whicl
have proved talisman III my life.
HE who hurts others Injuries himself
'He who helps others advances hi
own interests.
LET the illusion of self disappear,
and You will naturally walk in tn
path of truth. Open Court