_K._ King Bimbisara is ambitious. As is well known, he is a warrior and a conqueror; but that is not all. He wants to be the greatest monarch of all ages and he would have all the great events happen under his rule. This is what he said to the Bodhisatta: "When I was a youth I uttered five wishes, and they were these: I prayed, May I be crowned King. This wish has been fulfilled. Then I wished, May the holy Buddha, the Blessed One, appear on earth while I am King, and may he come to my kingdom. This was my second wish, and while I gaze upon you I know that it will be fulfilled. Further I wished, May I see the blessed Buddha and pay my respects to him. This was my third wish. My fourth wish was, May the Blessed One preach the doctrine to me, and my fifth and greatest wish was this, May I understand the doctrine. I beg you, therefore, great monk, when you have become a Buddha come back and preach the doctrine to me and accept me as your disciple." _Y._ And whither did Siddhattha go from Rajagaha? _K._ He visited the great philosophers Arada and Udraka, but he found no satisfaction in their theories. So he went on to Uruvela where the ascetics live. I followed the Bodhisatta and learned that he stayed with five disciples in the forest. I found shelter near by in the cottage of the chief shepherd, a good old man with a pretty daughter, Nanda. There I watched Siddhattha and his disciples from a distance. He was the youngest but the wisest of them, and they reverenced him as master. He outdid them all in fasting. One day Nanda, the shepherd's daughter, saw him faint, and he might have died from exhaustion right on the spot if Nanda had not given him rice milk to drink. _Y._ O good Kala, what shall I do? What shall I do? Here I sit at home, a poor, helpless woman, unable to assist him or to take care of him! O Kala, advise me, what can I do? _KING SUDDHODANA (S) and VISAKHA (V) come out of the palace. The Princess retires into the palace. GOPA hides behind the bushes._ _S._ I am glad to see you back. Have you seen my son? _K._ I have sire. _S._ Where did you find him? _K._ At Uruvela, the place of mortification where saints try to see visions and reach a state of bliss. _V._ And has Siddhattha succeeded? _K._ It does not seem so; he is starving himself to death. _V._ Is he dying? _K._ Not exactly, but I do not see how he can live--on that diet. _S._ Oh, Visakha, how have I been deprived of my son through a whim! _Both return into the palace. VISAKHA comes back._ _V._ It seems that Siddhattha is ruining himself. _K._ At the rate he is going now, he won't stand it long. He may not live another month. It is pitiable. You should have seen him. That beautiful young man looks like a consumptive in his last stage. I did not dare to tell what I thought. The Princess would not have borne the sad news. _V._ Too bad. It looks pretty hopeless. _K._ I do not see how the Prince can survive. _V._ What is the idea of these fasts?