_B._ You know, my father Has kept me ignorant of evil things. I might have thought that such is life throughout, But I began to doubt and asked for leave To see the world outside these palace walls. Not without difficulty did I gain Permission, and with Channa in a chariot I drove away--when suddenly before me I saw a sight I'd never seen before. There was a man with wrinkled face, bleared eyes, And stooping gait, a sight most pitiable. _YASODHARA is much moved._ While I was horror-struck, Channa passed by Indifferent, for _he_ had seen such men. Too well he knew the common fate of all; But I, the first time in my life, did learn That, _if_ we but live long enough, we all Shall be such miserable wretched dotards. _Y._ Too sudden came this saddening truth to you. _B._ Channa sped on his horses out of town, But there again! what an ungainly sight! A man lay on the road-side, weak and helpless, With trembling frame and feverish cramps. I shut mine eyes to so much racking pain, Still I could hear his groaning and his moaning. "Oh, Channa," said I to the charioteer: "Why does this happen? How deserves this man The wretchedness of his great agonies?" "How do I know?" said Channa, "for we all Are subject to distemper and disease. Sometimes the best are stricken--and must die!" "Must die?" cried I, "What does that word portend?" For, you must know, I never heard of death. My father had forbidden, at his court To speak to me of anything unpleasant. "Yea, die!" said Channa, "Look around and see!" Along the road a funeral procession Moved slowly, solemnly and mournfully And on the bier a corpse, stark, stiff and cold. _Y._ Do not be troubled, death is still far off. _B._ Oh do not feel secure, for the three evils Surround us constantly and everywhere, And even now death hovers o'er our house. When I was born my mother went to heaven, Which means, she died when she gave life to me. _Y._ My Lord don't think of evils that are past. _B._ The world's impermanence is still the same, And all material things are conformations Subject to pain, decay and dissolution. Yet unconcerned in blessed carelessness Man hunteth after pleasure. Transiency Has set its mark on life, and there is none Who can escape its curse. There is no mortal Who's always happy. Misery surprises The luckiest with unexpected terror. Then, in addition, unseen powers breed Most heinous maladies and fever heat. E'en if we were exceptions, thou must grant That finally we too will meet our doom. The ghastly specter Death, the stern king Yama, Awaiteth all of us. Such is our fate! _Y._ O put away these gloomy thoughts, and think Of life and love, and of thy lovely child.