"Through many births I sought in vain The Builder of this House of Pain. Now, Builder, thee I plainly see! This is the last abode for me. Thy gable's yoke and rafters broke, My heart has peace. All lust will cease." 16 There is self and there is truth. Where self is, truth is not. Where truth is, self is not. Self is the fleeting error of samsāra; it is individual separateness and that egotism which begets envy and hatred. Self is the yearning for pleasure and the lust after vanity. Truth is the correct comprehension of things; it is the permanent and everlasting, the real in all existence, the bliss of righteousness. 17 The existence of self is an illusion, and there is no wrong in this world, no vice, no evil, except what flows from the assertion of self. 18 The attainment of truth is possible only when self is recognized as an illusion. Righteousness can be practised only when we have freed our mind from passions of egotism. Perfect peace can dwell only where all vanity has disappeared. 19 Blessed is he who has understood the Dharma. Blessed is he who does no harm to his fellow-beings. Blessed is he who overcomes wrong and is free from passion. To the highest bliss has he attained who has conquered all selfishness and vanity. He has become the Buddha, the Perfect One, the Blessed One, the Holy One. 20 XIII. THE FIRST CONVERTS. The Blessed One tarried in solitude seven times seven days, enjoying the bliss of emancipation. 1 At that time Tapussa and Bhallika, two merchants, came traveling on the road near by, and when they saw the great samana, majestic and full of peace, they approached him respectfully and offered him rice cakes and honey. 2 This was the first food that the Enlightened One ate after he attained Buddhahood. 3 And the Buddha addressed them and pointed out to them the way of salvation. The two merchants, conceiving in their minds the holiness of the conqueror of Māra, bowed down in reverence and said: "We take our refuge, Lord, in the Blessed One and in the Dharma." 4 Tapussa and Bhallika were the first that became followers of the Buddha and they were lay disciples. 5 XIV. BRAHMĀS REQUEST. The Blessed One having attained Buddhahood while resting under the shepherd's Nigrodha tree on the banks of the river Nerañjarā, pronounced this solemn utterance: 1