Now one day when he went to the town of Giribaja to beg his food it so happened that the King of Magadha, Bimbisara, stood on the high terrace of his palace, looking down the street, and he saw the young ascetic coming slowly, holding his bowl in his hands and courteously accepting what was given. And there was that in the nobility of his person and evident signs of Aryan birth which arrested the eyes of the King and he said to those about him. “Look upon this man, lords, beautiful is he, great and pure. He is guarded in conduct: his eyes do not wander, he looks not more than a fathom’s length before him. Such a man is of no low caste. See how, like a great noble, he is self-possessed and serene, moving in solitary majesty as the moon among faint stars. Send my royal messengers and inquire where that mendicant goes.” And the messengers ran at the King’s word and hurried down into the street saying to one another. “Where is that Bhikkhu[1] going? It is toward the mountain Pandava. That must be his abode.” ----- [1] Monk. ----- And having followed where Siddhartha went they returned to the King and told him— “On the eastern slope of Mount Pandava that Bhikku has taken his seat, a King among men as the tiger among beasts.” And the King said, “Bring out my chariot,” and he directed it to the mountain. Now when the road ended he did not return discouraged but dismounting went onward climbing up on foot until he came near to where the Prince sat, and there with eagerness and courtesy the King greeted him, for as lions know their kind, not mistaking them for jackals, so is it with the great. And the King took his seat on a rock, saying: “I beseech you, sir, to tell me your family and lineage. Young are you, a man in his first youth, fine and delicate in colour, the glory of the vanguard of an army. I would lay wealth at your feet, if wealth delighted you. Speak, and tell me your mind.” And as he spoke the nobles stood grouped about to hear, correcting every careless or unseemly gesture because the man was great and the very air about him pure, and they beheld with joy his noble body bright as gold, his eyes of darkest blue, and the kingliness of his manners. And the Prince replied with gratitude and noble courtesy: “Great King, kind and liberal is your heart, and precious your generosity to my own, but all these things lie behind me far as dawn from sunset. I had wealth and power, and more, but regarding these things as hindrances to perception I am come out into the solitude to seek the Way of Peace.” And having thus begun he related to the King his family and history and all about them held breath to listen. And the King, sighing, at last said this: