72 T H E B U D D H I S T T R A D I T I O N

“For gods and men, far and wide, he has opened the gate of immortality. Of the true wheel of dharma the spokes are pure precepts, the axle is well-controlled meditation, the fell, indestructible wisdom, and the hub, wedged with a sense of shame, is right mindfulness. . .

Then the gods of the various heavens, up to the highest Brahma heaven, all joined in the eulogy. . . .

“A Buddha has arisen in the world! Far and near we hear that he has turned the wheel of doctrine that gives peace to the world for the sake of all sentient beings.”

[From the Buddhacarita, Sanskrit text as edited by E. H. Johnson, Calcutta, Baptist Mission Press, 1935, pp. 1-18, 20-29,46-48, 49-57,140-142,157]