Buddha: His Life, his Doctrine, his Order c8.37

c8.37

Battle involves an enemy, a victor the vanquished. The Prince of Life must be opposed by the Prince of Death. We have seen how the Indian mind had settled for itself the identity of the kingdom of death, and the kingdom of this world. We call to mind the *rôle* of the Death-god in the Vedic poem of Naciketas, to whom he promises long life and fulfilment of all desire, in order that he might abandon the pursuit of knowledge. So also there comes to the ascetic seeking Buddhahood, as his opponent, Mâra, Death, the lord of all worldly desire, which indeed is nothing else than veiled death. Mâra follows his enemy step by step, and watches for a moment of weakness to overpower his soul. No such moment comes. Amid many failures and desperate fights within, Buddha remains throughout unshaken.