ABSTRACT
1. The first parable 1 in this section relates that Śakra having on one occasion been conceived in the household of a potter, as the offspring of the female ass that turned the mill, the ass, overjoyed at the prospect of progeny, kicked her heels up, and broke all the pitchers and pots which the master had made. On this the man, taking a stick, belaboured the beast to such a degree, that the newly-formed fœtus was destroyed, and the prospect of offspring cut off. On which occasion Buddha repeated these lines—
“Whatever exists 1 (sanskâra) is without endurance. And hence the terms “flourishing” and “decaying.” 2 A man is born, and then he dies. Oh, the happiness of escaping from this condition! For the life of men is but as the earthen vessels made in a potter’s mill; formed with such care, they are all destined to destruction.”
