r has food enough for thee and all thy disciples!

_K._ He always follows the rule of the mendicants.

_S._ Oh my son! Why dost thou shame thy father in his own home?

_K._ The Blessed One deems it no shame to beg. He is as modest as a
pauper and shows no pride, but wherever he comes, he is greeted like a
king, nay like a king of kings, and the wealthiest and most powerful
rulers come to do him reverence.

_S._ And he is here, this wonderful man? And he is my son Siddhattha?

_K._ Yes, he is here, and it is your son, but no longer Siddhattha,
the Sakya prince, but Sakya muni, the sage of the Sakyas, the Buddha,
the Blessed One. When I spoke to him and gave him your message, he
inquired for you and the Queen Pajapati [_YASODHARA rises_] and for
you, most honored Princess and for Rahula. Yes, he inquired for you
and how Rahula had grown.

_Y._ Did he speak kindly of us?

_K._ He always speaks kindly, and he is always calm.

[Music a song, Buddhist Doxology, at a distance]

_K._ O listen to the music. Here he comes, the glorious Buddha. He
must be at the gate.

_Y._ [_rises again and withdraws._] I must be gone.

_P._ O stay, Yasodhara.

_Y._ No, I will hide me from his very sight; and if I am to him of any
value, he will ask for me.

_S._ Stay, Yasodhara.

_Y._ He fled from me because I was a hindrance
In his great quest, and he may shun me still.

_S._ Stay none the less.

_P._ Nay, let her withdraw; she is in tears and would break down.

_YASODHARA and PAJAPATI withdraw to the partition behind the
curtains._

_S._ You say, that my son is greeted even by kings with clasped hands?

_K._ Yea, even kings kneel to him.

_S._ I shall do nothing of the kind. He is my son, my disobedient son,
and I am still his father.

_PAJAPATI returns._

_The procession of the BUDDHA comes. Two monks precede and
stand at either side of the BUDDHA. Accompanying monks and
other public come into the garden, crowding up to the
columns. They all kneel with clasped hands, except
SUDDHODANA._

_B._ My blessing to this house, to you, O King,
And also to the Queen Pajapati,
My dear good aunt and loving foster mother.

_S._ At last thou comest back, my wayward son,
But why didst shame me? Why didst thou go begging
Here in my capital? Thou art descended
From ancestors who are a royal race.

_B._ My ancestors are Buddhas of past ages,
Their thinking has descended unto me,
Their hab