d I will become a Buddha." Said
the King, "Hear then, great monk. Go in quest of enlightenment, and
when you have found it come back to Rajagaha."

_Y._ Is King Bimbisara so religious?

_K._ King Bimbisara is ambitious. As is well known, he is a warrior
and a conqueror; but that is not all. He wants to be the greatest
monarch of all ages and he would have all the great events happen
under his rule. This is what he said to the Bodhisatta: "When I was a
youth I uttered five wishes, and they were these: I prayed, May I be
crowned King. This wish has been fulfilled. Then I wished, May the
holy Buddha, the Blessed One, appear on earth while I am King, and may
he come to my kingdom. This was my second wish, and while I gaze upon
you I know that it will be fulfilled. Further I wished, May I see the
blessed Buddha and pay my respects to him. This was my third wish. My
fourth wish was, May the Blessed One preach the doctrine to me, and my
fifth and greatest wish was this, May I understand the doctrine. I beg
you, therefore, great monk, when you have become a Buddha come back
and preach the doctrine to me and accept me as your disciple."

_Y._ And whither did Siddhattha go from Rajagaha?

_K._ He visited the great philosophers Arada and Udraka, but he found
no satisfaction in their theories. So he went on to Uruvela where the
ascetics live. I followed the Bodhisatta and learned that he stayed
with five disciples in the forest. I found shelter near by in the
cottage of the chief shepherd, a good old man with a pretty daughter,
Nanda. There I watched Siddhattha and his disciples from a distance.
He was the youngest but the wisest of them, and they reverenced him as
master. He outdid them all in fasting. One day Nanda, the shepherd's
daughter, saw him faint, and he might have died from exhaustion right
on the spot if Nanda had not given him rice milk to drink.

_Y._ O good Kala, what shall I do? What shall I do? Here I sit at
home, a poor, helpless woman, unable to assist him or to take care of
him! O Kala, advise me, what can I do?

_KING SUDDHODANA (S) and VISAKHA (V) come out of the palace.
The Princess retires into the palace. GOPA hides behind the
bushes._

_S._ I am glad to see you back. Have you seen my son?

_K._ I have sire.

_S._ Where did you find him?

_K._ At Uruvela, the place of mortification where saints try to see
visions and reach a state of bliss.

_V._ And has Siddhattha succeeded?

_K