CEYLON BRANCH ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY. 



17 



happy or sorrowful, according to the desert of their previous 

 couduet. I saw some whose conduct was evil in thought, 

 word and deed, revilers of holy men, holders of false doctrines, 

 and attached to the observances of a false religion : these, 

 upon the dissolution of the body after death, were produced 

 in hell, increasing in misery, wretchedness and torments. 



" I saw some who were virtuous in thought, word and deed, 

 who reverenced holy men, were of a pure faith, and attached 

 to the observances of true religion ; these, upon the dissolu- 

 tion of the body, after death, were born in heaven, endued 

 with felicity. Thus Bramin, during the second watch of the 

 night, the second part of ignorance passed away, and know- 

 ledge was obtained ; darkness was dispersed and the light 

 shone forth ; and by my persevering and holy exertion, like 

 the first hatched chicken, I again chipped the shell of 

 ignorance. 



" Being thus mentally tranquil, pure and holy, free from 

 the pollution of the passions, serene and competent to the 

 effort, I turned my attention to that wisdom by which desire 

 can be extinguished : and clearly discerned, according to its 

 real nature, this is sorrow ; this is the source of sorrow ; this 

 is the cessation of sorrow ; this is the path by which cessation 

 from sorrow may be obtained. These are the desires ; these 

 are the causes of their production. This is the extinction of 

 desire. This is the path leading to the cessation of desire. 

 Having understood and perceived these truths, my mind 

 became free from sensual desires, free from the desire of con- 

 tinued existence, and free from ignorance ; I became consci- 

 ous that I possessed this freedom, and certainly knew that 

 my transmigrations were terminated, my course of virtues 

 completed, my needful work accomplished, and that nothing 

 more remained to be done. 



" Thus Bramin, during the third watch of the night, the 

 third part of ignorance passed away, and knowledge was 



