Govinda was startled and became embarrassed.
But Siddhartha put his mouth close to Govinda’s
ear and whispered to him: “Now, I want
to show the old man that I’ve learned something
from him.”
Positioning himself closely in front of the Samana,
with a concentrated soul, he captured the old man’s
glance with his glances, deprived him of his power,
made him mute, took away his free will, subdued him
under his own will, commanded him, to do silently,
whatever he demanded him to do. The old man became
mute, his eyes became motionless, his will was paralysed,
his arms were hanging down; without power, he had fallen
victim to Siddhartha’s spell. But Siddhartha’s
thoughts brought the Samana under their control, he
had to carry out, what they commanded. And thus,
the old man made several bows, performed gestures of
blessing, spoke stammeringly a godly wish for a good
journey. And the young men returned the bows
with thanks, returned the wish, went on their way with
salutations.
On the way, Govinda said: “Oh Siddhartha,
you have learned more from the Samanas than I knew.
It is hard, it is very hard to cast a spell on an
old Samana. Truly, if you had stayed there, you
would soon have learned to walk on water.”
“I do not seek to walk on water,” said
Siddhartha. “Let old Samanas be content
with such feats!”
In the town of Savathi, every child knew the name
of the exalted Buddha, and every house was prepared
to fill the alms-dish of Gotama’s disciples,
the silently begging ones. Near the town was
Gotama’s favourite place to stay, the grove
of Jetavana, which the rich merchant Anathapindika,
an obedient worshipper of the exalted one, had given
him and his people for a gift.
All tales and answers, which the two young ascetics
had received in their search for Gotama’s abode,
had pointed them towards this area. And arriving
at Savathi, in the very first house, before the door
of which they stopped to beg, food has been offered
to them, and they accepted the food, and Siddhartha
asked the woman, who handed them the food:
“We would like to know, oh charitable one, where
the Buddha dwells, the most venerable one, for we
are two Samanas from the forest and have come, to
see him, the perfected one, and to hear the teachings
from his mouth.”
Quoth the woman: “Here, you have truly
come to the right place, you Samanas from the forest.
You should know, in Jetavana, in the garden of Anathapindika
is where the exalted one dwells. There you pilgrims
shall spent the night, for there is enough space for
the innumerable, who flock here, to hear the teachings
from his mouth.”
This made Govinda happy, and full of joy he exclaimed:
“Well so, thus we have reached our destination,
and our path has come to an end! But tell us,
oh mother of the pilgrims, do you know him, the Buddha,
have you seen him with your own eyes?”
