The moon was bright and the stars were clear. There was no more darkness. Celestial flowers fell down like rain from the sky to worship the Bodhisattva.

A translation of the Chinese version of Aśvaghoṣa’s famous epic composed in the second century of the common era. The classic Indian poem gives a tasteful biography of Śākyamuni Buddha’s life which is still admired for its artistry today.

For an older translation of the (reconstructed) Sanskrit, see Cowell, 1894.