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INTRODUCTION
PROLOGUE
Book I:
Siddharth Gautama—How a Bodhisatta became the Buddha
Part
I—From Birth to Parivraja
Part
III—In Search of New Light
Part
IV—Enlightenment and the Vision of a New Way
Part
V—The Buddha and His Predecessors
Part
VI—The Buddha and His Contemporaries
Part
VII—Comparison and Contrast
INTRODUCTION
Indications
of a growth in the volume of interest in Buddhism are noticeable in some sections of the
Indian people. Along with it there is naturally a growing demand for a clear and
consistent statement of the life and teachings of the Buddha.
Anyone
who is not a Buddhist finds it extremely difficult to present the life and teachings of
the Buddha in a manner which would make it a consistent whole. Depending on the Nikayas,
not only the presentation of a consistent story of the life of the Buddha becomes a
difficult thing and the presentation of some parts of his teachings becomes much more so.
Indeed it would not be an exaggeration to say that of all the founders of religions in the
world the presentation of the life and teachings of the founder of Buddhism presents a
problem which is quite puzzling if not baffling. Is it not necessary that these problems
should be solved and the path for the understanding of Buddhism be made clear? Is it not
time that those who are Buddhists should take up these problems at least for general
discussion and throw what light they can on these problems ?
With
a view to raise a discussion on these problems I propose to set them out here. The first
problem relates to the main event in the life of the Buddha, namely, Parivraja. Why did
the Buddha take Parivraja? The traditional answer is that he took Parivraja because he saw
a dead person, a sick person and an old person. This answer is absurd on the face of it.
The Buddha took Parivraja at the age of 29. If he took Parivraja as a result of these
three sights, how is it he did not see these three sights earlier? These are common events
occurring by hundreds and the Buddha could not have failed to come across them earlier. It
is impossible to accept the traditional explanation that this was the first time he saw
them. The explanation is not plausible and does not appeal to reason. But if this is not
the answer to the question, what is the real answer?
The
second problem is created by the four Aryan Truths. Do they form part of the original
teachings of the Buddha ? This formula cuts at the root of Buddhism. If life is sorrow,
death is sorrow and rebirth is sorrow, then there is an end of everything. Neither
religion nor philosophy can help a man to achieve happiness in the world. If there is no
escape from sorrow, then what can religion do, what can Buddha do to relieve man from such
sorrow which is ever there in birth itself? The four Aryan Truths are a great stumbling
block in the way of non-Buddhists accepting the gospel of Buddhism. For the four Aryan
Truths deny hope to man. The four Aryan Truths make the gospel of the Buddha a gospel of
pessimism. Do they form part of the original gospel or are they a later accretion by the
monks ?
The
third problem relates to the doctrines of soul, of karma and rebirth. The Buddha denied
the existence of the soul. But he is also said to have affirmed the doctrine of karma and
rebirth. At once a question arises. If there is no soul, how can there be karma? If there
is no soul, how can there be rebirth ? These are baffling questions. In what sense did the
Buddha use the words karma and rebirth ? Did he use them in a different sense than the
sense in which they were used by the Brahmins of his day? If so, in what sense? Did he use
them in the same sense in which the Brahmins used them ? If so, is there not a terrible
contradiction between the denial of the soul and the affirmation of karma and rebirth?
This contradiction needs to be resolved.
The
fourth problem relates to the Bhikkhu. What was the object of the Buddha in creating the
Bhikkhu ? Was the object to create a perfect man ? Or was his object to create a social
servant devoting his life to service of the people and being their friend, guide and
philosopher? This is a very real question. On it depends the future of Buddhism. If the
Bhikkhu is only a perfect man he is of no use to the
propagation of Buddhism because though a perfect man he is a selfish man. If, on the other
hand, he is a social servant he may prove to be the hope of Buddhism. This question must
be decided not so much in the interest of doctrinal consistency but in the interest of the
future of Buddhism.
If
I may say so, the pages of the journal of the Mahabodhi Society make, to me at any rate,
dull reading. This is not because the material presented is not interesting and
instructive. The dullness is due to the fact that it seems to fall upon a passive set of
readers. After reading an article, one likes to know what the reader of the journal has to
say about it. But the reader never gives out his reaction. This silence on the part of the
reader is a great discouragement to the writer. I hope my questions will excite the
readers to come and make their contribution to their solution.
PROLOGUE
"
from time to time men find themselves forced
to reconsider current and inherited beliefs and ideas, to gain some harmony between
present and past experience, and to reach a position which shall satisfy the demands of
feeling and reflexion and give confidence for facing the future. If, at the present day,
religion, as a subject of critical or scientific inquiry, of both practical and
theoretical significance has attracted increasing attention, this can be ascribed to (a) the rapid progress of scientific knowledge and
thought ; (b) the deeper intellectual interest
in the subject ; (c) the widespread tendencies
in all parts of the world to reform or reconstruct religion, or even to replace it by some
body of thought, more ' rational ' and ' scientific ' or less ' superstitious ' ; and (d) the effect of social, political, and
international events of a sort which, in the past, have both influenced and been
influenced by religion. Whenever the ethical or moral value of activities or conditions is
questioned, the value of religion is involved ; and all deep-stirring experiences
invariably compel a reconsideration of the most fundamental ideas, whether they are
explicitly religious or not. Ultimately there arise problems of justice, human destiny,
God, and the universe ; and these in turn involve problems of the relation between '
religious ' and other ideas, the validity of ordinary knowledge, and practicable
conceptions of 'experience' and 'reality.'
-From
" Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics," Vol. X, p. 669.
BOOK I
SIDDHARTH GAUTAMA—HOW A BODHISATTA BECAME THE BUDDHA
Part
I—From Birth to Parivraja
Part
II—Renunciation for Ever
Part
III—In Search of New Light
Part
IV—Enlightenment and the Vision of a New Way
Part
V—The Buddha and His Predecessors
Part
VI—The Buddha and His Contemporaries
Part
VII—Comparison and Contrast
PART I
: FROM BIRTH TO PARIVRAJA
1.
His Kula
2.
His Ancestry
3.
His Birth
4.
Visit by Asita
5.
Death of Mahamaya
6.
Childhood and Education
7.
Early Traits
8.
Marriage
9.
Father's Plans to Save His Son
10.
The Failure of the Women to Win the Prince
11.
The Prime Minister's Admonition to the Prince
12.
The Prince's Reply to the Prime Minister 13, Initiation into
the Sakya Sangh
14.
Conflict with the Sangh
15.
Offer of Exile
16.
Parivraja—the Way Out
17.
Parting Words
18.
Leaving His Home
19.
The Prince and the Servant
20.
The Return of Channa
21.
The Family in Mourning
§
1. His Kula
1.
Going back to the sixth century b.c., Northern India did not form a single Sovereign State.
2.
The country was divided into many States, some large, some small. Of these some were
monarchical and some non-monarchical.
3.
The monarchical States were
altogether sixteen in number. They were known by the name of Anga,
Magadha, Kasi, Kosala, Vriji, Malla, Chedi, Vatsa, Kuru, Panchala, Matsya, Saursena, Asmaka, Avanti, Gandhara and Kambhoja.
4. The non-monarchical States were those of the Sakyas of Kapilvatsu, the Mallas of Pava and Kushinara, the Lichhavis of Vaisali, the Videhas of Mithila, the Koliyas of Ramagam, the Bulis of Allakapa, the Kalingas of Resaputta, the Mauriyas of Pipphalvana and the Bhaggas with their capital on Sumsumara Hill.
5. The monarchical States were known as Janapada and the non-monarchical as Sangh or Gana.
6.
Not much is known about the nature of the polity of the Sakyas of Kapilvatsu, whether it
was republican or oligarchic.
7.
This much, however, is definitely known, that there were
many ruling families in the Republic of the Sakyas and that they ruled in turns.
8.
The head of the ruling family was known as Raja.
9.
At the time of the birth of Siddharth Gautama it was the
turn of Suddhodana to be the Raja.
10.
The Sakya State was situated in the northeast corner of
India. It was an independent State. But at a later stage the King of Kosala had succeeded
in establishing his paramountcy over it.
11. The result of this paramountcy was that the Sakya State could
not exercise certain sovereign powers without the sanction
of the King of Kosala.
12.
Of the kingdoms then in existence, Kosala
was a powerful kingdom. So was the kingdom of Magadha. Pasanedi, King of Kosala
and Bimbisara, King of Magadha, were the contemporaries of Siddharth Gautama.
1. The
capital of the Sakyas was the
city called Kapilavatsu, perhaps after the name of the great
Rationalist Kapila.
2. There
lived in Kapilavastu a Sakya
by name Jaya Sena. Sinahu was his son. Sinahu was
married to Kaccana. Sinahu had five sons, Suddhodana, Dhotodana, Sakkodana, Suklodana and Amitodana. Besides five
sons, Sinahu had two daughters, Amita and Pamita.
3. The
Gotra of the-family was Aditya.
4.
Suddhodana was married to Mahamaya Her father's name was Anjana and mother's Sulak-shana.
Anjana was a Koliya and was residing in the village called Devadaha.
5.
Suddhodana was a man of great military prowess. When Suddhodana had shown his martial
powers he was allowed to take a second wife and he chose Mahaprajapati.
She was the elder sister of Mahamaya.
6.
Suddhodana was a wealthy person. The lands he held were very extensive and the retinue
under him was very large. He employed, it is said, one thousand ploughs to till the land
he owned.
7.
He lived quite a luxurious life and had many palaces.
1.
To Suddhodana was born Siddharth Gautama and this was the manner of Gautama's birth.
2.
It was a custom among the Sakyas to observe an annual midsummer festival which fell in the
month of Ashad. It was celebrated by all the Sakyas throughout the State and also by the
members of the ruling family.
3.
It was the usual practice to celebrate the festival for seven days.
4.
On one occasion Mahamaya decided to observe the festival
with gaiety, with splendour, with flowers, with perfume, but without drinking intoxicants.
5.
On the seventh day she rose early, bathed in scented water,
bestowed a gift of 4,00,000 pieces of money as alms, adorned herself with all precious
ornaments, ate choicest food, took upon herself the fast-day vows, and entered the
splendidly adorned royal bedchamber to sleep.
6.
That night Suddhodana and Mahamaya came together and
Mahamaya conceived. Lying on the royal bed she fell asleep. While asleep she had a dream.
7.
In her dreams she saw that the four world-guardians raised her as she was sleeping on her
bed and carried her to the tableland of the
Himalayas, placed her under a great sal tree and stood on one side.
8.
The wives of the four world-guardians then approached and took her to the lake Mansarovar.
9.
They bathed her, robed her in a dress, anointed her with perfumes and decked her with
flowers in a manner fit to meet some divinity.
10.
Then a Bodhisatta, by name Sumedha,
appeared before her saying, " I have decided to take my last and final birth on
this earth, will you consent to be my mother?" She
said, "Yes, with great pleasure." At this moment Mahamaya awoke.
11. Next morning Mahamaya told her dream to Suddhodana. Not
knowing how to interpret the dream, Suddhodana summoned eight Brahmins who were most
famous in divination.
12.
They were Rama, Dhaga, Lakkana,
Manti, Yanna, Suyama, Subhoga and Sudatta and prepared
for them a befitting reception.
13.
He caused the ground to be strewn with festive flowers and prepared high seats for them.
14.
He filled the bowls of the Brahmins with gold and silver and fed them on cooked ghee,
honey, sugar and excellent rice and milk. He also gave them other gifts such as new
clothes and tawny cows.
15.
When the Brahmins were propitiated, Sud-dhodana related to
them the dream Mahamaya had, and said, " Tell me what it means."
16.
The Brahmins said: " Be
not anxious. You will have a son, and if he leads a householder's
life he will become a universal monarch, and if he leaves his home and goes forth into a
homeless state, and becomes a sanyasi, he will become a
Buddha, a dispeller of illusions in the world." 17.
Bearing the Bodhisatta in her
womb like oil in a vessel for ten lunar months, Mahamaya, as her time of delivery was
coming nearer, desired to go to her parents' home for delivery. Addressing her husband,
she said : " I wish to go
to Devadaha, the city of my father."
18.
"Thou knowest that thy
wishes will be done," replied Suddhodana. Having seated
her in a golden palanquin borne by couriers, he sent her
forth with a great retinue to her father's house.
19.
Mahamaya, on her way to Devadaha, had to pass through a pleasure-grove of sal trees and
other trees, flowering and non-flowering. It was known as the Lumbini
Grove.
20.
As the palanquin was passing through it, the whole Lumbini Grove seemed like the heavenly Cittalata grove or like a banqueting
pavilion adorned for a mighty king.
21.
From the roots to the tips of the branches the trees were loaded with fruits, flowers and
numberless bees of the fine colours, uttering curious sounds, and flocks of various kinds
of birds, singing sweet melodies.
22.
Witnessing the scene, there arose a desire in the heart of Mahamaya for halting and
sporting therein for a while. Accordingly she told the couriers to take her in the sal-grove and wait there.
23.
Mahamaya alighted from her palanquin and walked up to the foot of a royal sal tree. A
pleasant wind, not too strong, was blowing and the boughs of the trees were heaving up and
down and Mahamaya felt like catching one of them.
24.
Luckily one of the boughs heaved down sufficiently low to enable her to catch it. So she
rose on her toes and caught the bough. Immediately she was lifted up by its upward
movement and being shaken, she felt the pangs of childbirth. While holding the branch of the sal tree she was delivered of a son in a standing
position.
25.
The child was born in the year 563 b.c. on
the Vaishakha Paurnima day.
26.
Suddhodana and Mahamaya were married for a long time. But
they had no issue. Ultimately when a son was born to them his birth was celebrated with
great rejoicing, with great pomp and ceremony by Suddhodana and his family and also by the
Sakyas. 27. At the time of the birth of the child it was the
turn of Suddhodana to be the ruler of Kapilavatsu and as such was in the enjoyment of the title of
Raja. Naturally the boy was called Prince.
1.
At the moment when the child was born there dwelt on the Himalayas a great sage named
Asita.
2.
Asita heard that the gods over the space of the sky were shouting the word " Buddha " and making
it resound. He beheld them waving their garments and coursing hither and thither in
delight. He thought, what if I were to go and find out the land in which he was born ?
3.
Surveying with his divine eyes the whole of the Jambudvipa,
Asita saw that a boy was born in the house of Suddhodana
shining with all brilliance and that it was over his birth that the gods were excited.
4.
So the great sage Asita with his nephew Nardatta rose up and
came to the abode of Raja Suddhodana and stood at the door of his palace.
5.
Now Asita, the sage, saw that at the door of Suddhodana's
palace many hundred thousand beings had assembled. So he approached the door-keeper and
said, " Go, man, inform the Raja that a sage is
standing at the door."
6.
Then the door-keeper approached Suddhodana and with clasped
hands said, "Know, 0 Raja, that an aged sage, old and advanced in years, stands at
the door, and says that he desires to see you."
7.
The king prepared a seat for Asita and said to the
door-keeper, " Let the sage enter." So coming out of the palace the door-keeper said to
Asita : " Please go in."
8.
Now Asita approached King Suddhodana and, standing in front of him, said, " Victory, Victory, 0 Raja, may you live long, and rule
thy kingdom righteously."
9.
Then Suddhodana in reverence to Asita fell at his feet and offered him the seat ; and seeing him seated in comfort, Suddhodana said, " I do not remember to have seen thee before this, 0 Sage! With what purpose has thou come hither ? What is the cause? "
10.
Thereupon Asita said to Suddhodana, "A son is born to thee, 0 Raja! Desiring to see him, have I come."
11.
Suddhodana said, "The boy is asleep, 0 Sage ! Will you wait for a while ? " The sage said, " Not
long, 0 King, do such great beings sleep Such good beings are by nature wakeful."
12.
Then did the child out of compassion for Asita, the great sage, make a sign of awaking.
13.
Seeing that the child had become awake, Suddhodana took the boy firmly in both hands and
brought him into the presence of the sage.
14.
Asita observing the child, beheld that it was endowed with the thirty-two marks of a great
man and adomed with the eighty minor marks, his body surpassing that of Sakra, Brahma, and his aura surpassing them a hundred
thousand-fold, breathed forth this solemn utterance, "
Marvellous, verily, is this person that has appeared in the world," and rising from
his seat clasped his hands, fell at his feet, made a rightwise circuit round and taking
the child in his own hand stood in contemplation.
15.
Asita knew the old well-known prophecy that anyone endowed
with the thirty-two marks of a great man, as Gautama was, has two careers open to him, and no third. " If he
becomes a householder, he will become a universal monarch. But if he goes forth from the
home to a homeless life, he will become a fully enlightened Buddha."
16.
Asita was sure that the child would not remain a householder.
17.
And looking at the child he wept, and shedding tears, sighed deeply.
18.
Suddhodana beheld Asita shedding tears, and sighing deeply.
19.
Beholding him thus weeping, the hair of his body rose, and in distress Suddhodana said to
Asita, " Why, O Sage, dost thou weep and shed tears,
and sigh so deeply ? Surely, there is no misfortune in store
for the child."
20.
At this Asita said to the Raja, "O King, I weep not for
the sake of the child. There will be no misfortune for him. But I weep for myself."
21.
"And why?" asked Suddhodana. Asita replied, "
I am old, aged, advanced in years, and this boy will without doubt become a Buddha and
attain supreme and complete enlightenment and having done so, will turn the supreme wheel
of the Doctrine that has not been turned before him by any other being in the world ; for the weal and happiness of the world will he teach his
Doctrine."
22.
"The religious life, the Doctrine, that he will
proclaim will be good in the beginning, good in the middle, good in the end, complete in the letter and the spirit, whole and pure."
23.
" Just as an Oudumbara
flower at some time and place arises in the world, even so at some time and place, after
countless cycles, revered Buddhas arise in the world. So
also, O Raja! this boy will without doubt obtain supreme,
complete enlightenment, and having done so will take countless beings across the ocean of sorrow and misery to a state of
happiness."
24.
" But I shall not see that Buddha. Hence, 0 Raja, I
weep and in sadness I sigh deeply, for I shall not be able to reverence him."
25.
The king thereafter offered to the great sage Asita and Nardatta, his nephew, suitable food, and having given him robes
made a rightwise circuit round him.
26.
Thereupon Asita said to Nardatta, his nephew, " When
thou shalt hear, Nardatta, that the child has become a
Buddha, then go and take refuge in his teachings. This shall be for thy weal and welfare
and happiness." So saying Asita took leave of the Raja
and departed for his hermitage.
1.
On the fifth day the ceremony of name-giving took place. The name chosen for the child was
Siddharth. His clan name was Gautama. Popularly, therefore, he came to be called Siddharth Gautama.
2.
In the midst of rejoicing over the birth and the naming of the child Mahamaya suddenly
fell ill and her illness became very serious.
3.
Realising that her end was near she called Suddhodana and Prajapati to her bedside and said :
" I am sure that the prophecy made by Asita about my son will come true. My
regret is that I will not live to see it fulfilled."
4.
" My child will soon be a motherless child. But I am
not worried in the least as to whether after me my child will be carefully nursed,
properly looked after and brought up in a manner befitting his future."
5.
" To you Prajapati, I entrust my child, I have no doubt
that you will be to him more than his mother."
6.
" Now do not be sorry. Permit me to die. God's call has
come and His messengers are waiting to take me." So saying, Mahamaya
breathed her last. Both Suddhodana and Prajapati were greatly grieved and wept bitterly.
7. Siddharth was only seven days old when his
mother died.
8. Siddharth had a younger brother by name Nanda. He was the son of Suddhodana born to Mahaprajapati.
9.
He had also several cousins, Mahanama and Anuruddha, sons of his uncle Suklodan, Ananda, son of his uncle Amitodan, and Devadatta, son of
his aunt Amita. Mahanama was older than Siddharth and Ananda
was younger.
10.
Siddharth grew up in their company.
1. When Siddharth was able to walk and speak the elders of the Sakyas assembled and asked Suddhodana that the boy should be taken to the temple of the village goddess Abhya.
2.
Suddhodana agreed and asked Mahaprajapati to dress the boy.
3.
While she was doing so the child Siddharth, with a most sweet voice, asked his aunt where
he was being taken. On learning that he was being taken to the temple he smiled. But he
went, conforming to the custom of the Sakyas.
4.
At the age of eight Siddharth started his education.
5.
Those very eight Brahmins whom Suddhodana had invited to interpret Mahamaya's
dream and who had predicted his future were his first teachers.
6.
After they had taught him what they knew Suddhodana sent for Sabbamitta
of distinguished descent and of high lineage in the land of Uddikka,
a philologist and grammarian, well read in the Vedas,
Vedangas and Upanishads.
Having poured out water of dedication from a golden vase, Suddhodana handed over
the boy to his charge, to be taught. He was his second teacher.
7. Under him Gautama mastered all the philosophic systems prevalent in his day.
8.
Besides this he had learned the science of concentration and meditation from one Bhardawaj, a disciple of Alara Kalam, who had his ashram at Kapilavatsu.
1. Whenever he went to his father's farm and found no work he repaired to a quiet place, and practised meditation.
2. While everything for the cultivation of the mind was provided, his education in the military science befitting a Kshatriya was not neglected.
3. For Suddhodana was anxious not to make the mistake of having cultivated the mind of his son at the cost of his manliness.
4.
Siddharth was of kindly disposition. He did not like
exploitation of man by man.
5.
Once he went to his father's farm with some of his friends
and saw the labourers ploughing the land, raising bunds, cutting trees, etc., dressed in
scanty clothes under a hot burning sun.
6.
He was greatly moved by the sight.
7.