the young heir, their rajah's only grandson. Gautama's return became
an ovation, and he entered the town amid a general celebration of the
happy event. Amid the singers was a young girl, his cousin, whose song
contained the words, "Happy the father, happy the mother, happy the
wife of such a son and husband." In the word "Happy" there was a double
meaning: it meant also "freed" from the chains of sin and of existence,
saved. In gratitude to one who at such a time reminded him of his higher
duties, Gautama took off his necklace of pearls and sent it to her. She
imagined that she had won the love of young Siddhartha, but he took no
further notice of her.
That night the dancing girls came, but he paid them no attention, and
gradually fell into an uneasy slumber. At midnight he awoke, and sent
Channa for his horse. While waiting for the steed Gautama gently opened
the door of the room where Yasodhara was sleeping, surrounded by
flowers, with one hand on the head of her child. After one loving, fond
glance he tore himself away. Accompanied only by Channa he left his home
and wealth and power, his wife and only child behind him, to become a
penniless wanderer. This was the Great Renunciation.
There follows a story of a vision. Mara, the great tempter, the spirit
of evil, appears in the sky, urging Gautama to stop. He promises him a
universal kingdom over the four great continents if he will but give up
his enterprise. The tempter does not prevail, but from that time he
followed Gautama as a shadow, hoping to seduce him from that right way.
All night Gautama rode, and at the dawn, when beyond the confines of his
father's domain, dismounts. He cuts off his long hair with his sword,
and sends back all his ornaments and his horse by the faithful
charioteer.
Seven days he spends alone beneath the shade of a mango grove, and then
fares onward to Rajogriha, the capital of Magadha. This town was the
seat of Bimbasara, one of the most powerful princes in the eastern
valley of the Ganges. In the hillside caves near at hand were several
hermits. To one of these Brahman teachers, Alara, Gautama attached
himself, and later to another named Udraka. From these he learned all
that Hindu philosophy could teach.
Still unsatisfied, Gautama next retired to the jungle of Uruvela, on the
most northerly spur of the Viadhya range of mountains, near the present
temple of Buddha Gaya. Here for six years he gave himself up to the
severest penance until he was wasted away to a shadow by fasting and
self-mortification. Such self-control spread his fame "like the sound of
a great bell hung in the skies." But the more he fasted and denied
himself, the more he felt himself a prey to a mental torture worse than
any bodily suffering.
At last one day when walking slowly up and down, lost in thought,
through extreme weakness he staggered and fell to the ground. His
disciples thought he was dead, but he recovered. Despairing of further
profit from such rigorous penance, he began to take regular food and
gave up his self-mortification. At this his disciples forsook him and
went away to Benares. In their opinion mental conquest lay only through
bodily suppression.
There now ensued a second crisis in Gautama's career which culminated in
his withstanding the renewed attacks of the tempter after violent
struggles.
Soon after, if not on the very day when his disciples had left him, he
wandered out toward the banks of the Nairaujara, receiving his morning
meal from the hands of Sujuta, the daughter of a neighboring villager,
and sat down to eat it under the shade of a large tree (_ficus
religiosa_), called from that day the sacred "Bo tree," or tree of
wisdom. He remained there all day long, pondering what next to do. All
the attractions of the luxurious home he had abandoned rose up before
him most alluringly. But as the day ended his lofty spirit had won the
victory. All doubts had lifted as mists before the morning sun. He had
become Buddha, that is, enlightened. He had grasped the solution of the
great mystery of sorrow. He thought, having solved its causes and its
cure, he had gained the haven of peace, and believed that in the power
over the human heart of inward culture and of love to others he had
discovered a foundation which could never be shaken.
From this time Gautama claimed no merit for penances. A feeling of great
loneliness possessed him as he arrived at his psychological and ethical
conclusions. He almost despaired of winning his fellow-men to his system
of salvation, salvation merely by self-control and love, without any of
the rites, ceremonies, charms, or incantations of the Hindu religion.
The thought of mankind, otherwise, as he imagined, utterly doomed and
lost, made Gautama resolve, at whatever hazard, to proclaim his doctrine
to the world. It is certain that he had a most intense belief in himself
and his mission.
He had intended first to proclaim his new doctrine to his old teachers,
Alara and Udraka, but finding that they were dead, he proceeded to the
deer forest near Benares where his former disciples were then living. In
the cool of the evening he enters the deer-park near the city, but his
former disciples resolve not to recognize him as a master. He tells them
that they are still in the way of death, whereas he has found the way of
salvation and can lead them to it, having become a Buddha. And as they
reply with objections to his claims, he explains the fundamental truths
of his system and principles of his new gospel, which the aged Kondanya
was the first to accept from his master's lips. This exposition is
preserved in the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, the Sutra of the
Foundations of the Kingdom of Righteousness.
Gautama Buddha taught that everything corporeal is material and
therefore impermanent. Man in his bodily existence is liable to sorrow,
decay, and death. The reign of unholy desires in his heart produces
unsatisfactory longings, useless weariness, and care. Attempted
purification by oppressing the body is only wasted effort. It is the
moral evil of the heart which keeps a man chained down in the degraded
state of bodily life, which binds him in a union with the material
world. Virtue and goodness will only insure him for a time, and, in
another birth, a higher form of material life. From the chains of
existence only the complete eradication of all evil will set him free.
But these ideas must not be confused with Christian beliefs, for
Buddhism teaches nothing of any immaterial existence. The foundations of
its creed have been summed up in the Four Great Truths, which are as
follows:
1. That misery always accompanies existence;
2. That all modes of existence of men or animals, in death or heaven,
result from passion or desire (tanha);
3. That there is no escape from existence except by destruction of
desire;
4. That this may be accomplished by following the fourfold way to
Nirvana.
The four stages are called the Paths, the first being an awakening of
the heart. The first enemy which the believer has to fight against is
sensuality and the last is unkindliness. Above everything is universal
charity. Till he has gained that the believer is still bound, his mind
is still dark. True enlightenment, true freedom, are complete only in
love. The last great reward is "Nirvana," eternal rest or extinction.
For forty-five years Gautama taught in the valley of the Ganges. In the
twentieth year his cousin Ananda became a mendicant and attended on
Gautama. Another cousin, however, stirred up some persecution of the
great teacher, and the oppositions of the Brahmans had to be faced.
There are clear accounts of the last few days of Gautama's life. On a
journey toward Kusi-nagara he had rested in a grove at Pawa, presented
to the society by a goldsmith of that place named Chunda. After a midday
meal of rice and pork, prepared by Chunda, the Master started for
Kusi-nagara, but stopped to rest at the river Kukusta. Feeling that he
was dying, he left a message for Chunda, promising him a great reward in
some future existence. He died at the river Kukusta, near Kusi-nagara,
teaching to the last.
Gautama's power arose from his practical philanthropy. His philosophy
and ethics attracted the masses. He did not seek to found a new
religion, but thought that all men would accept his form of the ancient
creed. It was his society, the Sangha, or Buddhist order, rather than
his doctrine, which gave to his religion its practical vitality.
The following lines, filled with the poetic beauty of the Orient, are
taken from the last spoken words of the great founder of Buddhism and
the _Book of the Great Decease_. They give a clew to the cult of that
religion and breathe the spirit of Nirvana in every scintillating
sentence. As nearly as may be the translation is a literal one, done by
Rhys-Davids, the world's greatest living authority on this subject:
Now the Blessed One addressed the venerable Ananda, and said: "It may
be, Ananda, that in some of you the thought may arise, 'The word of the
Master is ended, we have no teacher more!' But it is not thus, Ananda,
that you should regard it. The truths and the rules of the order which I
have set forth and laid down for you all, let them, after I am gone, be
the Teacher to you.
"Ananda! when I am gone address not one another in the way in which the
brethren have heretofore addressed each other--with the epithet, that
is, of 'Avuso' (Friend). A younger brother may be addressed by an elder
with his name, or his family name, or the title 'Friend,' But an elder
should be addressed by a younger brother as 'Lord' or as 'Venerable
Sir.'
"When I am gone, Ananda, let the order, if it should so wish, abolish
all the lesser and minor precepts.
"When I am gone, Ananda, let the higher penalty be imposed on brother
Khanna."
"But what, Lord, is the higher penalty?"
"Let Khanna say whatever he may like, Ananda; the brethren should
neither speak to him, nor exhort him, nor admonish him."
Then the Blessed One addressed the brethren, and said: "It may be,
brethren, that there may be doubt or misgiving in the mind of some
brother as to the Buddha, or the truth, or the path, or the way.
Inquire, brethren, freely. Do not have to reproach yourselves afterward
with the thought, 'Our teacher was face to face with us, and we could
not bring ourselves to inquire of the Blessed One when we were face to
face with him.'"
And when he had thus spoken the brethren were silent.
And again the second and the third time the Blessed One addressed the
brethren, and said: "It may be, brethren, that there may be doubt or
misgiving in the mind of some brother as to the Buddha, or the truth, or
the path, or the way. Inquire, brethren, freely. Do not have to reproach
yourselves afterward with the thought, 'Our teacher was face to face
with us, and we could not bring ourselves to inquire of the Blessed One
when we were face to face with him.'"
And even the third time the brethren were silent.
Then the Blessed One addressed the brethren, and said: "It may be,
brethren, that you put no questions out of reverence for the teacher.
Let one friend communicate to another."
And when he had thus spoken the brethren were silent.
And the venerable Ananda said to the Blessed One: "How wonderful a thing
is it, Lord, and how marvellous! Verily, I believe that in this whole
assembly of the brethren there is not one brother who has any doubt or
misgiving as to the Buddha, or the truth, or the path, or the way!"
"It is out of the fulness of faith that thou hast spoken, Ananda! But,
Ananda, the Tathagata knows for certain that in this whole assembly of
the brethren there is not one brother who has any doubt or misgiving as
to the Buddha, or the truth, or the path, or the way! For even the most
backward, Ananda, of all these five hundred brethren has become
converted, and is no longer liable to be born in a state of suffering,
and is assured of final salvation."
Then the Blessed One addressed the brethren, and said: "Behold now,
brethren, I exhort you, saying, 'Decay is inherent in all component
things! Work out your salvation with diligence!'"
This was the last word of the Tathagata!
Then the Blessed One entered into the first stage of deep meditation.
And rising out of the first stage he passed into the second. And rising
out of the second he passed into the third. And rising out of the third
stage he passed into the fourth. And rising out of the fourth stage of
deep meditation he entered into the state of mind to which the infinity
of space is alone present. And passing out of the mere consciousness of
the infinity of space he entered into the state of mind to which nothing
at all was specially present. And passing out of the consciousness of
no special object he fell into a state between consciousness and
unconsciousness. And passing out of the state between consciousness and
unconsciousness he fell into a state in which the consciousness both of
sensations and of ideas had wholly passed away.
Then the venerable Ananda said to the venerable Anuruddha: "O my Lord, O
Anuruddha, the Blessed One is dead!"
"Nay! brother Ananda, the Blessed One is not dead. He has entered into
that state in which both sensations and ideas have ceased to be!"
Then the Blessed One passing out of the state in which both sensations
and ideas have ceased to be, entered into the state between
consciousness and unconsciousness. And passing out of the state between
consciousness and unconsciousness he entered into the state of mind to
which nothing at all is specially present. And passing out of the
consciousness of no special object he entered into the state of mind to
which the infinity of thought is alone present. And passing out of the
mere consciousness of the infinity of thought he entered into the state
of mind to which the infinity of space is alone present. And passing out
of the mere consciousness of the infinity of space he entered into the
fourth stage of deep meditation. And passing out of the fourth stage he
entered into the third. And passing out of the third stage he entered
into the second. And passing out of the second he entered into the
first. And passing out of the first stage of deep meditation he entered
the second. And passing out of the second stage he entered into the
third. And passing out of the third stage he entered into the fourth
stage of deep meditation. And passing out of the last stage of deep
meditation he immediately expired.
When the Blessed One died there arose, at the moment of his passing out
of existence, a mighty earthquake, terrible and awe-inspiring: and the
thunders of heaven burst forth.
When the Blessed One died, Brahma Sahampati, at the moment of his
passing away from existence, uttered this stanza:
"They all, all beings that have life, shall lay
Aside their complex form--that aggregation
Of mental and material qualities,
That gives them, or in heaven or on earth,
Their fleeting individuality!
E'en as the teacher--being such a one,
Unequalled among all the men that are,
Successor of the prophets of old time,
Mighty by wisdom, and in insight clear--
Hath died!"
When the Blessed One died, Sakka, the king of the gods, at the
moment of his passing away from existence, uttered this stanza:
"They're transient all, each being's parts and powers,
Growth is their nature, and decay.
They are produced, they are dissolved again,
And then is best, when they have sunk to rest!"
When the Blessed One died, the venerable Anuruddha, at the moment of his
passing away from existence, uttered these stanzas:
"When he who from all craving want was free,
Who to Nirvana's tranquil state had reached,
When the great sage finished his span of life,
No gasping struggle vexed that steadfast heart!
All resolute, and with unshaken mind.
He calmly triumphed o'er the pain of death.
E'en as a bright flame dies away, so was
His last deliverance from the bonds of life!"
When the Blessed One died, the venerable Ananda, at the moment of his
passing away from existence, uttered this stanza:
"Then was there terror!
Then stood the hair on end!
When he endowed with every grace--
The supreme Buddha--died!"
When the Blessed One died, of those of the brethren who were not free
from the passions, some stretched out their arms and wept, and some fell
headlong to the ground, rolling to and fro in anguish at the thought:
"Too soon has the Blessed One died! Too soon has the Happy One passed
away from existence! Too soon has the Light gone out in the world!" But
those of the brethren who were free from the passions (the Arahats) bore
their grief collected and composed at the thought: "Impermanent are all
component things! How is it possible that [they should not be
dissolved]?"
Then the venerable Anuruddha exhorted the brethren, and said: "Enough,
my brethren! Weep not, neither lament! Has not the Blessed One formerly
declared this to us, that it is in the very nature of all things near
and dear unto us, that we must divide ourselves from them, leave them,
sever ourselves from them? How, then, brethren, can this be
possible--that whereas anything whatever born, brought into being, and
organized, contains within itself the inherent necessity of
dissolution--how then can this be possible that such a being should not
be dissolved? No such condition can exist! Even the spirits, brethren,
will reproach us."
"But of what kind of spirits is the Lord, the venerable Anuruddha,
thinking?"
"There are spirits, brother Ananda, in the sky, but of worldly mind, who
dishevel their hair and weep, and stretch forth their arms and weep,
fall prostrate on the ground, and roll to and fro in anguish at the
thought: 'Too soon has the Blessed One died! Too soon has the Happy One
passed away! Too soon has the Light gone out in the world!'
"There are spirits, too, Ananda, on the earth, and of worldly mind, who
tear their hair and weep, and stretch forth their arms and weep, fall
prostrate on the ground, and roll to and fro in anguish at the thought:
'Too soon has the Blessed One died! Too soon has the Happy One passed
away! Too soon has the Light gone out in the world!'
"But the spirits who are free from passion hear it, calm and
self-possessed, mindful of the saying which begins, 'Impermanent indeed
are all component things. How then is it possible [that such a being
should not be dissolved]?'"
Now the venerable Anuruddha and the venerable Ananda spent the rest of
that night in religious discourse. Then the venerable Anuruddha said to
the venerable Ananda: "Go now, brother Ananda, into Kusinara and inform
the Mallas of Kusinara, saying, 'The Blessed One, O Vasetthas, is dead:
do, then, whatever seemeth to you fit!'"
"Even so, Lord!" said the venerable Ananda, in assent to the venerable
Anuruddha. And having robed himself early in the morning, he took his
bowl, and went into Kusinara with one of the brethren as an attendant.
Now at that time the Mallas of Kusinara were assembled in the council
hall concerning that very matter.
And the venerable Ananda went to the council hall of the Mallas of
Kusinara; and when he had arrived there, he informed them, saying, "The
Blessed One, O Vasetthas, is dead; do, then, whatever seemeth to you
fit!"
And when they had heard this saying of the venerable Ananda, the Mallas,
with their young men and their maidens and their wives, were grieved,
and sad, and afflicted at heart. And some of them wept, dishevelling
their hair, and some stretched forth their arms and wept, and some fell
prostrate on the ground, and some reeled to and fro in anguish at the
thought: "Too soon has the Blessed One died! Too soon has the Happy One
passed away! Too soon has the Light gone out in the world!"
Then the Mallas of Kusinara gave orders to their attendants, saying,
"Gather together perfumes and garlands, and all the music in Kusinara!"
And the Mallas of Kusinara took the perfumes and garlands, and all the
musical instruments, and five hundred suits of apparel, and went to the
Upavattana, to the Sala Grove of the Mallas, where the body of the
Blessed One lay. There they passed the day in paying honor, reverence,
respect, and homage to the remains of the Blessed One with dancing, and
hymns, and music, and with garlands and perfumes; and in making canopies
of their garments, and preparing decoration wreaths to hang thereon.
Then the Mallas of Kusinara thought: "It is much too late to burn the
body of the Blessed One to-day. Let us now perform the cremation
to-morrow." And in paying honor, reverence, respect, and homage to the
remains of the Blessed One with dancing, and hymns, and music, and with
garlands and perfumes; and in making canopies of their garments, and
preparing decoration wreaths to hang thereon, they passed the second day
too, and then the third day, and the fourth, and the fifth, and the
sixth day also.
Then on the seventh day the Mallas of Kusinara thought:
"Let us carry the body of the Blessed One, by the south and outside, to
a spot on the south, and outside of the city,--paying it honor, and
reverence, and respect, and homage, with dance and song and music, with
garlands and perfumes,--and there, to the south of the city, let us
perform the cremation ceremony!"
And thereupon eight chieftains among the Mallas bathed their heads, and
clad themselves in new garments with the intention of bearing the body
of the Blessed One. But, behold, they could not lift it up!
Then the Mallas of Kusinara said to the venerable Anuruddha: "What,
Lord, can be the reason, what can be the cause that eight chieftains of
the Mallas who have bathed their heads, and clad themselves in new
garments with the intention of bearing the body of the Blessed One, are
unable to lift it up?"
"It is because you, O Vasetthas, have one purpose and the spirits have
another purpose."
"But what, Lord, is the purpose of the spirits?"
"Your purpose, O Vasetthas, is this: 'Let us carry the body of the
Blessed One, by the south and outside, to a spot on the south, and
outside of the city,--paying it honor, and reverence, and respect, and
homage, with dance and song and music, with garlands and perfumes,--and
there, to the south of the city, let us perform the cremation ceremony.'
But the purpose of the spirits, Vasetthas, is this: 'Let us carry the
body of the Blessed One by the north to the north of the city, and
entering the city by the north gate, let us bring it through the midst
of the city into the midst thereof. And going out again by the eastern
gate,--paying honor, and reverence, and respect, and homage to the body
of the Blessed One, with heavenly dance, and song, and music, and
garlands, and perfumes,--let us carry it to the shrine of the Mallas
called Makuta-bandhana, to the east of the city, and there let us
perform the cremation ceremony.'"
"Even according to the purpose of the spirits, so, Lord, let it be!"
Then immediately all Kusinara down even to the dust-bins and rubbish
heaps became strewn knee-deep with Mandarava flowers from heaven! and
while both the spirits from the skies, and the Mallas of Kusinara upon
earth, paid honor, and reverence, and respect, and homage to the body of
the Blessed One, with dance and song and music, with garlands and with
perfumes, they carried the body by the north to the north of the city;
and entering the city by the north gate they carried it through the
midst of the city into the midst thereof; and going out again by the
eastern gate they carried it to the shrine of the Mallas, called
Makuta-bandhana; and there, to the east of the city, they laid down the
body of the Blessed One.
Then the Mallas of Kusinara said to the venerable Ananda: "What should
be done, Lord, with the remains of the Tathagata?"
"As men treat the remains of a king of kings, so, Vasetthas, should they
treat the remains of a Tathagata."
"And how, Lord, do they treat the remains of a king of kings?"