English Articles

Caste plays no role in Buddhism
S. M. Wijayaratne 
The talk of “high and low castes”, of the pure Brahmins, the only Sons of Brahma, is nothing but empty sound. All persons of the four castes are equal. Buddha says: “He is a low caste who cherishes hatred; who torments and kills living beings; who steals or commits adultery; who does not pay his debts; who maltreats aged parents, or fails to support them; who gives evil counsel and hides the truth; who does not return hospitality nor render it; who exalts himself and debases others; who ignores the virtues of others and is jealous of their success.
Is the caste of a person necessary to live a happy and prosperous life? Why do people pay so much attention to the caste of a person when they seek life partners for their sons and daughters? Do these traditional beliefs need to be regarded as factors to determine one’s future life? These are some of problems that need to be rectified by all Buddhists who strive to live a peaceful and happy lives on this earth.
I have seen in many newspapers that carry marriage - proposals that the caste of the life - partner is given much consideration in selecting life-partners. Most parents seek high caste life-partners for their beloved children who are about to marry.
“The Thathagata recreates the whole world like a cloud shedding its waters without distinction. He has the same sentiments for the high as for the low, for the wise as for the ignorant, for the noble-minded as for the immoral.
His teaching is pure, and makes no discrimination between noble and ignoble, between rich and poor. It is like unto water which cleanses all without distinction.
It is like unto fire which consumes all things that exist between heaven and earth, great and small.
“It is like unto heavens, for there is room in it, ample room for the reception of all, for men and women boys and girls, the powerful and the lowly,” such were the words in which Gautama Sakyamuni impressed on his disciples the universality of the salvation that He brought into the world. How this spirit of universality has been carried out in practice is well-shown by the attitude of the Buddha Dhamma towards the baneful Hindu institution of caste.
On one occasion, Ven. Ananda who was the chief attendant of the Fully - Awakened One, passing by a well, where a girl of the Matanga caste was drawing water, asked her for some water to drink.
At that time, she answered: “How dost thou ask water of me, an outcast who may not touch thee without contamination? Then Ananda replied: “My sister, I ask not of thy caste, I ask thee water to drink”. Then the so-called low-caste girl was overjoyed and gave Ven. Ananda water to drink to his heart’s content. Ven. Ananda thanked her immensely and went his way, but the girl, learning that he was a disciple of the Blessed One, repaired to the place where the Buddha was. She had become crazy over the handsome appearance of young Ven. Ananda. She wanted to make Ven. Ananda her husband. She went up to the Blessed One to ask His support and permission for this. The Blessed One, understanding her sentiments towards Ven. Ananda, made use of them to open her eyes to the truth, and took her among His disciples.
On the admission of this Chanda-la (low-caste) woman into the Order of Bhikshunis, King Prasenajith
and the Brahmins and the very noble caste dignatories of Sravasthi kingdom, feeling greatly scandalised, came to remonstrate with the Blessed One on his conduct.
Then, the Blessed One demonstrated to them the futility of caste discrimination by the following simple reasoning.
“Between ashes and gold, there is a marked difference, but between a Brahmin and a Chandala, there is nothing of the kind.
A Brahmin is not produced like fire by the friction of dry wood; he does not descend from the sky nor from the wind, nor does he arise piercing the earth.
The Brahmin is brought forth from the womb of a woman in exactly the same way as a Chandala (low caste person).
All human beings have organs exactly alike; there is not the slightest difference in any respect. How can they be regarded as belonging to different species?”
Nature contradicts the assumption of any specific in equality among mankind. If we look closely, we see no difference between the body of a prince and the body of a slave. What is essential is that which may dwell in the most miserable frame, and which, the wisest have saluted and honoured.
The talk of “high and low castes”, of the pure Brahmins, the only Sons of Brahma, is nothing but empty sound. All persons of the four castes are equal. Buddha says: “He is a low caste who cherishes hatred; who torments and kills living beings; who steals or commits adultery; who does not pay his debts; who maltreats aged parents, or fails to support them; who gives evil counsel and hides the truth; who does not return hospitality nor render it; who exalts himself and debases others; who ignores the virtues of others and is jealous of their success. Not by birth, but the conduct, is one a low-caste. He is a Brahmin or a high caste who is free from sin. He is an outcast who is angry and cherishes hatred; who is wicked and hypocritical; who embraces error and is full of deceit. whosoever is a provoker and avaricious, has sinful desires, is not afraid and ashamed to commit sins, he is an outcast. Not by birth does one become an outcast, not by birth does one become a Brahmin; by deeds one becomes an outcast, by deeds one becomes a Brahmin.
The blessed One has described the true nature of a Brahmin according to His noble doctrine in “Dhammapada” as follows”
“He who is calm among the opponents, tranquil among the violent, unattached among the attached, him I call a Brahmana.”
“He who has dropped passion, hatred, pride and envy like a mustard seed that falls off from the end of a needle, him I call a Brahmana.”
“He whose speech is soft, instructive truthful and gives offence to none, him I call a Brahmana.”
Let’s try to be a Brahmana as shown by the Buddha through His perfect wisdom.
May you all be well and happy.




Kingdom of Kotte




The Kingdom of Kotte (Sinhala: කෝට්ටේ රාජධානිය), centered on Sri Jayawardanapura Kotte (located just outside present-dayColombo), was a kingdom that flourished in Sri Lanka during the 15th century. Its king Parakramabahu VI was the last native sovereign to unify all of Sri Lanka under one rule.

Contents

Etymology

The term Kotte means fortress in Sinhalese. The term derives from Indic word kōṭṭa [4] which means fort or fortified town. So it is accepted that name refers to the fortress founded by Alakesvara.

Founding

See also: Ming–Kotte War
Originally founded as a fortress by Minister Alakesvara (1370–1385) of the Gampola Kingdom during the reign of King Vikramabahu III to checkmate northern invasions on the western coast, Parakramabahu VI later made it the capital city in 1412. It was well protected by the large swamp which surrounded the area.[5]

History

Parâkramabâhu VI first became the king of Raigama in 1412, then in 1415 he made Sri Jayawardanapura Kotte his capital. The King upgraded the existing citadel and built a new royal palace. Parâkramabâhu VI waited until ties between the Vijayanagar Empire andJaffna Kingdom became severed. First he captured the Vanni and made Vanni leaders loyal to him. Prince Sapumal was the commander of the Kotte army at the time.

Rise

In 1450, Parâkramabâhu VI had, with his conquest of the Jaffna Kingdom in northern Sri Lanka, unified all of Sri Lanka. At its height the Kingdom oversaw one of greatest eras of the Sinhalese literature. Notable poets at the time were Buddhist monks such as venThotagamuwe Sri Rahula Thera, ven Weedagama Maihree thero, Karagala Wanarathana thero. By 1477, however, 10 years after the death of Parakramabahu VI, regional kingdoms became more powerful. Most notably a new Kingdom was founded in central hill-country of the island by Senasammatha Wickremabahu who successfully led a rebellion against the Kotte Kingdom in 1469.

Rule from Kelaniya

Dharma Parakramabãhu IX moved the capital to Kelaniya in 1509 and it stayed there until 1528.

Arrival of the Portuguese

The Portuguese arrived in Sri Lanka in 1505,[6] landing in Galle Harbour. Once they learnt that they had arrived in Sri Lanka, they sailed to Colombo.[6] They were taken by a tortuous route to the capital, Kotte, which was actually quite close by. This was done in order to create the impression that the kingdom was too far inland to make invasion from the harbour feasible. This plan was, however, spoilt by the fact that the Portuguese who remained with the ship fired the ship's cannon repeatedly, which sound was heard by the Portuguese party being taken to Kotte.[7] This incident gave rise to the local saying "Parangiya Kotte Giya Vage"[7][පරන්ගියා කොට්ටේ ගියා වගේ], which refers doing something or going somewhere in a roundabout route instead of a direct route. However, during this meeting Portuguese managed to secure a trade agreement with the Kotte king.[8]

Demise


Political map of Sri Lanka following the "Spoiling of Vijayabahu"
Kotte Kingdom's downfall began with an event in 1521 which became known as the "Wijayaba Kollaya". The Kotte king Vijayabahu VII's three sons mutinied and killed their father dividing the kingdom among themselves.[9] This gave rise to three minor kingdoms, Kotte, Sitawaka and Principality of Raigama.[10] The divided Kingdom of Sitawaka became more powerful with local popular support and Kotte Kingdom had to rely on Portuguese for help. The king of Kotte after Wijayabe Kollaya, Buvenekabahu VII, got assistance from the Portuguese in order to defeat his brother, Mayadunne. He also allowed his daughter's son, Prince Dharmapala, to be baptized as a Catholic by the Portuguese. After Buvenekabahu had named Dharmapala as his heir, he was shot [supposedly by accident] by a Portuguese soldier.
In 1565,[11] capital of Kotte was abandoned by the Kotte King Dharmapala due to frequent attacks from Sitawaka led by Mayadunne and his son Rajasinghe I; he was taken into Colombo under Portuguese protection.[12] Most of the areas of Kotte Kingdom were annexed to the Kingdom of Sitawaka[13] however after the downfall of Sitawaka in 1594, these areas were re-annexed to the Kotte kingdom.[14] In 1597 Dharmapala gifted the Kotte Kingdom to the Portuguese throne and Kotte era was officially ended.

Military

The military of the Kotte kingdom was closely associated with both its rise and demise. Poems written in this era give vivid accounts of the contemporary military. Before the arrival of the Portuguese, there are no signs of the use of fire arms in the kingdom. The military consisted of four main departments, namely
  • Ath- elephant regiments
  • Ashwa- horse regiments
  • Riya- Chariot regiments
  • Pabala- infantry regiments.

Notable Commanders of Kotte Army

In the final periods of the kingdom, the Portuguese were often in charge of the military.

Significant military victories of Kingdom of Kotte

  • Capture of Jaffna in 1450
  • Capture of vanni making its chieftains tributary paying subordinates
  • Successfully subsidising a rebellion in central hills started by Jothiya Situ.
  • Invading a port of the Vijayanagar Empire as a retaliation to looting a ship belong to Kotte, and making that port a tributary paying port of the kingdom.

Trade

The kingdom is situated near Colombo, a very important port at the time. Moorish merchants from India and Arabiya dominated the trade of the kingdom until the arrival of the Portuguese. Spice trade such as cinnamon, cardamom, black pepper dominated the exports while gemstones also was a big export. After the conquest of Jaffna, Kotte possessed the pearl trading which gave an enormous wealth to the kingdom. Portuguese who arrived in there as traders were able to secure a trading deal with the kingdom on their first visit.

Literature

One of the greatest of fields that flourished under his rule was literature and art, since the king himself was very fond of them. Royal patronage was given to literature paving way to a golden age of literature in the island.

Great poet monks of Kotte era

Notable art works of the era


A flag of the Catholic Karava Sinhalese who became Catholics during Kotte era

Sandesha poems

  • Kokila Sandesha
  • Paravi Sandesha
  • Gira Sandesha
  • Salalihini Sandesha
  • Hansa Sandesha

Poems and other anthology

  • Lowada Sangarawa
  • Buduguna Alank araya
  • Gutthilaya
  • Kawyashekaraya
  • Parakumba Siritha
  • Saddharmarathnakaraya

Buddhist education institutions started in the era

These institutions paved way not only to the enhancement of Buddhist literature but also to the development of Ayurvedic medicine.

  • Padmawthi Piriwena, Karagala
  • Vijayaba Piriwena,Thotagamuwa
  • Sunethradevi Piriwena, Papiliyana
  • Sri Perakumba Pirivena,Athul Kotte

Aryvedic medical books written in Kotte era

  • Waidya Chinthamani
  • Yoga Rathnakaraya

Buddhism was the religion of majority and given the Royal Patronage. A Temple of Tooth relic was built near the royal palace.Kotte Raja maha Viharaya was enshrined by King Parâkramabâhu VI to Held Esala Perahara Pegent in Honor of the Sacred Tooth relic. The ancient Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara also was repaired by the king Parâkramabâhu VI and Sri perakumba pirivena and Sunethra Devi pirivena have become most famous monasteries in the country and still the same.
Hinduism was also given a foremost place in the society.Most of the buddhist shrines entrusted shrines on Hindu gods Sri Vishnu AndMurugan(a.k.a God Katahargama)and Goddess Paththini and God Gambara as the provincial God. Prince Sapumal Bandara (Later Bhuvanekabahu VI Also enshrined as a God and have make a shrnie near ancient "Na" (bodhi) Tree which stood in Kotte Raja maha viharaya, which believed that he have taken vows to victory over Jaffna peninsula from Arya chakravarthi of India
Portuguese converted much of the population into Roman Catholic. The last king of Kotte Don Juan Dharmapala was the only catholic Sinhalese king in the entire Sri Lankan history.



Gautama Buddha


"Buddha" and "Gautama" redirect here. For other uses, see Buddha (disambiguation) and Gautama (disambiguation).
Gautama Buddha
Buddha in Sarnath Museum (Dhammajak Mutra).jpg
A statue of the Buddha from Sarnath, 4th century CE
Bornc. 563 BCE or c. 480 BCE[1][2]
Lumbini (in present-dayNepal)[3]
Diedc. 483 BCE or c. 400 BCE (aged 80)
Kushinagar (present-day inUttar Pradesh, India)
Known forFounder of Buddhism
PredecessorKassapa Buddha
SuccessorMaitreya Buddha
Part of a series on
Buddhism
Dharma Wheel.svg
Gautama Buddha, also known as Siddhārtha Gautama,[note 1] Shakyamuni,[note 2] or simply the Buddha, was a sage[4] on whose teachings Buddhism was founded.[5] Born in the Shakya republic in the Himalayan foothills (currently Nepal), he is believed to have lived and taught mostly in eastern India sometime between the sixth and fourth centuries BCE.[6][note 3]
The word Buddha means "awakened one" or "the enlightened one." "Buddha" is also used as a title for the first awakened being in an era. In most Buddhist traditions, Siddhartha Gautama is regarded as the Supreme Buddha (Pali sammāsambuddha, Sanskritsamyaksaṃbuddha) of our age.[note 4]
Gautama taught a Middle Way between sensual indulgence and the severe asceticism found in the Sramana (renunciation) movement [13] common in his region. He later taught throughout regions of eastern India such as Magadha and Kośala.[14][15]
Gautama is the primary figure in Buddhism, and accounts of his life, discourses, and monastic rules are believed by Buddhists to have been summarized after his death and memorized by his followers. Various collections of teachings attributed to him were passed down by oral tradition, and first committed to writing about 400 years later.

Historical Siddhārtha Gautama


Ancient kingdoms and cities of India during the time of Buddha.
Scholars are hesitant to make unqualified claims about the historical facts of the Buddha's life. Most accept that he lived, taught and founded a monastic order during the Mahajanapada era in India during the reign of Bimbisara, the ruler of Magadha empire, and died during the early years of the reign of Ajatshatru, who was the successor of Bimbisara, thus making him a contemporary of Mahavira, the Jain teacher;[16] however, most scholars do not consistently accept all of the details contained in traditional biographies.[17][18]
The times of Gautama's birth and death are uncertain: most historians in the early 20th century dated his lifetime as circa 563 BCE to 483 BCE,[1][19] but more recent opinion dates his death to between 486 and 483 BCE or, according to some, between 411 and 400 BCE.[20][note 5] However, at a symposium on this question held in 1988,[1][21] the majority of those who presented definite opinions gave dates within 20 years either side of 400 BCE for the Buddha's death. According to Pali scholar K. R. Norman, a life span for the Buddha of c. 480 to 400 BCE (and his teaching period roughly from c. 445 to 400 BCE) "fits the archaeological evidence better".[2]These alternative chronologies, however, have not yet been accepted by all other historians.[22][23] The discovery of a possible Buddhist shrine dated to 550 BCE at the Maya Devi Temple, Lumbini may push back the Buddha's birth date, but some archaeologists caution that the shrine may represent pre-Buddhist tree worship, and that further research is needed.[24]
The evidence of the early texts suggests that Siddhārtha Gautama was born in the Shakya clan, a community that was on the periphery, both geographically and culturally, of the northeastern Indian subcontinent in the 5th century BCE.[25] It was either a small republic, in which case his father was an elected chieftain, or an oligarchy, in which case his father was an oligarch.[25] According to the Theravada Tripitaka scriptures[which?] (from Pali, meaning "three baskets"), Gautama was born in Lumbini, nowadays in modern-dayNepal, around the year 563 BCE, and raised in Kapilavastu.[26][27]
No written records about Gautama have been found from his lifetime or some centuries thereafter. One edict of Emperor Ashoka, who reigned in the 3rd century BCE, commemorate the Emperor's pilgrimage to the Buddha's birthplace in Lumbini, and another one mentions several Dhamma texts which may be precursors of the Pāli Canon.[28]The Gandhāran Buddhist texts, the oldest surviving Buddhist manuscripts, reported to have been found in or around Haḍḍa near Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan and preserved in the British Library today, were written in the Kharoṣṭhī script and the Gāndhārī language on twenty-seven Birch bark scrolls from the first century BCE to the third century CE.[29]

Traditional biographies


Buddha by Otgonbayar Ershuu

Biographical sources

The sources for the life of Siddhārtha Gautama are a variety of different, and sometimes conflicting, traditional biographies. These include the Buddhacarita, Lalitavistara Sūtra, Mahāvastu, and the Nidānakathā.[30] Of these, the Buddhacarita[31][32][33] is the earliest full biography, an epic poem written by the poet Aśvaghoṣa, and dating around the beginning of the 2nd century CE.[30] The Lalitavistara Sūtra is the next oldest biography, a Mahāyāna/Sarvāstivāda biography dating to the 3rd century CE.[34] The Mahāvastu from theMahāsāṃghika Lokottaravāda tradition is another major biography, composed incrementally until perhaps the 4th century CE.[34] TheDharmaguptaka biography of the Buddha is the most exhaustive, and is entitled the Abhiniṣkramaṇa Sūtra,[35] and various Chinese translations of this date between the 3rd and 6th century CE. Lastly, the Nidānakathā is from the Theravāda tradition in Sri Lanka, was composed in the 5th century CE by Buddhaghoṣa.[36]
From canonical sources, the Jātakas, the Mahapadana Sutta (DN 14), and the Achariyabhuta Sutta (MN 123) include selective accounts that may be older, but are not full biographies. The Jātakas retell previous lives of Gautama as a bodhisattva, and the first collection of these can be dated among the earliest Buddhist texts.[37] The Mahāpadāna Sutta and Achariyabhuta Sutta both recount miraculous events surrounding Gautama's birth, such as the bodhisattva's descent from Tuṣita Heaven into his mother's womb.

Nature of traditional depictions


Queen Māyā miraculously giving birth to Siddhārtha. Sanskrit palm leaf manuscript. Nālandā, Bihar, India. Pālaperiod
Traditional biographies of Gautama generally include numerous miracles, omens, and supernatural events. The character of the Buddha in these traditional biographies is often that of a fully transcendent (Skt. lokottara) and perfected being who is unencumbered by the mundane world. In the Mahāvastu, over the course of many lives, Gautama is said to have developed supramundane abilities including: a painless birth conceived without intercourse; no need for sleep, food, medicine, or bathing, although engaging in such "in conformity with the world"; omniscience, and the ability to "suppress karma".[38] Nevertheless, some of the more ordinary details of his life have been gathered from these traditional sources. In modern times there has been an attempt to form a secular understanding of Siddhārtha Gautama's life by omitting the traditional supernatural elements of his early biographies.
Andrew Skilton writes that the Buddha was never historically regarded by Buddhist traditions as being merely human:[39]
It is important to stress that, despite modern Theravada teachings to the contrary (often a sop to skeptical Western pupils), he was never seen as being merely human. For instance, he is often described as having the thirty-two major and eighty minor marks or signs of a mahāpuruṣa, "superman"; the Buddha himself denied that he was either a man or a god; and in the Mahāparinibbāna Sutta he states that he could live for an aeon were he asked to do so.
The ancient Indians were generally unconcerned with chronologies, being more focused on philosophy. Buddhist texts reflect this tendency, providing a clearer picture of what Gautama may have taught than of the dates of the events in his life. These texts contain descriptions of the culture and daily life of ancient India which can be corroborated from the Jain scriptures, and make the Buddha's time the earliest period in Indian history for which significant accounts exist.[40][full citation needed] British author Karen Armstrong writes that although there is very little information that can be considered historically sound, we can be reasonably confident that Siddhārtha Gautama did exist as a historical figure.[41][dubious – discuss] Michael Carrithers goes a bit further by stating that the most general outline of "birth, maturity, renunciation, search, awakening and liberation, teaching, death" must be true.[42][unreliable source?]

Biography

Conception and birth


Purported birthplace of Gautama Buddha in Lumbini, Nepal,[web 3] a holy shrine also for many non-Buddhists .[note 6]
Most scholars regard Kapilavastu, present-day Nepal, to be the birthplace of the Buddha.[7][8][note 7] Other possibilities are Lumbini, present-day Nepal (as currently recognized by UNESCO); [note 8] Kapileswara, Odisha, present-day India; [note 9] and Piprahwa, Uttar Pradesh, present-day India.[note 10]
Siddharta Gautama was born as a Kshatriya,[43][note 11] the son of Śuddhodana, "an elected chief of the Shakya clan",[7] whose capital wasKapilavastu, and who were later annexed by the growing Kingdom of Kosala during the Buddha's lifetime. Gautama was the family name. His mother, Queen Maha Maya (Māyādevī) and Suddhodana's wife, was a Koliyan princess. Legend has it that, on the night Siddhartha was conceived, Queen Maya dreamt that a white elephant with six white tusks entered her right side,[web 5] and ten months later Siddhartha was born. As was the Shakya tradition, when his mother Queen Maya became pregnant, she left Kapilvastu for her father's kingdom to give birth. However, her son is said to have been born on the way, at Lumbini, in a garden beneath a sal tree.
The day of the Buddha's birth is widely celebrated in Theravada countries as Vesak.[45] Buddha's birth anniversary holiday is called "Buddha Purnima" in Nepal and India as Buddha is believed to have been born on a full moon day. Various sources hold that the Buddha's mother died at his birth, a few days or seven days later. The infant was given the name Siddhartha (Pāli: Siddhattha), meaning "he who achieves his aim". During the birth celebrations, the hermit seer Asita journeyed from his mountain abode and announced that the child would either become a great king (chakravartin) or a great holy man.[46] By traditional account,[which?] this occurred after Siddhartha placed his feet in Asita's hair and Asita examined the birthmarks. Suddhodana held a naming ceremony on the fifth day, and invited eight Brahmin scholars to read the future. All gave a dual prediction that the baby would either become a great king or a great holy man.[46] Kaundinya (Pali: Kondañña), the youngest, and later to be the first arahant other than the Buddha, was reputed to be the only one who unequivocally predicted that Siddhartha would become a Buddha.[47]
While later tradition and legend characterized Śuddhodana as a hereditary monarch, the descendant of the Solar Dynasty of Ikṣvāku (Pāli: Okkāka), many scholars think that Śuddhodana was the elected chief of a tribal confederacy.
Early texts suggest that Gautama was not familiar with the dominant religious teachings of his time until he left on his religious quest, which is said to have been motivated by existential concern for the human condition.[48] At the time, many small city-states existed in Ancient India, called Janapadas. Republics and chiefdoms with diffused political power and limited social stratification, were not uncommon amongst them, and were referred to as gana-sanghas.[49] It was not a monarchy, and seems to have been structured either as an oligarchy, or as a form of republic.[50] The more egalitarian gana-sangha form of government, as a political alternative to the strongly hierarchical kingdoms, may have influenced the development of the Shramana-type Jain and Buddhist sanghas, where monarchies tended toward Vedic Brahmanism.[51]

Early life and marriage


Departure of Prince Siddhartha
Siddhartha was brought up by his mother's younger sister, Maha Pajapati.[52] By tradition, he is said to have been destined by birth to the life of a prince, and had three palaces (for seasonal occupation) built for him. Although more recent scholarship doubts this status, his father, said to be King Śuddhodana, wishing for his son to be a great king, is said to have shielded him from religious teachings and from knowledge of humansuffering.
When he reached the age of 16, his father reputedly arranged his marriage to a cousin of the same age named Yaśodharā (Pāli: Yasodharā). According to the traditional account,[which?] she gave birth to a son, named Rāhula. Siddhartha is said to have spent 29 years as a prince inKapilavastu. Although his father ensured that Siddhartha was provided with everything he could want or need, Buddhist scriptures say that the future Buddha felt that material wealth was not life's ultimate goal.[52]

Departure and ascetic life


The "Great Departure" of Siddhartha Gautama, surrounded by a halo, he is accompanied by numerous guards,maithuna loving couples, and devatawho have come to pay homage;Gandhara, Kushan period

Prince Siddhartha shaves his hair and becomes an ascetic. Borobudur, 8th century
At the age of 29, the popular biography[which?] continues, Siddhartha left his palace to meet his subjects. Despite his father's efforts to hide from him the sick, aged and suffering, Siddhartha was said to have seen an old man. When his charioteer Channa explained to him that all people grew old, the prince went on further trips beyond the palace. On these he encountered a diseased man, a decaying corpse, and an ascetic. These depressed him, and he initially strove to overcome aging, sickness, and death by living the life of an ascetic.[53]
Accompanied by Channa and riding his horse Kanthaka, Gautama quit his palace for the life of a mendicant. It's said that, "the horse's hooves were muffled by the gods"[54] to prevent guards from knowing of his departure.
Gautama initially went to Rajagaha and began his ascetic life by begging for alms in the street. After King Bimbisara's men recognised Siddhartha and the king learned of his quest, Bimbisara offered Siddhartha the throne. Siddhartha rejected the offer, but promised to visit his kingdom of Magadha first, upon attaining enlightenment.
He left Rajagaha and practised under two hermit teachers of yogic meditation.[55][56][57] After mastering the teachings of Alara Kalama(Skr. Ārāḍa Kālāma), he was asked by Kalama to succeed him. However, Gautama felt unsatisfied by the practise, and moved on to become a student of yoga with Udaka Ramaputta (Skr. Udraka Rāmaputra).[58] With him he achieved high levels of meditative consciousness, and was again asked to succeed his teacher. But, once more, he was not satisfied, and again moved on.[59]
Siddhartha and a group of five companions led by Kaundinya are then said to have set out to take their austerities even further. They tried to find enlightenment through deprivation of worldly goods, including food, practising self-mortification. After nearly starving himself to death by restricting his food intake to around a leaf or nut per day, he collapsed in a river while bathing and almost drowned. Siddhartha began to reconsider his path. Then, he remembered a moment in childhood in which he had been watching his father start the season's plowing. He attained a concentrated and focused state that was blissful and refreshing, the jhāna.

Awakening

See also: Enlightenment in Buddhism

The Buddha surrounded by the demons of Māra. Sanskrit palm leaf manuscript. Nālandā, Bihar, India. Pāla period
According to the early Buddhist texts,[web 6] after realizing that meditative dhyana was the right path to awakening, but that extreme asceticism didn't work, Gautama discovered what Buddhists call the Middle Way[web 6]—a path of moderation away from the extremes ofself-indulgence and self-mortification, or the Noble Eightfold Path, as was identified and described by the Buddha in his first discourse, the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta.[web 6] In a famous incident, after becoming starved and weakened, he is said to have accepted milk andrice pudding from a village girl named Sujata.[web 7] Such was his emaciated appearance that she wrongly believed him to be a spirit that had granted her a wish.[web 7]
Following this incident, Gautama was famously seated under a pipal tree—now known as the Bodhi tree—in Bodh Gaya, India, when he vowed never to arise until he had found the truth.[60] Kaundinya and four other companions, believing that he had abandoned his search and become undisciplined, left. After a reputed 49 days of meditation, at the age of 35, he is said to have attained Enlightenment.[60][61]According to some traditions, this occurred in approximately the fifth lunar month, while, according to others, it was in the twelfth month. From that time, Gautama was known to his followers as the Buddha or "Awakened One" ("Buddha" is also sometimes translated as "The Enlightened One").
According to Buddhism, at the time of his awakening he realized complete insight into the cause of suffering, and the steps necessary to eliminate it. These discoveries became known as the "Four Noble Truths",[61] which are at the heart of Buddhist teaching. Through mastery of these truths, a state of supreme liberation, or Nirvana, is believed to be possible for any being. The Buddha described Nirvāna as the perfect peace of a mind that's free from ignorance, greed, hatred and other afflictive states,[61] or "defilements" (kilesas). Nirvana is also regarded as the "end of the world", in that no personal identity or boundaries of the mind remain. In such a state, a being is said to possess the Ten Characteristics, belonging to every Buddha.
According to a story in the Āyācana Sutta (Samyutta Nikaya VI.1) — a scripture found in the Pāli and other canons — immediately after his awakening, the Buddha debated whether or not he should teach the Dharma to others. He was concerned that humans were so overpowered by ignorance, greed and hatred that they could never recognise the path, which is subtle, deep and hard to grasp. However, in the story, Brahmā Sahampati convinced him, arguing that at least some will understand it. The Buddha relented, and agreed to teach.

Formation of the sangha


Dhamek Stupa in Sârnâth, India, site of the first teaching of the Buddha in which he taught the Four Noble Truths to his first five disciples
After his awakening, the Buddha met two merchants, named Tapussa and Bhallika, who became his first lay disciples. It is said that each given hairs from his head, which are now claimed to be enshrined as relics in the Shwe Dagon Temple in Rangoon, Burma. The Buddha intended to visit Asita, and his former teachers, Alara Kalama and Udaka Ramaputta, to explain his findings, but they had already died.
He then travelled to the Deer Park near Vārāṇasī (Benares) in northern India, where he set in motion what Buddhists call the Wheel of Dharma by delivering his first sermon to the five companions with whom he had sought enlightenment. Together with him, they formed the first saṅgha: the company of Buddhist monks.
All five become arahants, and within the first two months, with the conversion of Yasa and fifty four of his friends, the number of such arahants is said to have grown to 60. The conversion of three brothers named Kassapa followed, with their reputed 200, 300 and 500 disciples, respectively. This swelled the sangha to more than 1,000.

Travels and teaching


Buddha with his protectorVajrapani, Gandhāra, 2nd century CE, Ostasiatische Kunst Museum
For the remaining 45 years of his life, the Buddha is said to have traveled in the Gangetic Plain, in what is now Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and southernNepal, teaching a diverse range of people: from nobles to servants, murderers such as Angulimala, and cannibals such as Alavaka. Although the Buddha's language remains unknown, it's likely that he taught in one or more of a variety of closely related Middle Indo-Aryan dialects, of whichPali may be a standardization.
The sangha traveled through the subcontinent, expounding the dharma. This continued throughout the year, except during the four months of theVāsanā rainy season when ascetics of all religions rarely traveled. One reason was that it was more difficult to do so without causing harm to animal life. At this time of year, the sangha would retreat to monasteries, public parks or forests, where people would come to them.

Vulture's Peak, Gridhra-kuta Hill,Rajagaha (Rajgir) view, where was the"Atanatiya" conference held.
The first vassana was spent at Varanasi when the sangha was formed. After this, the Buddha kept a promise to travel to Rajagaha, capital of Magadha, to visit King Bimbisara. During this visit, Sariputta andMaudgalyayana were converted by Assaji, one of the first five disciples, after which they were to become the Buddha's two foremost followers. The Buddha spent the next three seasons at Veluvana Bamboo Grove monastery in Rajagaha, capital of Magadha.
Upon hearing of his son's awakening, Suddhodana sent, over a period, ten delegations to ask him to return to Kapilavastu. On the first nine occasions, the delegates failed to deliver the message, and instead joined the sangha to become arahants. The tenth delegation, led by Kaludayi, a childhood friend of Gautama's (who also became an arahant), however, delivered the message.
Now two years after his awakening, the Buddha agreed to return, and made a two-month journey by foot to Kapilavastu, teaching the dharma as he went. At his return, the royal palace prepared a midday meal, but the sangha was making an alms round in Kapilavastu. Hearing this, Suddhodana approached his son, the Buddha, saying:
"Ours is the warrior lineage of Mahamassata, and not a single warrior has gone seeking alms."
The Buddha is said to have replied:
"That is not the custom of your royal lineage. But it is the custom of my Buddha lineage. Several thousands of Buddhas have gone by seeking alms."
Buddhist texts say that Suddhodana invited the sangha into the palace for the meal, followed by a dharma talk. After this he is said to have become a sotapanna. During the visit, many members of the royal family joined the sangha. The Buddha's cousins Ananda and Anuruddha became two of his five chief disciples. At the age of seven, his son Rahulaalso joined, and became one of his ten chief disciples. His half-brother Nanda also joined and became an arahant.
Of the Buddha's disciples, Sariputta, Maudgalyayana, Mahakasyapa, Ananda and Anuruddha are believed to have been the five closest to him. His ten foremost disciples were reputedly completed by the quintet of Upali, Subhoti, Rahula, Mahakaccana and Punna.
In the fifth vassana, the Buddha was staying at Mahavana near Vesali when he heard news of the impending death of his father. He is said to have gone to Suddhodana and taught the dharma, after which his father became an arahant.
The king's death and cremation was to inspire the creation of an order of nuns. Buddhist texts record that the Buddha was reluctant to ordain women. His foster mother Maha Pajapati, for example, approached him, asking to join the sangha, but he refused. Maha Pajapati, however, was so intent on the path of awakening that she led a group of royal Sakyan and Koliyan ladies, which followed the sangha on a long journey to Rajagaha. In time, after Ananda championed their cause, the Buddha is said to have reconsidered and, five years after the formation of the sangha, agreed to the ordination of women as nuns. He reasoned that males and females had an equal capacity for awakening. But he gave women additional rules (Vinaya) to follow.

Assassination attempts

According to colorful legends, even during the Buddha's life the sangha was not free of dissent and discord. For example, Devadatta, a cousin of Gautama who became a monk but not an arahant, more than once tried to kill him.
Initially, Devadatta is alleged to have often tried to undermine the Buddha. In one instance, according to stories, Devadatta even asked the Buddha to stand aside and let him lead the sangha. When this failed, he is accused of having three times tried to kill his teacher. The first attempt is said to have involved him hiring a group of archers to shoot the awakened one. But, upon meeting the Buddha, they laid down their bows and instead became followers. A second attempt is said to have involved Devadatta rolling a boulder down a hill. But this hit another rock and splintered, only grazing the Buddha's foot. In the third attempt, Devadatta is said to have got an elephant drunk and set it loose. This ruse also failed.
After his lack of success at homicide, Devadatta is said to have tried to create a schism in the sangha, by proposing extra restrictions on the vinaya. When the Buddha again prevailed, Devadatta started a breakaway order. At first, he managed to convert some of the bhikkhus, but Sariputta and Maudgalyayana are said to have expounded the dharma so effectively that they were won back.

Mahaparinirvana


The Buddha's entry into Parinirvana.Sanskrit palm leaf manuscript. Nālandā,Bihar, India. Pāla period

Buddha's cremation stupa,Kushinagar (Kushinara).

The sharing of the relics of the Buddha, Zenyōmitsu-Temple Museum, Tokyo
According to the Mahaparinibbana Sutta of the Pali canon, at the age of 80, the Buddha announced that he would soon reach Parinirvana, or the final deathless state, and abandon his earthly body. After this, the Buddha ate his last meal, which he had received as an offering from a blacksmith named Cunda. Falling violently ill, Buddha instructed his attendant Ānanda to convince Cunda that the meal eaten at his place had nothing to do with his passing and that his meal would be a source of the greatest merit as it provided the last meal for a Buddha.[web 8] Dr Mettanando and Von Hinüber argue that the Buddha died of mesenteric infarction, a symptom of old age, rather than food poisoning.[62][note 12]
The precise contents of the Buddha's final meal are not clear, due to variant scriptural traditions and ambiguity over the translation of certain significant terms; the Theravada tradition generally believes that the Buddha was offered some kind of pork, while the Mahayana tradition believes that the Buddha consumed some sort of truffle or other mushroom. These may reflect the different traditional views on Buddhist vegetarianism and the precepts for monks and nuns.
Waley suggests that Theravadin's would take suukaramaddava (the contents of the Buddha's last meal), which can translate as pig-soft, to mean soft flesh of a pig. However, he also states that pig-soft could mean "pig's soft-food", that is, after Neumann, a soft food favoured by pigs, assumed to be a truffle. He argues (also after Neumann) that as Pali Buddhism was developed in an area remote to the Buddha's death, the existence of other plants with suukara- (pig) as part of their names and that "(p)lant names tend to be local and dialectical" could easily indicate that suukaramaddava was a type of plant whose local name was unknown to those in the Pali regions. Specifically, local writers knew more about their flora than Theravadin commentator Buddhaghosa who lived hundreds of years and kilometres remote in time and space from the events described. Unaware of an alternate meaning and with no Theravadin prohibition against eating animal flesh, Theravadins would not have questioned the Buddha eating meat and interpreted the term accordingly.[63]
Ananda protested the Buddha's decision to enter Parinirvana in the abandoned jungles of Kuśināra (present-day Kushinagar, India) of the Malla kingdom. The Buddha, however, is said to have reminded Ananda how Kushinara was a land once ruled by a righteous wheel-turning king that resounded with joy:
44. Kusavati, Ananda, resounded unceasingly day and night with ten sounds—the trumpeting of elephants, the neighing of horses, the rattling of chariots, the beating of drums and tabours, music and song, cheers, the clapping of hands, and cries of "Eat, drink, and be merry!"
The Buddha then asked all the attendant Bhikkhus to clarify any doubts or questions they had. They had none. According to Buddhist scriptures, he then finally entered Parinirvana. The Buddha's final words are reported to have been: "All composite things (Saṅkhāra) are perishable. Strive for your own liberation with diligence" (Pali: 'vayadhammā saṅkhārā appamādena sampādethā'). His body was cremated and the relics were placed in monuments or stupas, some of which are believed to have survived until the present. For example, The Temple of the Tooth or "Dalada Maligawa" in Sri Lanka is the place where what some believe to be the relic of the right tooth of Buddha is kept at present.

Life scenes of Buddha, sand stone: Birth, Enlightenment, Descent from Heaven, First Sermon, Passing Away, c. 2nd Century CE, Government Museum, Mathura.
According to the Pāli historical chronicles of Sri Lanka, the Dīpavaṃsa and Mahāvaṃsa, the coronation of Emperor Aśoka (Pāli: Asoka) is 218 years after the death of Buddha. According to two textual records in Chinese (十八部論 and 部執異論), the coronation of Emperor Aśoka is 116 years after the death of Buddha. Therefore, the time of Buddha's passing is either 486 BCE according to Theravāda record or 383 BCE according to Mahayana record. However, the actual date traditionally accepted as the date of the Buddha's death in Theravāda countries is 544 or 545 BCE, because the reign of Emperor Aśoka was traditionally reckoned to be about 60 years earlier than current estimates. In Burmese Buddhist tradition, the date of the Buddha's death is 13 May 544 BCE,[64] whereas in Thai tradition it is 11 March 545 BCE.[65]
At his death, the Buddha is famously believed to have told his disciples to follow no leader. Mahakasyapa was chosen by the sangha to be the chairman of the First Buddhist Council, with the two chief disciples Maudgalyayana and Sariputta having died before the Buddha.
While in Buddha's days he was addressed by the very respected titles Buddha, Shākyamuni, Shākyasimha, Bhante and Bho, he was known after his parinirvana as Arihant, Bhagavā/Bhagavat/Bhagwān, Mahāvira,[66] Jina/Jinendra, Sāstr, Sugata, and most popularly in scriptures as Tathāgata.

Relics

See also: Śarīra and Relics associated with Buddha
After his death, Buddha's cremation relics were divided amongst 8 royal families and his disciples; centuries later they would be enshrined by King Ashoka into 84,000 stupas.[67][68] Many supernatural legends surround the history of alleged relics as they accompanied the spread of Buddhism and gave legitimacy to rulers.

Physical characteristics

Main article: Physical characteristics of the Buddha

Gandhāran depiction of the Buddha from Hadda,Afghanistan; Victoria and Albert Museum, London
An extensive and colorful physical description of the Buddha has been laid down in scriptures. A kshatriya by birth, he had military training in his upbringing, and by Shakyan tradition was required to pass tests to demonstrate his worthiness as a warrior in order to marry. He had a strong enough body to be noticed by one of the kings and was asked to join his army as a general. He is also believed by Buddhists to have "the 32 Signs of the Great Man".
The Brahmin Sonadanda described him as "handsome, good-looking, and pleasing to the eye, with a most beautiful complexion. He has a godlike form and countenance, he is by no means unattractive."(D,I:115).
"It is wonderful, truly marvellous, how serene is the good Gotama's appearance, how clear and radiant his complexion, just as the golden jujube in autumn is clear and radiant, just as a palm-tree fruit just loosened from the stalk is clear and radiant, just as an adornment of red gold wrought in a crucible by a skilled goldsmith, deftly beaten and laid on a yellow-cloth shines, blazes and glitters, even so, the good Gotama's senses are calmed, his complexion is clear and radiant." (A,I:181)
A disciple named Vakkali, who later became an arahant, was so obsessed by Buddha's physical presence that the Buddha is said to have felt impelled to tell him to desist, and to have reminded him that he should know the Buddha through the Dhamma and not through physical appearances.
Although there are no extant representations of the Buddha in human form until around the 1st century CE (see Buddhist art), descriptions of the physical characteristics of fully enlightened buddhas are attributed to the Buddha in the Digha Nikaya's Lakkhaṇa Sutta (D,I:142).[69] In addition, the Buddha's physical appearance is described by Yasodhara to their son Rahula upon the Buddha's first post-Enlightenment return to his former princely palace in the non-canonical Pali devotional hymn, Narasīha Gāthā ("The Lion of Men").[web 10]
Among the 32 main characteristics it is mentioned that Buddha has blue eyes.[70]

Nine virtues

Recollection of nine virtues attributed to the Buddha is a common Buddhist devotional practice. The nine virtues are also among the 40 Buddhist meditation subjects. The nine virtues of the Buddha appear throughout the Tipitaka,[71] and include:
Buddho – Awakened
Sammasambuddho – Perfectly self-awakened
Vijja-carana-sampano – Endowed with higher knowledge and ideal conduct.
Sugato – Well-gone or Well-spoken.
Lokavidu – Wise in the knowledge of the many worlds.
Anuttaro Purisa-damma-sarathi – Unexcelled trainer of untrained people.
Satthadeva-Manussanam – Teacher of gods and humans.
Bhagavathi – The Blessed one
Araham – Worthy of homage. An Arahant is "one with taints destroyed, who has lived the holy life, done what had to be done, laid down the burden, reached the true goal, destroyed the fetters of being, and is completely liberated through final knowledge."

Teachings

Main article: Buddhist philosophy

Reclining Buddha in Jade Temple,Shanghai.

Lord Buddha at Pandavleni Caves,Nashik.
Some scholars believe that some portions of the Pali Canon and the Āgamas contain the actual substance of the historical teachings (and possibly even the words) of the Buddha.[note 13][note 14]Some scholars believe the Pali Canon and the Agamas pre-date the Mahāyāna sūtras.[note 15] The scriptural works of Early Buddhism precede the Mahayana works chronologically, and are treated by many Western scholars as the main credible source for information regarding the actual historical teachings of Gautama Buddha. However, some scholars do not think that the texts report on historical events.[72][dubious – discuss][73][74]
Hajime Nakamura writes that there is nothing in the traditional Buddhist texts that can be clearly attributed to Gautama as a historical figure:[75]
[I]n the Buddhist texts there is no word that can be traced with unquestionable authority to Gautama Śākyamuni as a historical personage, although there must be some sayings or phrases derived from him.
Some of the fundamentals of the teachings attributed to Gautama Buddha are:
  • The Four Noble Truths: that suffering is an ingrained part of existence; that the origin of suffering is craving for sensuality, acquisition of identity, and annihilation; that suffering can be ended; and that following the Noble Eightfold Path is the means to accomplish this;
  • The Noble Eightfold Path: right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration;
  • Dependent origination: the mind creates suffering as a natural product of a complex process;
  • Rejection of the infallibility of accepted scripture: Teachings should not be accepted unless they are borne out by our experience and are praised by the wise. See the Kalama Sutta for details;
  • Anicca (Sanskrit: anitya): That all things that come to be have an end;
  • Dukkha (Sanskrit: duḥkha): That nothing which comes to be is ultimately satisfying;
  • Anattā (Sanskrit: anātman): That nothing in the realm of experience can really be said to be "I" or "mine";
  • Nibbāna (Sanskrit: Nirvāna): It is possible for sentient beings to realize a dimension of awareness which is totally unconstructed and peaceful, and end all suffering due to the mind's interaction with the conditioned world.
However, in some Mahayana schools, these points have come to be regarded as more or less subsidiary. There is disagreement amongst various schools of Buddhism over more complex aspects of what the Buddha is believed to have taught, and also over some of the disciplinary rules for monks.
According to tradition, the Buddha emphasized ethics and correct understanding. He questioned everyday notions of divinity and salvation. He stated that there is no intermediary between mankind and the divine; distant gods are subjected to karma themselves in decaying heavens; and the Buddha is only a guide and teacher for beings who must tread the path of Nirvāṇa (Pāli: Nibbāna) themselves to attain the spiritual awakening called bodhi and understand reality. The Buddhist system of insight and meditation practice is not claimed to have been divinely revealed, but to spring from an understanding of the true nature of the mind, which must be discovered by treading the path guided by the Buddha's teachings.

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