By: Barnali Bose, Editor-ICN
The birth of Prince Siddhartha :
On April 8, Buddhists in Japan (that adopted the Gregorian calendar in the 19th century) celebrated the the birth anniversary of Gautama Buddha, believed to have lived in India from 563 B.C. to 483 B.C. Originally historians had assigned his birth to the 11th century B.C.
However,modern scholars have stated that he belonged to the 6th century. In India, Buddha’s birth is celebrated on the full moon of Vaishaka and varies from year to year. Despite the dichotomy that exists regarding his birth century and date,scholars and historians have not disputed the fact that Gautama Buddha was a great religious and social reformer.
Facts about his early childhood and youth :
The Tripitakas,written in Pali which is recognized by scholars as the earliest existing record of the Buddha’s life and discourses provides substantial evidence of the same. Prince Siddhartha,as he was known in the beginning was the son of the king of the Sakyas. The kingdom of the Sakyas was situated on the borders of present-day Nepal and India. Siddhartha’s family belonged to the Gautama clan. His mother, Queen Mahamaya, gave birth to him in the park of Lumbini, now in southern Nepal.
Astrologers predicted that the prince would either become a mighty monarch or a Buddha–an enlightened preacher. His father, King Suddhodana, kept him within the confines of the palace to prevent him from witnessing the harsh realities of the outside world that might influence him and herald him toward religious life. Siddhartha was married to Yashodhara princess and fathered a son named Rahula.
His confrontation with the realities of life:
At the age of 29, he decided to tread beyond the palace grounds in his chariot and he saw an old man, a sick man, and a corpse,thus confronting the universal,harsh realities of aging, sickness, and death. Finally, Siddhartha saw a monk, and impressed with his calm disposition,he decided to go out to discover how one could be so serene in the midst of such suffering.
The Prince leaves home:
Siddhartha secretly left the palace to become a wandering ascetic. He travelled south, where the centres of learning were, and studied meditation under the teachers Alara Kalama and Udraka Ramaputra. He soon mastered their teachings and attained high states of mystical realization.
The Buddha is born:
His restlessness persisted and he continued moving from one place to another in search of nirvana, the highest level of enlightenment. For nearly six years, he undertook rigorous fasting and other austerities, but he was disillusioned and abandoned these practices . Finally,he seated himself under a pipal tree at what is now Bodh Gaya in west-central India and promised to himself not to rise until he had attained the supreme enlightenment. Legend says that at this time, an evil spirit,Mara tried to entice him with worldly temptations but failed to do so. It was then that Siddhartha attained enlightenment, becoming a Buddha at the age of 35. He was also called Shakyamuni. His wife too later became a Buddhist nun.
Buddha gives his first sermon:
It was at the Deer Park near Benares that Buddha gave his first sermon.He outlined the basic tenets of his beliefs. According to him, there are “four noble truths”. They are:-
- Life is full of suffering.
- This suffering is the result of human desires.
- Suffering can be put to an end by attaining Nirvana
- Nirvana can be achieved by following the eightfold path of right views, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.
His preachings spread far and wide:
The Buddhist monks spread his teachings during his lifetime and continued doing so even after his death at the age of 80. Although Buddhism was born in India, his preachings spread to Central and Southeast Asia, China, Korea, Japan, and, in the 20th century, to the West. Today, there are about 350 million people in 100 nations who abide by Buddhist beliefs and practices.
Why Buddhism became popular:
The Later-Vedic Hindu society was under the dominance of the Brahmins who believed in suppression of the so-called lower castes.Buddha’s religion did not believe in caste system or in elaborate rituals that were beyond the financial capacity of commoners to perform.
He preached in the local spoken language of Magadhi Prakrit unlike Hindu preachers whose Sanskrit sermons were difficult for the common people to comprehend. Not only that,unlike Jainism, which also thrived at about the same time in Magadha, Buddhism was simpler to understand and easier to follow.
Besides, Buddhism gained the patronage of the great king Ashoka.The Horrific aftermath of the Kalinga War transformed King Ashoka and his vision changed from Digvijay to Dharmvijay and he actively contributed to the spread of Buddhism by sending missionaries to neighbouring countries.
Buddha’s philosophy gives man the ultimate power :
Man is plagued by unending desires and quite often does not hesitate to step beyond moral restraints for mere gratification of his wants. In the process, he maps his own path of lifelong suffering.
Let us stop for a moment and try to analyse the simple Truth that Buddha realised and preached. Can Salvation be achieved by visiting endless places of pilgrimage? Can Contentment come from fulfilment of desires? As Buddha said, it cannot.
In his deathbed, when asked to summarise his preachings, the Buddha simply said, “ Do your best,be detached and be a lamp unto yourself.”
