More than 2500 years ago, there lived a kshtriya king named Suddhodana who ruled over the little kingdom of Kapilavastu on the India-Nepal border/ He had a son named Siddhartha who latter came to be known as the Buddha and is negligible as one of the greatest luminaries of the world.
Siddhartha was born in Lumbini, situated near the border between India and Nepal in 563 BC. Gautama was his family name. His mother, Mahatmaya passed away when he was only seven days old. The child was brought to kapilvastu and was nurtured by Maharaja Prajapati Gautami who was Mahamaya’s sister and Suddhodana’s second wife. His father bestowed all his loving attention and care on the child.
It was said that Asia, an old seer went to the royal palace to see the new born prince. Looking at the baby, he predicted that the child was destined to be a Mahatma or a great man. Saying so, he laughed but a moment later tears trickled down his face. Those present were surprised at this and asked him why he had both laughed and wept at the same time. He explained:
“I laughed because I was delighted at the thought that the child would renounce the world, find a new religion and be the savior of mankind. I shed tears because I would not long enough to see the future greatness of the child.”
Suddhodana was not very happy about the prophecy because he wanted his child to succeed him as the king of kapilvastu.
The child, Gautama was very sweet and charming as well as extremely intelligent. He lived in a big palace in the midst of beautiful gardens.
Everything he wished, got at that very instant. As he grew up, he was taught reading, writing, music, riding, swimming and haunting. He knew well how to use the sword and pull the bow. He trained himself in everything a prince ought to know.
Deep inside his heart, however Gautama longed for solitude. He was a dreamer by temperament. Often he left his associates in the midst of sports and wandered away to seclusion, absorbed in deep thought. Once his companions found him missing for pretty long. They searched for him until at last they found him sitting in meditation under a rose-apple tree. Gautama had a kind and tender heart and could not bear the pain and suffering of others .When out haunting, his heart suffered in sympathy for the innocent birds and animals and he would not kill them. Once he founded the wounded swan in a corner of his garden and was overwhelmed by its agony. All this was noticed by his father and that made him very sad. He tried to keep Gautam away from the unhappiness and miseries of life.
Gautama grew up into a handsome youth and was married to Yashodhara, a beautiful princess whom he dearly loved. Together they lived bless fully. He was given three palaces for the three season’s viz. winter, summer and monsoon. There was dancing, music, games and haunting to entertain him. He had all the pleasure and luxuries that a royal life could offer. In time, he was blessed with a son who was christened Rahula.
All this, however, did not make him really happy. He longed for else. The prince once expressed a desire to see the city and to know how the people lived. As he rode to his chariot, he saw a tottering old man with his back bent and his hair turned all grey. The wretched condition of the man set him thinking. He thought that his own plight in the old age would not be very different. He became pensive and sad at the thought that living beings were doomed to sufferings from old age. Further when moved on, he came across a man suffering from a terrible disease. He realized that a man might suffer from a disease anytime in his life. Sometime later, he saw a dead body being taken to the cremation ground, followed by wailing mourners. He felt that all men must die one day. He now began to brood over the spectacle of old age, sickness and death which made him increasingly distressed. He came to the conclusion that human life was full of pain, suffering, sorrow and misery; no one can escape from them.
One day Gautama happened to meet a wondering ascetic. He asked him why he had taken to that life. The ascetic replied that he will renounce the world, because he wanted to free himself from the miseries of life. Gautama then found that some people were trying to find a way out to human misery. This created an intense urge in him to find out why there is suffering on the world and man could free himself from it. In the prime of his youth, he made up his mind to give up all the comforts and pleasure of princely life and adopt the life of a mendicant in quest of truth. He was only twenty nine at that time.
At the midnight, when everyone in the palace were in deep slumber, he rose from his couch and called his charioteer to fit out his favorite horse, Kanthaka. He had a last, lingering glimpse of his beloved wife and his son Rahula. He softly walked out, mounted his horse and rode away. This was the great renunciation.
He rode towards a forest all night long and the next morning he reached a place far, far away from his father’s kingdom. He dismounted from his horse, cast off his princely attire, cut off his hair, wore a yellow robe and marched alone in search of the secret of happiness. He began the life of a wandering ascetic. He met some of the most famous religious teachers of the time and learnt something from them, but he was still not satisfied. He walked on and on and reached the forest of Uruvela near Gaya, Bihar. Here he practiced rigorous penance for six years. He observed serve fasts and inflicted severe pain on his body. In the process, he was reduced to a skeleton. He, however, didn’t gain the truth he was seeking. He found that self torture was not the right way. He took food again and now began to meditate deeply under a Pipal tree. At last one day he suddenly attained supreme knowledge. Thereafter, he came to be known as the Buddha or the enlightened one.
The Buddha, who was then 35 years old, was eager to share the light of knowledge with humanity. He proceeded to Sarnath near Varanasi and began to preech his new faith called Buddhism.
The Buddha taught the Nobel truths. They were-
Life is full of sufferings. The cause of these sufferings is that man is selfish and has desires. Sufferings ceases when the desire ceases. Desire can be eliminated by right faith, right resolve, right speech, right conduct, right living, right effort, right remembrance and right meditation.
The Buddha concluded from his own experience that one should neither indulge too much in the pleasure of life nor torture oneself. These were extremes and did not bring happiness and should, therefore be avoided. There was a middle path which led to knowledge and happiness. The Buddha said, one should learn self control, if someone is angry, one should not be angry in return but be kind instead, one should not have any hatred or malice towards others, one should show compassion, love and kindness to all living beings, one should not lie, steal, kill, one should have a good heart and mind which will manifest itself in good thoughts, good words and good deeds, and one should lead a simple and pure life. That is the way to achieve happiness.
He went from place to place teaching the people the way to happiness. Disciplines began to gather round him and thousands of people became his followers. His father, wife and son also embraced Buddhism.
Buddha’s Teachings
1. All the miseries of mankind were due to selfish desire.
2. The desire can be killed by right faith, hope, speech, conduct, living, effort, mindfulness, meditation. This path would lead to the highest bliss that is nirvana.
3. Like Mahavira, Buddha condemned the bloody sacrifices and rejected the authority of the Vedas.
4. He refused to speak about God.
5. He laid down a moral code for his disciplines. Its commandments were
a. Not to take life
b. Not to steal
c. Not to hanker after wealth
d. Not to tell lies
e. Not to commit impure acts
f. Not to covet other’s property
g. Not to drink intoxication liquors.
Spreading of Buddha’s Teachings
Buddha’s teachings were spread in India and abroad by king like Ashoka, Kanishka and Harsha. In Kanishka’s time two types of Buddhism appeared. The Hinayana was an older form of Buddhism. Its followers believed in simple teachings of Buddhism and considered Buddha as a pious man.
Mahayana, a later form was influenced by Greek and Roman ideas. Its followers worshipped Buddha as God in the form of image and with rituals. Mahayana Buddhism spread to Tibet, China, Japan, Burma and other countries. However, in India, Buddhism was gradually replaced by Hinduism.
Conclusion
Extremely gentle, full of human sympathy and kindness, universal love and compassion, the Buddha preached his lessons to the rich and the poor. He said, “A person is not an upper caste or lower caste by birth. All castes and religions are united just as the rivers unite to the ocean after completing a long journey. The Apostle took his gospel to the doors of the people and taught them in their own language and in a manner that was at once simple and touching. For 55 years, the Master preached sermons on universal love, morality and purity, leading people to the path or righteousness.
The Buddha died at Kusinara (modern Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh) about 190 km(120 miles) from Varanasi at the age of 80.
The Buddha called Kashmir “the land of blue forest”. He is said to have predicted that a disciple of Ananda, his constant companion, would propagate his religion in Kahmir. Later Kashmir became a great centre of Buddhism. Several Buddhisht Scholars lived and studied there. The third Buddhist council held in Kashmir went beyond the borders of India, especially China, to spread the sacred message of the Buddha.
Most of the people in Ladakh, one of the provinces of Jammu and Kashmir State are Buddhists. There are a number of Buddhist monasteries and priests. Millions of people around the world follow Buddhism even today and draw inspiration from his life and work.
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