ANNIHILATION OF CASTE PART 2

EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION

by Frances W. Pritchett, Columbia University

The source of the text for this electronic version was: Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar: Writings and Speeches, Vol. 11 (Bombay: Education Department, Government of Maharashtra, 1992). Our site also makes available, from the same series, Vol. 11 Supplement: Pali and Other Sources of The Buddha & His Dhamma with an Index, by Vasant Moon. The original publication was by Siddharth College Publications, Bombay, in 1957.

This electronic version has retained every word of the source text. Only the most obvious typos have been corrected. Punctuation, however, has not only been corrected where it was faulty, but has also sometimes been rearranged for greater ease of reading. Every word added by the editor is contained within square brackets. Only a small amount of standardization of spelling for a few key terms has been imposed: for example, where Dr. Ambedkar sometimes has “Gautama” and sometimes “Gotama” for the name of the Buddha, the former has been used throughout.

This very light editing means that many obvious errors of all kinds remain: for example, “It is he at whom the people are gazing at.” [I,2,2,3]. Sometimes “you” and “thou” forms have been used in the same sentence. Sometimes the grammar shifts midway in a sentence, so that it doesn’t work properly. These and many other small problems have not been fixed. Apart from one or two words, spelling of Pali terms has not been normalized, though it changes considerably from one part of the book to another. Word choice also changes: “bhikkhus,” “monks,” and “alms-men” all occur, as Dr. Ambedkar incorporates the language of different translations of different texts.

The reader should remember that Dr. Ambedkar compiled this book in haste, during the last years of his life, when he was chronically ill and also very busy. It was published posthumously.

This has been a fascinating text to work with. In places, it is eloquent and tremendously moving. If it is uneven, that is hardly surprising. It remains a testament to its author’s love not only for the figure of the Buddha, but for social justice, humane values, and a clear-eyed honesty in looking at life.

Image sources:

The Great Stupa at Sarnath has been adopted as the image source for this ebook. Here is where the particular images come from:

Cover image:

Source: http://members4.clubphoto.com/candy2…/Sarnath__India_2000/

(downloaded June 2001) Photographer: Candy Lai

“unpublished preface” image:

Source: http://www.harappa.com/hawkshaw/44.html

“introduction” image:

Source: http://www.antiqueprints.com/Prints/india_prints.html

Seller’s description: “‘Sarnat, a Boodh Monument near Benares,’ engraved by W.Taylor after a picture by W.Purser, published in The Indian Empire, London, about 1858.”

all other images are from the wonderful Berger Foundation collection:

UNPUBLISHED

PREFACE

April 6, 1956

[Text provided by Eleanor Zelliot, as prepared by Vasant Moon]

A question is always asked to me: how I happen[ed] to take such [a] high degree of education. Another question is being asked: why I am inclined towards Buddhism. These questions are asked because I was born in a community known in India as the “Untouchables.” This preface is not the place for answering the first question. But this preface may be the place for answering the second question.

The direct answer to this question is that I regard the Buddha’s Dhamma to be the best. No religion can be compared to it. If a modern man who knws science must have a religion, the only religion he can have is the Religion of the Buddha. This conviction has grown in me after thirty-five years of close study of all religions.

How I was led to study Buddhism is another story. It may be interesting for the reader to know. This is how it happened.

My father was a military officer, but at the same time a very religious person. He brought me up under a strict discipline. From my early age I found certain contradictions in my father’s religious way of life. He was a Kabirpanthi, though his father was Ramanandi. As such, he did not believe in Murti Puja (Idol Worship), and yet he performed Ganapati Puja–of course for our sake, but I did not like it. He read the books of his Panth. At the same time, he compelled me and my elder brother to read every day before going to bed a portion of [the] Mahabharata and Ramayana to my sisters and other persons who assembled at my father’s house to hear the Katha. This went on for a long number of years.

The year I passed the English Fourth Standard Examination, my community people wanted to celebrate the occasion by holding a public meeting to congratulate me. Compared to the state of education in other communities, this was hardly an occasion for celebration. But it was felt by the organisers that I was the first boy in my community to reach this stage; they thought that I had reached a great height. They went to my father to ask for his permission. My father flatly refused, saying that such a thing would inflate the boy’s head; after all, he has only passed an examination and done nothing more. Those who wanted to celebrate the event were greatly disappointed. They, however, did not give way. They went to Dada Keluskar, a personal friend of my father, and asked him to intervene. He agreed. After a little argumentation, my father yielded, and the meeting was held. Dada Keluskar presided. He was a literary person of his time. At the end of his address he gave me as a gift a copy of his book on the life of the Buddha, which he had written for the Baroda Sayajirao Oriental Series. I read the book with great interest, and was greatly impressed and moved by it.

I began to ask why my father did not introduce us to the Buddhist literature. After this, I was determined to ask my father this question. One day I did. I asked my father why he insisted upon our reading the Mahabharata and Ramayana, which recounted the greatness of the Brahmins and the Kshatriyas and repeated the stories of the degradation of the Shudras and the Untouchables. My father did not like the question. He merely said, “You must not ask such silly questions. You are only boys; you must do as you are told.” My father was a Roman Patriarch, and exercised most extensive Patria Pretestas over his children. I alone could take a little liberty with him, and that was because my mother had died in my childhood, leaving me to the care of my auntie.

So after some time, I asked again the same question. This time my father had evidently prepared himself for a reply. He said, “The reason why I ask you to read the Mahabharata and Ramayana is this: we belong to the Untouchables, and you are likely to develop an inferiority complex, which is natural. The value of [the] Mahabharata and Ramayana lies in removing this inferiority complex. See Drona and Karna–they were small men, but to what heights they rose! Look at Valmiki–he was a Koli, but he became the author of [the] Ramayana. It is for removing this inferiority complex that I ask you to read the Mahabharata and Ramayana.”

I could see that there was some force in my father’s argument. But I was not satisfied. I told my father that I did not like any of the figures in [the] Mahabharata. I said, “I do not like Bhishma and Drona, nor Krishna. Bhishma and Drona were hypocrites. They said one thing and did quite the opposite. Krishna believed in fraud. His life is nothing but a series of frauds. Equal dislike I have for Rama. Examine his conduct in the Sarupnakha [=Shurpanakha] episode [and] in the Vali Sugriva episode, and his beastly behaviour towards Sita.” My father was silent, and made no reply. He knew that there was a revolt.

This is how I turned to the Buddha, with the help of the book given to me by Dada Keluskar. It was not with an empty mind that I went to the Buddha at that early age. I had a background, and in reading the Buddhist Lore I could always compare and contrast. This is the origin of my interest in the Buddha and His Dhamma.

The urge to write this book has a different origin. In 1951 the Editor of the Mahabodhi Society’s Journal of Calcutta asked me to write an article for the Vaishak Number. In that article I argued that the Buddha’s Religion was the only religion which a society awakened by science could accept, and without which it would perish. I also pointed out that for the modern world Buddhism was the only religion which it must have to save itself. That Buddhism makes [a] slow advance is due to the fact that its literature is so vast that no one can read the whole of it. That it has no such thing as a bible, as the Christians have, is its greatest handicap. On the publication of this article, I received many calls, written and oral, to write such a book. It is in response to these calls that I have undertaken the task.

To disarm all criticism I would like to make it clear that I claim no originality for the book. It is a compilation and assembly plant. The material has been gathered from various books. I would particularly like to mention Ashvaghosha’s Buddhavita [=Buddhacharita], whose poetry no one can excel. In the narrative of certain events I have even borrowed his language.

The only originality that I can claim in [=is] the order of presentation of the topics, in which I have tried to introduce simplicity and clarity. There are certain matters which give headache[s] to the student of Buddhism. I have dealt with them in the Introduction.

It remains for me to express my gratitude to those who have been helpful to me. I am very grateful to Mr. Nanak Chand Rattua of Village Sakrulli and Mr. Parkash Chand of Village Nangal Khurd in the district of Hoshiarpur (Punjab) for the burden they have taken upon themselves to type out the manuscript. They have done it several times. Shri Nanak Chand Rattu took special pains and put in very hard labour in accomplishing this great task. He did the whole work of typing etc. very willingly and without caring for his health and [=or] any sort of remuneration. Both Mr. Nanak Chand Rattu and Mr. Parkash Chand did their job as a token of their greatest love and affection towards me. Their labours can hardly be repaid. I am very much grateful to them.

When I took up the task of composing the book I was ill, and [I] am still ill. During these five years there were many ups and downs in my health. At some stages my condition had become so critical that doctors talked of me as a dying flame. The successful rekindling of this dying flame is due to the medical skill of my wife and Dr. Malvankar. They alone have helped me to complete the work. I am also thankful to Mr. M. B. Chitnis, who took [a] special interest in correcting [the] proof and to go [=in going] through the whole book.

I may mention that this is one of the three books which will form a set for the proper understanding of Buddhism. The other books are: (i) Buddha and Karl Marx; and (ii) Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Ancient India. They are written out in parts. I hope to publish them soon.

B. R. Ambedkar

26 Alipur Road, Delhi

6-4-56

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 ONE: SIDDHARTH GAUTAMA — HOW A BODHISATTA BECAME THE BUDDHA

BOOK ONE: SIDDHARTH GAUTAMA — HOW A BODHISATTA BECAME THE BUDDHA

Book One, 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[s] 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 Kapilvastu, 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.

§ 2. His Ancestry

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 Sulakshana. 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.

§ 3. His Birth

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 [the] 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, Suddhodana related to them the dream Mahamaya had [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[to] 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 [=had been] married for a long time. But they had no issue. Ultimately [=finally] 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 [he] was in the enjoyment of the title of Raja. Naturally the boy was called Prince.

§ 4. Visit by Asita

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, O 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, O 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, O Sage! With what purpose has thou come hither? What is the cause?”

10. Thereupon Asita said to Suddhodana, “A son is born to thee, O Raja! Desiring to see him, have I come.”

11. Suddhodana said, “The boy is asleep, O Sage! Will you wait for a while? ” The sage said, “Not long, O 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 [and] Brahma, and his aura surpassing them a hundred thousand-fold [he] 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, O 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.

§ 5. Death of Mahamaya

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.

§ 6. Childhood and Education

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.

§ 7. Early Traits

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. He said to his friends, can it be right that one man should exploit another? How can it be right that the labourer should toil, and the master should live on the fruits of his labour?

8. His friends did not know what to say. For they believed in the old philosophy of life that the worker was born to serve, and that in serving his master he was only fulfilling his destiny.

9. The Sakyas used to celebrate a festival called Vapramangal. It was a rustic festival performed on the day of sowing. On this day, custom had made it obligatory on every Sakya to do ploughing personally.

10. Siddharth always observed the custom, and did engage himself in ploughing.

11. Though a man of learning, he did not despise manual labour.

12. He belonged to a warrior class, and had been taught archery and the use of weapons. But he did not like causing unnecessary injury.

13. He refused to join hunting parties. His friends used to say, “Are you afraid of tigers?” He used to retort by saying, “I know you are not going to kill tigers, you are going to kill harmless animals such as deer and rabbits.”

14. “If not for hunting, come to witness how accurate is the aim of your friends,” they said. Even such invitations Siddharth refused, saying, “I do not like to see the killing of innocent animals.”

15. Prajapati Gautami was deeply worried over this attitude of Siddharth.

16. She used to argue with him, saying, “You have forgotten that you are a Kshatriya and fighting is your duty. The art of fighting can be learned only through hunting, for only by hunting can you learn how to aim accurately. Hunting is a training ground for the warrior class.”

17. Siddharth often used to ask Gautami, “But, mother, why should a Kshatriya fight? And Gautami used to reply, “Because it is his duty.”

18. Siddharth was never satisfied by her answer. He used to ask Gautami, “Tell me, how can it be the duty of man to kill man?” Gautami argued, “Such an attitude is good for an ascetic. But Kshatriyas must fight. If they don’t, who will protect the kingdom?”

19. “But mother! If all Kshatriyas loved one another, would they not be able to protect their kingdom without resort to killing?” Gautami had to leave him to his own opinion.

20. He tried to induce his companions to join him in practising meditation. He taught them the proper pose. He taught them to fix their mind on a subject. He advised them to select such thoughts as “May I be happy, may my relations be happy, may all living animals be happy.”

21. But his friends did not take the matter seriously. They laughed at him.

22. On closing their eyes, they could not concentrate on their subject of meditation. Instead, some saw before their eyes deer for shooting or sweets for eating.

23. His father and his mother did not like his partiality for meditation. They thought it was so contrary to the life of a Kshatriya.

24. Siddharth believed that meditation on right subjects led to development of the spirit of universal love. He justified himself by saying, “When we think of living things, we begin with distinction and discrimination. We separate friends from enemies, we separate animals we rear from human beings. We love friends and domesticated animals and we hate enemies and wild animals.”

25. “This dividing line we must overcome. and this we can do when we in our contemplation rise above the limitations of practical life.” Such was his reasoning.

26. His childhood was marked by the presence of [a] supreme sense of compassion.

27. Once he went to his father’s farm. During recess he was resting under a tree. enjoying the peace and beauty of nature. While [he was] so seated, a bird fell from the sky just in front of him.

28. The bird had been shot at by an arrow which had pierced its body, and was fluttering about in great agony.

29. Siddharth rushed to the help of the bird. He removed the arrow, dressed its wound, and gave it water to drink. He picked up the bird, came to the place where he was [=had been] seated, and wrapped up the bird in his upper garment and held it next to his chest to give it warmth.

30. Siddharth was wondering who could have shot this innocent bird. Before long there came his cousin Devadatta, armed with all the implements of shooting. He told Siddharth that he had shot a bird flying in the sky, the bird was wounded but it flew some distance and fell somewhere there, and asked him if he had seen it.

31. Siddharth replied in the affirmative and showed him the bird, which had by that time [had] completely recovered.

32. Devadatta demanded that the bird be handed over to him. This Siddharth refused to do. A sharp argument ensued between the two.

33. Devadatta argued that he was the owner of the bird, because by the rules of the game, he who kills a game becomes the owner of the game.

34. Siddharth denied the validity of the rule. He argued that it is only he who protects that has the right to claim ownership. How can he who wants to kill be the owner?

35. Neither party would yield. The matter was referred to arbitration. The arbitrator upheld the point of view of Siddharth Gautama.

36. Devadatta became his permanent enemy. But Gautama’s spirit of compassion was so great that he preferred to save [=saving] the life of an innocent bird to securing the goodwill of his cousin.

37. Such were the traits of character found in the early life of Siddharth Gautama.

§ 8. Marriage

1. There was a Sakya by name Dandapani. Yeshodhara was his daughter. She was well known for her beauty and for her ’sila’.

2. Yeshodhara had reached her sixteenth year, and Dandapani was thinking about her marriage.

3. According to custom Dandapani sent invitations to young men of all the neighbouring countries, for the Swayamvar of his daughter.

4. An invitation was also sent to Siddharth Gautama.

5. Siddharth Gautama had completed his sixteenth year. His parents also were equally anxious to get him married.

6. They asked him to go to the Swayamvar and offer his hand to Yeshodhara. He agreed to follow his parents’ wishes.

7. From amongst the young men Yeshodhara’s choice fell on Siddharth Gautama.

8. Dandapani was not very happy. He felt doubtful about the success of the marriage.

9. Siddharth, he felt, was addicted to the company of saints and sages. He preferred loneliness. How could he be a successful householder?

10. Yeshodhara, who was determined to marry none but Siddharth, asked her father whether to be in the company of saints and sages was a crime. She did not think it was.

11. Knowing her daughter’s determination to marry no one but Siddharth Gautama, the mother of Yeshodhara told Dandapani that he must consent. Dandapani did.

12. The rivals of Gautama were not only disappointed, but felt that they were insulted.

13. They wanted that in fairness to them, Yeshodhara should have applied some test for her selection. But she did not.

14. For the time being they kept quiet, believing that Dandapani would not allow Yeshodhara to choose Siddharth Gautama, so that their purpose would be served.

15. But when Dandapani failed, they made bold and demanded [=to demand] that a test of skill in archery be prescribed. Dandapani had to agree.

16. At first Siddharth was not prepared for this. But Channa, his charioteer, pointed out to him what disgrace his refusal would bring upon his father, upon his family, and upon Yeshodhara.

17. Siddharth Gautama was greatly impressed by this argument, and agreed to take part in the contest.

18. The contest began. Each candidate showed his skill in turn.

19. Gautama’s turn came last. But his was the highest marksmanship.

20. Thereafter the marriage took place. Both Suddhodana and Dandapani were happy. So was [=were] Yeshodhara and Mahaprajapati.

21. After a long term of married life Yeshodhara gave birth to a son. He was named Rahula.

§ 9. Father’s Plans to Save His Son

1. While the king was happy to see his son married, and thus enter[ing] the life of a householder, the prophecy of the sage Asita continued to haunt him.

2. To prevent the prophecy from coming true, he thought of getting him engrossed in the pleasures and carnal joys of life.

3. With this object in view, Suddhodana built three luxurious palaces for his son to live in, one for summer, one for the rainy season, and one for winter, furnished with all the requirements and excitements for a full amorous life.

4. Each palace was surrounded by an extensive garden beautifully laid out with all kinds of trees and flowers.

5. In consultation with his family priest Udayin, he thought of providing a harem for the prince with very beautiful inmates.

6. Suddhodana then told Udayin to advise the girls how to go about the business of winning over the prince to the pleasures of life.

7. Having collected the inmates of the harem, Udayin first advised them how they should win over the prince.

8. Addressing them he said, “Ye are all skilled in all the graceful arts, ye are proficient in understanding the language of amorous sentiments, ye are possessed of beauty and gracefulness, ye are thorough masters in your own styles.

9. “With these graces of yours, ye are able to move even sages who have lost all their desires, and to ensnare even the gods, who are charmed by heavenly nymphs.

10. “By your skill in expressing the heart’s feelings, by your coquetry, your grace, and your perfect beauty, ye are able to enrapture even women–how much more easily, men.

11. “Thus, skilled as ye are, each set in your own proper sphere, it should not be beyond your reach to captivate and capture the prince and hold him in your bondage.

12. “Any timid action on your part would be fit for new brides whose eyes are closed through shame.

13. “What though this hero be great by his exalted glory, yet ‘great is the might of woman’. Let this be your firm resolve.

14. “In olden time a great seer, hard to be conquered even by gods, was spurned by a harlot, the beauty of Kasi, planting her feet upon him.

15. “And the great seer Visvamitra, though plunged in a profound penance, was carried captive for ten years in the forests by the nymph Ghritaki.

16. “Many such seers as these have women brought to naught–how much more, then, a delicate prince in the first flower of his age?

17. “This being so, boldly put forth your efforts, that the posterity of the king’s family may not be turned away from him.

18. “Ordinary women captivate simple men; but they are truly women, who subdue the nature of high and hard.”

§ 10. The Failure of the Women to Win the Prince

1. Having heard these words of Udayin, the women, stung to the heart, rose even above themselves for the conquest of the prince.

2. But even with their brows, their glances, their coquetries, their smiles, their delicate movements, the girls of the harem did not feel sure of themselves.

3. But they soon regained their confidence through the command of the family priest and the gentle temperament of the prince, and through the power of intoxication and of love.

4. The women then set upon their task and made the prince wander in the woods like an elephant in the forests of Himavat, accompanied by a herd of females.

5. Attended by women, he shone in that pleasant grove, as the sun surrounded by Apsaras in his royal garden.

6. There, some of them, urged by passion, pressed him with their full, firm bosoms in gentle collisions.

7. Others violently embraced him after pretending to stumble, then leaning on him with their shoulders drooping down, and with their gentle creeper-like arms.

8. Others with their mouths smelling of spirituous liquor, their lower lips red like copper, whispered in bis ear, “Let my secret be heard.”

9. Others, all wet with unguents, as if giving him a command, clasped his hand eagerly and said, “Perform thy rites of. adoration here.”

10. Another, with her blue garments continually slipping down in pretended intoxication, stood conspicuous with her tongue visible, like the night with its lightning lashing.

11. Others, with their golden ones tinkling, wandered about here and there, showing him their bodies veiled with thin cloth.

12. Others leaned, holding a mango bough in hand, displaying their bosoms like golden jars.

13. Some, coming from a lotus bed, carrying lotuses and with eyes like lotuses, stood like the lotus goddess Padma, by the side of that lotus-faced prince.

14. Another sang a sweet song easily understood, and with the proper gesticulations, rousing him, self-subdued though he was, by her glance, as saying, “O how thou art deluded!”

15. Another, having armed herself with her bright face, with its brow drawn to its full, imitated his action, as playing the hero.

16. Another, with beautiful, full bosoms, and having her earrings waving in the wind, laughed loudly at him, as if saying, “Catch me, sir, if you can!”

17. Some, as he was going away, bound him with strings of garlands; others punished him with words like an elephant-driver’s hook, gentle yet reproachful.

18. Another, wishing to argue with him, seizing a mango spray, asked, all bewildered with passion, “‘This flower, whose is it?”

19. Another, assuming a gait and attitude like that of a man, said to him, “You who are conquered. by a woman, go and conquer this earth!”

20. Then another, with rolling eyes, smelling a blue lotus, thus addressed the prince with words slightly indistinct in her excitement:

21. “See, my lord, this mango covered with its honey-scented flowers, where the bird kokila sings, as if imprisoned in a golden cage.

22. “Come and see this Asoka tree, which augments lovers’ sorrows, where the bees make a noise as if they were scorched by fire.

23. “Come and see this Tilaka tree, embraced by a slender mango branch, like a man in a white garment by a woman decked with yellow ungents.

24. “Behold the kurubaka in flower, bright like fresh resin-juice, which bends down as if it felt reproached by the colour of women’s nails.

25. “Come and see this young Asoka, covered all over with new shoots, which stands as if it were ashamed at the beauty of our hands.

26. “See this lake surrounded by the Sinduvara shrubs growing on its banks, like a fair woman reclining, clad in fine white cloth.

27. “See the imperial power of females–yonder Ruddygoose in the water goes behind his mate, following her like a slave.

28. “Come and listen to the notes of the intoxicated Cuckoo as he sings, while another cuckoo sings as if consenting wholly without care.

29. “Would that thine was the intoxication of the birds which the spring produces, and not the thought of a thinking man, ever pondering how wise he is!”

30. Thus these young women, their souls carried away by love, assailed the prince with all kinds of stratagems.

31. But although thus attacked, he, having his sense guarded by self-control; neither rejoiced nor smiled.

32. Having seen them in their real condition, the Prince pondered with an undisturbed and steadfast mind.

33. “What is it that these women lack, that they perceive not that youth is fickle? For old age will destroy whatever beauty has.”

34. This round of blandishment went on for months and years with no results.