Studies in Indian Art c7.s1.9

c7.s1.9

The ancient myth of the conflict between the gods and the demons assumes new forms in the life of the Buddha. The victory over Māra, the Genius of Evil, is only the new commentary of an old motif. Unless we have understood the spiritual significance of the *Daivāsuram* and the related mysteries of Yogic *samādhi* and contemplation, the victory of the Enlightened One over the forces of passion and darkness does not reveal its true secret to our understanding. We miss its true significance in the making of the Buddha, who had become awakened or obtained perfect enlightenment, for whom the coveted portals of wisdom had been flung open, and who marching as a spiritual pilgrim from stage to stage had attained the end of journey and a triumph which could not be shaken by any later upheavals. The Buddha of real value for the Buddhists was not the prince walking the streets of Kapilavastu in flesh and blood, but the Buddha who had attained his spiritual rebirth in an ideal world. The Supramundanist thinkers of Buddhism (*Lokottaravādins*) perfected this conception of the Buddha slowly working in accordance with the accepted traditional motifs.