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Early Monastic Buddhism v1.c12.s2: (ii) Character and Personality of the Founder and his Disciples

Early Monastic Buddhism v1.c12.s2

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English

(ii) Character and Personality of the Founder and his Disciples

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The commanding personality of Buddha, his self-sacrifice, the strength of his character, his spiritual attainments, his super-sensual vision, and the occasional manifestations of miraculous powers served in a great degree to convince the people of the greatness of his religion and made them attach importance to it. Prof. Keith would attribute the vast success of Buddhism not so much to the merits of the religion as to the personality of the founder. He says that “the founder of Buddhism must rank as one of the most commanding personalities ever produced by the eastern world."'

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In view of the predominance of the Kṣattriyas in the eastern lands by virtue of wealth and acquisition of learning which made them powerful enough to carry on reactionary movements as against the existing conditions of things as settled or desired by the Brāhmaṇas, it is probable that the Kṣattriya origin of Śākya Siṃha brought strength to his religious propaganda by virtue of this mere affinity of origin between him and the Kṣattriyas of the place. To assert that this element was altogether absent in the forces which made them cluster under his religious flag would be perhaps going too far. But it should always be borne in mind that the innate strength and attraction of Buddha's personality and the doctrines preached by him were so great that it put into shade the force of this element.

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The character and personality of Buddha's immediate disciples such as Yaśa, Uruvela-Kassapa, Sāriputta, Moggallāna, Mahākassapa, Mahākaccāyana, Puṇṇa Mantāniputta, Ānanda were equally powerful forces for the propagation of religion. Their excellences are mentioned sometimes by Buddha himself and sometimes by their brother monks. Sāriputta is described as excelling all in wisdom, self-control, and virtue, well-composed in his inner self, dwelling in the highest planes of thought, expert in the knowledge of doctrines and possessing capacity for preaching persuasively.² Moggallāna was valiant, self-controlled and possessed of super-normal powers and able to raise the disciples to the highest stages of moral and spiritual progress;¹ Mahākassapa was the foremost ascetic, self-sacrificing and loving to dwell remote from men; Mahākaccāyana was a great expositor of dhamma² while Puṇṇa Mantāniputta was an appealing preacher; Ānanda was the foremost of bhikkhus in erudition, morally watchful, steadfast, versed in the sacred lore, and eloquent.³ The qualities mentioned were present in more than ordinary degree in the character of the monks, besides the qualities requisite for a monk. The monks were all at one in their zeal for the propagation of the religion, in the strength of which they had unswerving belief. The earnestness with which the first generation of Buddha's disciples performed their duties can be best described by comparing it to the zeal with which the Christian apostles did their share of work by practising and spreading the doctrines promulgated by Christ.

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¹ Keith's *Buddhist Philosophy*, p. 147.

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² *Aṅg Nik.*, I, p. 24 f.; Cf. Mrs. Rhys Davids, *Psalms of the Brethren*, pp. 69, 388, 402 & 390 f.n.

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¹ Ang Nik., I, p. 24 f. Cf. Mrs. Rhys Davids, op cit., p 390 f.n

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² Psalms of the Buthan, pp 386, 387.

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³ Ibid., pp. 352, 353

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The Buddhist leaders in the generation following the immediate disciples of Buddha included likewise prominent characters who might well take their place by the side of his immediate disciples. The names of monks who took a prominent part in the deliberations of the church organization and maintained discipline, moral or otherwise, are many, but the biographical details of only a few of them are found in the Buddhist literature. Among these may be mentioned Siggava whose perseverance in the cause of the conversion of non-Buddhists to Buddhism is found in the description where he is said to have daily visited, with ultimate success, the house of a Brāhmaṇa Moggali to persuade his son with teachings and arguments to embrace the religion;¹ S a m b h ū t a S ā n a v ā s i k a whose zeal in the maintenance of the orthodox system carried him inspite of his old age to Vesālī to suppress the heresies of the Vajjian monks. R e v a t a was vastly learned and free from āsavas while Y a s a was highly energetic in the work of consolidating the Buddhist doctrines for which the second council was convened, and also in eliminating the evils that the Vajjians were trying to introduce into the church organization by modifying its rules;² U d e n a was able to convert Ghoṭamukha Brāhmaṇa after the death of Buddha and have an upaṭṭhānasālā built at Pāṭaliputra by him;³ M o g g a l i p u t t a (or Upagupta according to the Sanskrit tradition) was highly intelligent and by the charm of his character and personality could make Aśoka accept him as his spiritual preceptor and help the Buddhist organization by building monasteries and stūpas in several places and give donations for the maintenance of the monks and the spread of Buddhism.

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¹ Cf. Mahāvaṃsa, ch. V., pp. 41-3: A similar story occurs in the Milindapañha (p. 8 ff.) regarding the conversion of Nāgasena. ² Mahāvaṃsa, ch. IV. ³ Majjh Nik., II, p. 163

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