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Manual of Indian Buddhism c4.s3: 3. Wandering Life. Ascetism. Contest with Māra. Triumph. Attainment of Buddhahood

Manual of Indian Buddhism c4.s3

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3. Wandering Life. Ascetism. Contest with Māra. Triumph. Attainment of Buddhahood

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The Bodhisattva having thus entered upon the life of a recluse spent a week in the mango grove of Anupiya. Thence he travelled in one day to Rājagṛha, the capital of Magadha, where he begged his food. At this sight the inhabitants were struck with wonder, not knowing whether he was a deity, a mortal, or any other being. The King, Seniya (Śreṇya, Śreṇika) Bimbisāra, observing the Great Man (*Mahāpuruṣa*) from his palace tower, ordered his servants to go and ascertain the nature of the stranger. The men found the Bodhisattva, who after having got sufficient food had left the city, at the foot of the Pāṇḍava Rock, eating, not without an effort, his coarse meal. The messengers returned, and related all to the King, who quickly went to the place where the Great Man was sitting, and offered him his whole kingdom, but the latter rejected that generous offer, saying that he had abandoned all in the hope of attaining supreme Enlightenment, whereupon Bimbisāra asked the favour that his kingdom should first of all be visited by the Buddha³.

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³ A fuller account of this story is found S.-Nip. p. 71 and commentary. The poetical version Lal. V. 297 ff. is much longer.

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On leaving the King, the Bodhisattva went forward, and in due course came to Āḷāra Kālāma and Uddaka, son of Rāma, two renowned teachers of philosophy⁴. He learned from them the successive degrees of ecstatic meditation (*samāpatti*), but soon discovering that it was not the way to Enlightenment, he resolved to apply himself to the Great Effort (*Mahāpadhāna*)⁵. To effect his purpose, he went to Uruvelā (Uruvilvā). Now it came to pass that the Pañcavaggiyas, i. e. the 5 mendicants, Koṇḍañña and the rest, met with him, and resolved to stay with him, persuaded as they were that erelong he would become a Buddha.

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⁴ About the two teachers, see the Buddha's own account, Maijh. N. I, p. 80 ff. Cp. Lal. V. 319 ff. — In the N. books the course of events is somewhat different; see Lal. V. 294; Mhv. II, 195; Buddhac. X—XII; the N. names of the teachers are Ārāḍa Kālāma, and Udraka (mistakenly Rudraka) Rāmaputra.

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⁵ The system is set forth in the Mahāpadhāna-S. in Dīgh. N.; cp. Ang. N. II, p. 16, and CHILDERS s. v. *padhānam*.

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After six years of exertion the Bodhisattva resolved to practise the most profound meditation (*dhyāna*) and to perform the most rigid penance. By carrying his fasting to excess, he became as thin as a skeleton, and at last so weak that one day he fainted and fell down¹. Some gods said: "The Śramaṇa Gautama² is dead; others, however, remarked: 'Such is the state of Arhats'". And, indeed, not long afterwards he recovered from his swoon³.

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¹ Buddha himself describes his severe penance and subsequent exhaustion in Majjh. N. I, p. 80; p. 245 ff. Cp. Lal. V. 319 ff.; SENART Not. Ep. 3 (statue). — The Dhyāna alluded to is termed appanaka Majjh. N. l. c.; āṣṭhanaka Lal. V. 314; 324; Mhv. II, 125.

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² This is the first time the B. is so termed in Jāt. Intr., whereas in Lal. V. he is addressed by that name by Āraḍa. As to the origin of the name, see BURNOUF, Intr. p. 155. The Buddha is also known as an Āṅgirasa, the Gautamas being a subdivision of the Āṅgirasas. One of other appellations is Ādityabandhu, the Śakyas forming a gens of the great tribe of Sun-descendants. Cp. S. Nip. p. 73: Ādicca nāma gottena, Sakkiya nāma jātiya.

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³ Another tradition describes the grief of Māyā on hearing the (false) report of her son's death; Lal. V. 314 ff.

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As he perceived that mortification was not the way to Enlightenment, he resumed his former diet, which caused the Five friars to loose faith in him. Hence they left him, and went to Ṛṣipatana (Isipatana) in the Deer-park near Benares.

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At that time there lived in Uruvelā a girl named Sujātā, the Chieftain's daughter⁴. On the fullmoon day of Vaiśākha she rose early to make an offering to a holy tree and milked the cows. Seeing many miracles, she joyfully sent her servant girl Pūrṇā (Puṇṇā) to clear the place under the holy tree.

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⁴ Her father's title is senāni, senāpati, and otherwise gopādhipa or grāmika (i. e. village head) in Jāt., Mhv., Lal. V., Buddhac. In this last non canonical source her name is Nandabala XII, 106, but Sudata XVII, 9. The name Balā also occurs Lal. V. 331. The story of her offering, the subsequent march of the B., and his victory is twice told, Mhv. II, 264 ff. and 299 ff. Cp. Lal. V. Chap. XVIII-XXI; Buddhac. p. 106 ff.

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Now in the latter part of the previous night the Bodhisattva had seen 5 dreams, by which he got the certainty that in the course of that day he would become Buddha. At daybreak he went in quest of his food and sat down at the foot of the holy tree, lighting up the East with his radiance. Pūrṇā saw him shining, the whole tree goldcoloured by the rays issuing from his body. She ran back to her mistress, who, after pouring milk-rice in a golden vessel, went to the tree, and presented the golden vessel to the Great Man. And at that moment disappeared the earthen pot given him by Ghaṭīkāra. He went with the golden vessel to the bank of the river Nairañjanā (P. Nerañjarā), to a place called Well-established (Supatiṭṭhita), where innumerable Bodhisattvas had bathed on the day of their awaking to Enlightenment. After taking a bath he dressed himself in the garb of an Arhat worn by numberless Buddhas, and, sitting down Eastward, ate all his food, divided into 49 portions, as he would have no other nourishment during the next 7 weeks. Having finished his meal, he flung the golden vessel into the stream with the following asseveration: "If on this day I am to become a Buddha, let this vessel ascend the stream; if not, let it go down". And, lo, it went up to a great distance, when it sunk down to the abode of the Nāgaking Kāla. On striking against the vessels of the three last Buddhas, it produced a sound, by which Kāla became aware of the rise of a new Buddha⁵.

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⁵ Cp. Mhv. II, 265; twice repeated, with variations, p. 307 and p. 400.

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In the evening the Great Man marched toward the tree of Enlightenment. He met on his march with a grasscutter, Svastika (Sotthiya), who offered him 8 bundles of grass. He accepted the offering, and, after taking a survey of the quarters, he went to the East, the seat of all Buddhas, facing the West. There he scattered the handful of grass on the ground, where a seat of 14 cubits was formed. Then he uttered the following asseveration: "Let my skin, my nerves and bones waste away, let my life blood dry up, I will not leave this seat before attaining perfect Enlightenment"¹.

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¹ Cp. the stanza in Lal. V. p. 362.

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It was at that moment that Māra² thinking: "Prince Siddhārtha wishes to escape from my dominion", summoned his hosts to do battle. Himself mounted on the elephant Mountain-girdled (Girimekhala) led the attack, which was so dreadful that the gods attending the Bodhisattva were seized with terror and fled. The Great Man alone remained undaunted, putting his trust in the Pāramitās. Thereupon Māra caused violent winds to blow, followed by a rain of rocks, weapons, glowing ashes, charcoal. All in vain³.

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² Māra pāpimā, the usual name of the Fiend in P., originally, it appears, synonymous with the *Mṛtyuḥ pāpmā* in Vaidic texts, has with the Buddhists become the incarnation of Evil. His connection with Death is further exemplified by his being identified with *Maccu-rāja*, in Therag. vs. 411. For *pāpimā* Mhv. has *pāpimān*, along with *pāpīyān* (e. g. II, 264; 268); the latter form being used in Lal. V. A wellknown synonymous term both in S. and in N. texts is Namuci. His identification with Smara is founded upon his being the ruler of the highest Kāmaloka; hence he is termed Kāmeśvara, Lal. V. p. 427; *kāmadhātav Māraḥ pāpīyān adhipatir īśvaro vaśavartī*, p. 375. Cp. Buddhac. XIII, vs. 2. See also WINDISCH Māra und B. p. 184 ff.

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³ According to Lal. V. p. 404 Māra, after his first unsuccessful attack, sends his daughters to tempt the B. He repeats his attempt in a later period, in which the P. texts place it, as we shall see below. Other transpositions occur Mhv. II, 322 and Buddhac. XIII, vs. 2 ff.

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Seeing all his attempts baffled, the Fiend approached the Great Man, and summoned him to vacate his seat. "Māra!" was the reply, "you have not devoted your life to benefit the world, to attain wisdom. This seat does not belong to you". Enraged at these words, Māra cast his discus weapon at the Great Man, but it became a garland of flowers. Again the host of Māra renewed the attack, but the rocks they hurled down at him, were turned into nosegays. Sure of his triumph, the Bodhisattva exclaimed: "The seat belongs to me", and turning to the Fiend, he defied him to adduce a witness for his merits. Māra pointed to his followers, who with a roar testified to their master's liberality. In his turn the Fiend asked: "As to you, Siddhārtha, who is witness to your having bestowed alms?" Then the Bodhisattva called up the Earth to be his witness, and she replied with such a roaring voice that the hosts of Māra were discomfited, and the elephant Girimekhala fell down on his knees to pay homage to the Great Man. The army of the enemy fled in all directions, whereas the gods exultingly shouted: "Māra is defeated! The Prince Siddhārtha has prevailed!" The Nāgas and other celestial beings approached the seat of Enlightenment, chanting songs of victory.

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The sun was still above the horizon when the Great Man defeated the army of his foe⁴. In the first watch of the night he arrived at the knowledge of his former states of existence (*pūrvanivāsa*, *pubbenivāsa*); in the second watch he acquired the heavenly eye (*divyacakṣus*, *dibbacakkhu*); in the 3d the knowledge of the series of causes and effects⁵.

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⁴ In Mhv. II, 417 the army is defeated at sunrise.

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⁵ *Pratītyasamutpāda*, P. *paṭiccasamuppāda*; the system, as developed MV. I, 1; Lal. V. Chap. XXII; Mhv. II, 285 and 346, will be expounded in Part III below. — BIGANDET'S source adds the conception of the 4 Āryasatyāni; likewise Lal. V. 447; Mhv. II, 345. The 4 truths or axioms are fully set forth Majjh. N. I, p. 48.

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While he was mentally revolving the 12 causes (Nidānas) in direct order and in reverse order⁶, the whole universe shook 12 times to its foundation, and the most extraordinary phaenomena were seen, even as at his birth.

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⁶ Cp. MV. I, 1; for the stanzas there cp. also Mhv. II, 88; 416 ff.

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Amid these wonders the Bodhisattva attained Omniscience, and he uttered the joyful song¹ common to all Buddhas.

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¹ See Intr. Jat. I, p. 76; the dogmatic interpretation in the comment on Dhp. vs. 153 f. An explanation of the "train of thought" is found in Prof. RHYS DAVIDS, B. pp. 100-112. — The Udāna in Mhv. II, 285 contains in plainer words the same idea.

Cites (18)