Buddha: His Life, his Doctrine, his Order c8.44

c8.44

He bases his criticism instead on that romance of wonders into which the grotesque tastes of later ages have transformed this primitive story.* Buddha sits down under the tree of knowledge with the firm resolve not to rise until he has attained the knowledge which “maketh free.” Then Mâra advances with his forces; hosts of demons assail him (Buddha) with fiery darts, amid the whirl of hurricanes, darkness, and the downpour of floods of water, to drive him from the tree; Buddha maintains his position unmoved; at last the demons fly.