It is obvious that almost every Buddhist have read about the life story of the Siddhartha Gautama. The story from time of his renunciation to the first Dhamma discourse can be found in 26th Ariya paryesana sutta in the Majjama Nikaya.
But first let us pay attention to a part in the Arya paresana sutta, where the Gautama Buddha met Upaka the Ajivaka, on his way to the first Dhamma discourse to the five monks.
"Then, having stayed at Uruvela as long as I liked, I set out to wander by stages to Varanasi. Upaka the Ajivaka saw me on the road between Gaya and the (place of) Awakening, and on seeing me said to me, 'Clear, my friend, are your faculties. Pure your complexion, and bright. On whose account have you gone forth? Who is your teacher? In whose Dhamma do you delight?'
"When this was said, I replied to Upaka the Ajivaka in verses:
'All-vanquishing, all-knowing am I, with regard to all things, unadhering.
All-abandoning, released in the ending of craving: having fully known on my own, to whom should I point as my teacher?
I have no teacher, and one like me can't be found. In the world with its devas,
I have no counterpart. For I am an arahant in the world; I, the unexcelled teacher. I, alone, am rightly self-awakened. Cooled am I, unbound.
To set rolling the wheel of Dhamma I go to the city of Kasi. In a world become blind, I beat the drum of the Deathless.'
"'From your claims, my friend, you must be an infinite conqueror.'
'Conquerors are those like me who have reached fermentations' end.
I've conquered evil qualities, and so, Upaka, I'm a conqueror.' “ (MN 26)
The above are the words of the Gautama Buddha. What does this word tell us? This self declaration clearly shows us that the Gautama Buddha is not a god or a human. He is ‘Samma-Sambuddha’ .(NOTE- there are human/animals/gods/petas and other existence in this universe so does a being called Samma Sambuddha – the only being that ended suffering with ending the circle of rebirth)
Most Buddhists request and wish material things from the Gautama Buddha by worshiping him as they do with gods. And some totally rejects the Buddhahood of the Gautama Buddha. In fact they are of the view that the Gautama Buddha is just another human. I would like to emphasise here that both those ideas are wrong and I would like to prove that by the end of this article.
Now let us look at the previous article. There, we talked about the explanations given by various academics and philosophers about the Gautama Buddha. It is important to know that those explanations are given based on what they understand by reading about the Gautama Buddha. We will now look into the explanations and discussions that occurred in the 6 BC about the Gautama Buddha and the Gautama Buddha’s explanations about the Buddhahood.
Let’s look at the first Sutta in the Digha Nikaya, Brahmajala Sutta, to get an idea as to how the Gautama Buddha explained himself in the Pali canon.
"And if, bhikkhus, others speak in praise of me, or in praise of the Dhamma, or in praise of the Sangha, you should not give way to jubilation, joy, and exultation in your heart. For if you were to become jubilant, joyful, and exultant in such a situation, you would only be creating an obstacle for yourselves. If others speak in praise of me, or in praise of the Dhamma, or in praise of the Sangha, you should acknowledge what is fact as fact, saying: 'For such and such a reason this is a fact, this is true, there is such a thing in us, this is found among us.'
"'Having abandoned the destruction of life, the recluse Gotama abstains from the destruction of life. full of kindness, compassionate for the welfare of all living beings.' 'Having abandoned taking what is not given, Accepting and expecting only what is given, 'Having abandoned unchaste living, the recluse Gotama lives the life of chastity. He dwells remote (from women), and abstains from the vulgar practice of sexual intercourse. ''Having abandoned false speech, He speaks only the truth, he lives devoted to truth.
'Having abandoned slander, the recluse Gotama abstains from slander. He does not repeat elsewhere what he has heard here in order to divide others from the people here, nor does he repeat here what he has heard elsewhere in order to divide these from the people there. Thus he is a reconciler of those who are divided and a promoter of friendships. Rejoicing, delighting, and exulting in concord, he speaks only words that are conducive to concord.'
'Having abandoned harsh speech, the recluse Gotama abstains from harsh speech. He speaks only such words as are gentle, pleasing to the ear, endearing, going to the heart, urbane, amiable, and agreeable to many people.'
'Having abandoned idle chatter, the recluse Gotama abstains from idle chatter. He speaks at the right time, speaks what is factual, speaks on the good, on the Dhamma and the Discipline. His words are worth treasuring: they are timely, backed by reason, definite and connected with the good.'
'The recluse Gotama abstains from damaging seed and plant life. He eats only in one part of the day, refraining from food at night and from eating at improper times. He abstains from dancing, singing, instrumental music, and witnessing unsuitable shows. He abstains from wearing garlands, embellishing himself with scents, and beautifying himself with unguents. He abstains from accepting gold and silver. He abstains from accepting uncooked grain, raw meat, women and girls, male and female slaves, goats and sheep, fowl and swine, elephants, cattle, horses and mares. He abstains from accepting fields and lands. He abstains from running messages and errands. He abstains from buying and selling, and from dealing with false weights, false metals, and false measures. He abstains from the crooked ways of bribery, deception, and fraud. He abstains from mutilating, executing, imprisoning, robbery, plunder, and violence.'
(End of Chula sila)
'Whereas some recluses and brahmins, while living on the food offered by the faithful, from the marks on a person's limbs, hands, feet etc; divining by means of omens and signs; making auguries on the basis of thunderbolts and celestial portents; interpreting ominous dreams; telling fortunes from marks on the body; making auguries from the marks on cloth gnawed by mice; offering fire oblations; offering oblations from a ladle; offering oblations of husks, rice powder, rice grains, ghee, and oil to the gods; offering oblations from the mouth; offering blood-sacrifices to the gods; making predictions based on the fingertips; determining whether the site for a proposed house or garden is propitious or not; making predictions for officers of state; the knowledge of charms to lay demons in a cemetery; the knowledge of charms to cure one possessed by ghosts; the knowledge of charms to be pronounced by one living in an earthen house; the snake craft (for curing snake bites and charming snakes); the poison craft (for neutralizing or making poison); the scorpion craft and rat craft (for curing scorpion stings and rat bites, respectively); the bird craft and crow craft (for understanding the cries of birds and crows); foretelling the number of years that a man has to live; the knowledge of charms to give protection from arrows; reciting charms to understand the language of animals — the recluse Gotama abstains from such wrong means of livelihood, from such debased arts.'
'Whereas some recluses and brahmins, while living on the food offered by the faithful, earn their living by a wrong means of livelihood, by such debased arts as interpreting the significance of the color, shape, and other features of the following items to determine whether they portend fortune or misfortune for their owners: gems, garments, staffs, swords, spears, arrows, bows, other weapons, women, men, boys, girls, slaves, slave-women, elephants, horses, buffaloes, bulls, cows, goats, rams, fowl, quails, lizards, rabbits, tortoises, and other animals — the recluse Gotama abstains from such wrong means of livelihood, from such debased arts.'
'Whereas some recluses and brahmins, while living on the food offered by the faithful, earn their living by a wrong means of livelihood, by such debased arts as making predictions to the effect that:
the king will march forth; the king will not march forth; our king will attack and the enemy king will retreat; the enemy king will attack and our king will retreat; our king will triumph and the enemy king will be defeated; the enemy king will triumph and our king will be defeated; thus there will be victory for one and defeat for the other — the recluse Gotama abstains from such wrong means of livelihood, from such debased arts.'
'Whereas some recluses and brahmins, while living on the food offered by the faithful, earn their living by a wrong means of livelihood, by such debased arts as predicting: there will be an eclipse of the moon, an eclipse of the sun, an eclipse of a constellation; the sun and the moon will go on their proper courses; there will be an aberration of the sun and moon; the constellations will go on their proper courses; there will be an aberration of a constellation; there will be a fall of meteors; there will be a skyblaze; there will be an earthquake; there will be an earth-roar; there will be a rising and setting, a darkening and brightening, of the moon, sun, and constellations; such will be the result of the moon's eclipse, such the result of the sun's eclipse, (and so on down to) such will be the result of the rising and setting, darkening and brightening of the moon, sun, and constellations — the recluse Gotama abstains from such wrong means of livelihood, from such debased arts.'
'Whereas some recluses and brahmins, while living on the food offered by the faithful, earn their living by a wrong means of livelihood, by such debased arts as predicting: there will be abundant rain; there will be a drought; there will be a good harvest; there will be a famine; there will be security; there will be danger; there will be sickness; there will be health; or they earn their living by accounting, computation, calculation, the composing of poetry, and speculations about the world — the recluse Gotama abstains from such wrong means of livelihood, from such debased arts.'
'Whereas some recluses and brahmins, while living on the food offered by the faithful, earn their living by a wrong means of livelihood, by such debased arts as: arranging auspicious dates for marriages, both those in which the bride is brought in (from another family) and those in which she is sent out (to another family); arranging auspicious dates for betrothals and divorces; arranging auspicious dates for the accumulation or expenditure of money; reciting charms to make people lucky or unlucky; rejuvenating the fetuses of abortive women; reciting spells to bind a man's tongue, to paralyze his jaws, to make him lose control over his hands, to make him lose control over his jaw, or to bring on deafness; obtaining oracular answers to questions by means of a mirror, a girl, or a god; worshipping the sun; worshipping Mahābrahmā; bringing forth flames from the mouth; invoking the goddess of luck — the recluse Gotama abstains from such wrong means of livelihood, from such debased arts.'
'Whereas some recluses and brahmins, while living on the food offered by the faithful, earn their living by a wrong means of livelihood, by such debased arts as: promising gifts to deities in return for favors; fulfilling such promises; demonology; reciting spells after entering an earthen house; inducing virility and impotence; preparing and consecrating sites for a house; giving ceremonial mouthwashes and ceremonial bathing; offering sacrificial fires; administering emetics, purgatives, expectorants and phleg¬ma¬gogues; administering medicine through the ear and through the nose; administering ointments and counter-ointments; practising fine surgery on the eyes and ears; practising general surgery on the body; practising as a children's doctor; the application of medicinal roots; the binding on of medicinal herbs — the recluse Gotama abstains from such wrong means of livelihood, from such debased arts.'
"These, bhikkhus, are those trifling and insignificant matters, those minor details of mere moral virtue, that a worldling would refer to when speaking in praise of the Tathāgata.
Therefore isn’t it clear that we see the virtues of the Gautama Buddha by going through the qualities of the Thatagata? So it is clear that the best explanation we can get about the Thatagata is by his own discourses. So what is this great wisdom and virtues of the Thatagata? Let’s have a look at that in our next article.
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