Gautama Buddha. The light of Asia

GAUTAMA BUDDHA, THE LIGHT OF ASIA

A GREAT thinker has said that the history of the world is the history of its greatest men. This is especially true of India whose long history is filled with the life and work of some of the greatest men the world has ever seen. But the men whom India considers great are not kings and military conquerors like Alexander. Charlemagne, or Napoleon, but philosophers and thinkers like Sri Krishna, Bhagavan Buddha, and Sri Sankaracharya. These latter have also been conquerors, but of a different type. In the memorable words of Asoka, India’s conquest is through dharma or righteousness (Rock Edict 13):

“What has been obtained by this conquest (of dharma) creates affection. This affection is firmly established as it is won by conquest by dharma....This rescript on dharma has been written for the purpose that my sons and great grandsons who will hear about my new conquests should not consider that further conquest is to be undertaken. If there has to be conquest, through weapons of war, let them take pleasure (after their victory) in peace and light corrective measures. They should consider that the only true con­quest is conquest by dharma.”

They conquered through non-violence and love, and that love is enshrined in the grateful hearts of millions today.

The Upanishads are the fountain-head of not merely the religion of India, but of her culture and philosophy as well. The great sages of the Upanishads stand at the very dawn of history as the progenitors and inspirers of a culture and a civilization which, starting like a little stream up in the mountains in the dim antiquity of the Vedas, has come down to us as the mighty river of Indian national life, enriched and ennobled by the valuable contributions of a brilliant galaxy of philosophers and thinkers of the first magnitude. The Indian of today, to whatever section he may belong, whether he knows it or not, is the inheritor of this rich heritage. And he is proud of the fact that this veritable Ganga of Indian culture has fertilized and nourished not only India, but lands far and near as well.

The first great personality who enriched Indian thought and life, after the sages of the Upanishads, was Bhagavan Sri Krishna. He stands as the great national leader, impressing every depart­ment of Indian life with his genius and personality. He is the unfailing source of inspiration for much of Indian mysticism, art, literature, and philosophy. And his great teaching to Arjuna con­tained in the Bhagavad-Gita, the Song Celestial, was the first attempt made in India to preach religion and philosophy to the people at large; and with Sri Krishna begins the evolution of a truly national culture and philosophy. In this he represents the liberal traditions of the Upanishads as opposed to the sacerdotalism of the earlier part of the Vedas. In the Gita he opens the door of salvation to one and all, besides showing that all religions lead to the same goal (IX. 32, IV. II):

“Those that come to Me, O Arjuna, even if they be the most sinful, or be they women, Vaisyas, or Sudras–all attain to the highest Goal.”

“Through whatever paths men come to Me, I receive them through those very paths. All paths. O Arjuna, which men follow, lead ultimately to Me alone.”

The second great teacher who enriched Indian culture and who made Indian thought overflow its narrow geographical bounds is Gautama Buddha, the subject of the present sketch. With Buddha begins the story of that Greater India which fills the whole of the Asian continent with the sweetness and aroma of her spiritual contribution.

Buddha exemplifies in his person the ideal man of the Upanishads and the man of steady wisdom of the Bhagavad-Gita. His life and character gave strength and vigour to many an earlier teaching and idea, and vitalized Indian society for more than a thousand years.

It is a mistake to suppose that Buddha taught something absolutely new or anything hostile to the spirit of the existing philosophy and religion. It is more correct to hold that he taught a purer doctrine and expounded and exemplified a more positive philosophy of life than the prevailing ones of the day. True it is that he preached against the exclusiveness of caste and the excessive ritualism of the Vedic priesthood and taught a religion of moral and spiritual discipline. But, in this, the spiritual and philosophical tradition of India as enshrined in the Upanishads and the Gita was behind him. In the words of Sir E. Denison Ross, C.I.E., (Introduction to the Light of Asia by Sir Edwin Arnold, 1926, p. XIII):

“There was nothing absolutely new to the Indians in the teachings of Gautama, and his message could only be intelligible in its original form to the Hindus. The changes he made were in either the cosmogony or the ritual of the Hindus, and could only appeal to those familiar with both.”

Rhys Davids, another western scholar and student of Buddhism, also says (quoted by Sir E. Denison Ross, op. cit., p. XVII):

“It is inaccurate to draw any hard and fast line between the Indian Buddhists and their countrymen of other faiths.”

Sir Edwin Arnold, in the preface to his Light of Asia, points to the same truth when he says:

“The mark of Gautama’s sublime teaching is stamped ineffacea­ble upon modern Brahmanism, and the most characteristic habits and convictions of the Hindus are clearly due to the benign influence of Buddha’s precepts.”

It is not possible in the course of this short article to enter into any detail regarding the life of the blessed Teacher. But I would like to touch upon a few of the outstanding events of his long career and ministration. Born of King Suddhodana and Queen Maya of the Sakya clan in the city of Kapilavastu, we find young Siddhartha spending the early years of his life in his father’s palace in the customary fashion of the princes of those days. But there was something in him even then which made him the beloved of the people; for with the valour of the Kshathriya he combined true gentleness and humility of spirit. The father had great hopes of his son; for had not the astrologers told him that prince Siddhartha would become an emperor of the wide world? An emperor he became, but not like Alexander or Napolepn; but a Svarat–a master of his passions and of himself first, and then a ruler of the heart of men. And in this transformation is contained all the romance of the life of the Buddha.

Siddhartha was married to princess Yasodhara, and to them was born the young prince, Rahula. King Suddhodana took every means to make the life of his son gay and happy; but the great future whispered to the young prince his mission in life, and the stark reality of life presented before him the painful scenes of suffering, sickness, and death, and the joyous visions of renunciation and enlightenment. With a resolution possible, only for a true Kshathriya, Prince Siddhartha left the securities and luxuries of his home and palace, and his pre-monastic name of Siddhartha as well, and wandered forth into the wide world in quest of the highest truth and the peace that passeth understanding. For many years he struggled and searched; now following this sect, now that, wandering from place to place, until at last he came to Gaya, in modern Bihar; and, finding the place beautiful and serene, he sat down under a Bodhi tree, resolved not to move till the highest truth was found (Lalitavistara, XIX. 57):

Ihasane susyatu me sariram
tvagasti mamsam pralayam ca yatu;
Aprapya bodhim bahukalpadurlabham
naivasanat kayam atah calisyate– 

“Let my body wither away in this seat, let it be reduced to mere skin, flesh, and bones, but I shall not move an inch from hence till the highest enlightenment is gained.”

Sitting cross-legged in meditation under the sacred tree. Gautama’s mind rose to the height of contemplation and of ecstasy, and with the passing of every successive watch of the night, fold after fold of the garment of Truth was unveiled till the dawn found the naked Truth revealed, (Light of Asia, p. 130):

…The spirit of our Lord
Lay potent upon man and bird and beast,
Even while he mused under the Bodhi-Tree.
Glorified with the conquest gained for all,
And lightened by a light greater than day’s.

Gautama became Buddha, the Enlightened One. And he rose from his seat with a shout of joy, for he had attained insight into the meaning of life and existence (ibid., p. 131):

Many a house of life
Hath held me seeking ever him who wrought
These prisons of the senses, sorrow-fraught,
Sore was my ceaseless strife.
But now,
Thou builder of this tabernacle–thou!
I know thee! Never shalt thou build again
These walls of pain,
Nor raise the roof-tree of deceits, nor lay
Fresh rafters on the clay;
Broken thy house is, and the ridge-pole split!
Delusion fashioned it!
Safe pass I thence Deliverance to obtain.

Gautama had attained Deliverance and Enlightenment; but now the question arose in his mind whether he was to keep this wisdom to himself or broadcast it so as to redeem the suffering world. After an intense mental struggle, he decided to share the new-found treasure with one and all–bahujana hitaya, bahujana sukhaya–forthe good of the many, for the happiness of the many­and thus achieved a greater renunciation than the one he had attained by leaving the princely life. With this assurance and resolve, he proceeded to the holy city of Varanasi, where he first ‘turned’ the Wheel of the Dharma. And for the next forty years, he wandered from place to place, meeting all classes of people, from prince to peasant, wiping the widow’s tears and assuaging the orphan’s wails, imparting wisdom to all and gathering a large number of disciples and followers. He charged his disciples (Dhammapada, quoted by Sister Nivedita in The Master as I Saw Him, p. 257):

Go forward without a path!
Fearing nothing, caring for nothing,
Wander alone, like the rhinoceros!
Even as the lion, not trembling at noises,
Even as the lotus-leaf unstained by the water,
Do thou wander alone, like the rhinoceros!

The words of the Master carried a freshness and a vigour which appealed to the better minds of the day, and his adoption of the language of the people as a vehicle of expression helped in the spread of his thoughts and ideas. His wide heart embraced one and all, the afflicted and the despised. After a long career of benevolent ministration, the Blessed One passed away at Kusinagara in the northern part of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, in the year 543 B.C.

The Dharma of the Lord continued to spread, thanks to the activities of the Sangha or monastic order. It rescued the national mind from the intellectual confusion of the age by elevating the people morally and spiritually, and it ushered in the age of Asoka, which may be called the brightest period in India’s history. The spread of Buddha-dharma under Asoka is one of the most instructive chapters of world’s history. Asoka’s relinquishment of war and all forms of violence as an instrument of state policy is the only example of its kind in all history; and, this great example has a deep significance for us today in the context of the second world war which humanity is waging against each other. Through his numerous edicts inscribed on rocks and pillars, Asoka helped the spread of the message of love, tolerance, and service. He sent out bands of monks to spread the noble Dharma, far and near, and for the next thousand years this activity continued to be the main aspect of India’s foreign policy. In a special sense, Emperor Asoka was instrumental in making Gautama the Buddha, the Light of Asia. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru quotes the following well-known tribute of H. G. Wells to the memory of Asoka (Glimpses of World History, Letter 24):

“Amidst the tens of thousands of names of monarchs that crowd the columns of history, their majesties and graciousnesses and serenities and royal highnesses and the like, the name of Asoka Shines, and Shines almost alone, a star. From Volga to Japan his name is still honoured. China, Tibet, and even India, though it has left his doctrine, preserve the tradition of his greatness. More living men cherish his memory today than have ever heard the names of Constantine and Charlemagne.”

In concluding his great work on Karma-Yoga, Swami Viveka­nanda gives the following tribute to the character and personality of Bhagavan Buddha (Complete Works, Vol. 1. Eleventh Edition. pp. 116-18):

“Let me tell you in conclusion a few words about one man who actually carried this teaching into practice. That man is Buddha. He is the one man who ever carried this into perfect practice. All the prophets of the world, except Buddha, had external motives to move them to unselfish action. The prophets of the world, with this single exception, may be divided into two sets, one set hold­ing that they are incarnations of God come down on earth and the other holding that they are only messengers from God; and both draw their impetus for work from outside, expect reward from outside, however highly spiritual may be the language they use. But Buddha is the only prophet who said, “I do not care to know your various theories about God. What is the use of discussing all the subtle doctrines about the soul. Do good and be good. And this will take you to freedom and to whatever truth there is.” He was, in the conduct of his life, absolutely without personal motives; and what man worked more than he? Show me in history one character who has soared so high above all. The whole human race has produced but one such character, such high philosophy, such wide sympathy. This great philosopher, preaching the highest philosophy, yet had the deepest sympathy for the lowest of animals, and never put forth any claims for himself. He is the ideal karma-yogi, acting entirely without motive, and the history of humanity shows him to have been the greatest man ever born; beyond compare the greatest combination of heart and brain that ever existed, the greatest soul-power that has ever been manifested. He is the first great reformer the world has seen. He was the first who dared to say. “Believe not because some old manuscripts are produced, believe not because it is your national belief, because you have been made to believe it from childhood; but reason it all out, and after you have analysed it, then if you find that it will do good to one and all, believe it, live up to it, and help others to live up to it.” He works best who works without any motive, neither for money, nor for fame, nor for anything else; and when a man can do that, he will be a Buddha, and out of him will come the power to work in such a manner as will transform the world. This man represents the very highest ideal karma-yoga.”

All through the teachings of the Blessed One there is a constant insistence on right conduct based on true understanding. The aim of life is to develop a perfect character. Buddha referred to himself as an example of this attainment which is open to all, and never laid any special claims to divinity or godhood for himself. Religion, according to Buddha, does not consist in mere performance of ritual or propitiation of deities, but it consists in the struggle to achieve self-possession and peace. In his last discourse addressed to Ananda, just before his passing away; Buddha summed up his teachings in the following beautiful words:

“Therefore, O Ananda! be ye lamps unto yourselves. Betake yourselves to no external refuge. Hold fast to the Truth as a lamp. Hold fast as a refuge to the Truth. Herein, O mendicants, a brother continues as to the body, so to look upon the body that he remains strenuous, self-possessed, and mindful, having over­come both the hankering and the dejection common in the world. And in the same way as to feelings, ... moods, ... ideas, he continues so to look upon each that he remains strenuous, self-possessed, mindful, having overcome both the hankering and the dejection common in the world. And whosoever, Ananda, either now or after I am dead, shall be a lamp unto themselves, and a refuge unto themselves, shall betake themselves to no external refuge, but holding fast as their refuge to the Truth, shall look not for refuge to anyone besides themselves–it is they, Ananda, among my Bhikkus, who shall reach the very topmost height-hut they must be anxious to learn.”

Let me conclude this short sketch with the following exhortation of Buddha as given in the Dhammapada (II. 1, 4, and 5):

“Wakefulness is the way to immortality; heedlessness is the way to death; those who are wakeful die not, the heedless are already dead. Continuously increasing is the glory of him who is wakeful, who has aroused himself, and is vigilant; who performs blameless deeds, and acts with becoming consideration, who restrains himself and leads a righteous life. Let such, a one, rousing himself to wakefulness by the restraint and subjugation of himself, make for himself an island which no flood can engulf.”