Academic Articles: The Buddha Seen in the Pāli Sutta Piṭaka Venerable Rangama Chandavimala Thero The Historical Background of the Buddha The Gotama, who lived in India in the sixth century B.C., was the founder of Buddhism. He renounced the world when He was 29 years old. After six years of that great renunciation He attained the fully enlightenment (samboddhi) with the realization of the Four Noble Truths (Catu ariyasacca). Then, the Buddha preached the Dhamma to this world, which is known as Buddhism today. The word ‘Buddha’ means the person who realized. It derived from the root ‘budh’ which means to know or to realize. Before he attained the Buddhahood He was not called as Buddha but Bodhisatta which means the one whose aspiration is to become a Buddha. The Buddha was a unique to the human world and no one could challenge His perfect knowledge and incomparable teachings. In the Gradual Sayings (Aṅguttara Nikāya) we find several small suttas, which explain about the uniqueness of the Buddha. One Sutta explains as follows:
Although the Buddha was a historical person some people believe that He was a mythological figure and came to human world from another world like divine realm. After one hundred years of the passing away of the Buddha many Buddhist schools arose in India. Including Theravāda school there were eighteen Buddhists sects or schools. There was a one Buddhist school called Lokuttaravādins a branch of Mahāsaṅghikas. The literal meaning of Lokuttaravāda is Transcendental School. They originated new ideas about the Buddha. Mahāvastu the Vinaya book of Mahāsaṅghikas explains that the Buddha was a transcendental being. The Buddha’s body is transcendental, His root of good thoughts (kusalamūla) also transcendental. His walking, standing, sitting, sleeping, and all the other actions are transcendental. They said that the Buddha didn’t want to clean his body because dust cannot dirt his body and no need to eat, sleep or to do any thing as other human beings. But the Buddha behaved as a human being just to show but not real. Further they say that He was sitting in full lotus posture in the mother’s womb and preached the Dhamma to the Bodhisattvas before his birth. But when we go through the Early Buddhist sources or Tipiṭaka we can see the real picture of the Buddha and he himself talks about His lay life before the Enlightenment as a Bodhisatta but not a Buddha. Prince Siddhārtha renounced the world giving palatial life with all upbringings for the sake of others. He wanted to realize the truth and teach it to the world. By birth he is not a Buddha. It is the highest position that one can achieve by his enormous effort with full of diligence. Prince Siddhārtha was born as a son of King Suddhodana and Queen Mahāmāya. So he was not sent by the God or any other power. Although His childhood is not mentioned in the Pāli Canon, the period from His youth to the end of His life is clearly stated. In Sukumāla Sutta and Ariyapariyesana Sutta we have some information regarding the youth of prince Siddhārtha. The Buddha gave a beautiful description of His youth in the Sukumāla Sutta. He lived in total elegance. He had three palaces, one for each of the three seasons. Three lotus ponds bloomed red, white and blue lotus flowers. They were made only for His happiness. All His garments were from Vārānasi. A white sunshade protected him all the day from cold, heat, dust, durt and dew. During the rainy season beautiful girls entertained him without any male attendants. Although, the minor workers of palaces in other kingdoms were fed with simple food, the workers of prince Siddhārtha’s palace were treated with tasty food. According to Sukumāla Sutta Prince Siddhārtha’s household life was full of sensual pleasure. He lived like a celestial being in heaven and was endowed with a fortune, while having pleasure all around him. But subsequently, Prince Siddhārtha understood the real nature of Saṃsāra or the circle of life and death. In spite of all these comforts this young prince Siddhattha resort renunciation. Even though He lived with amidst luxuries, He understood that nothing is ever lasting and everything is subjected to change or impermanence. Ariyapriyesena Sutta we find the reason why Siddhārtha had his great renunciation.
Pleasure ends with un-pleasure which every being refuses. That is the salient feature of every conditioned phenomenon which common people do not concern. This erudite young Siddhārtha observed the everlasting reality comparing pleasant and unpleasant phenomena. As a result of his long time observations he decided to renounce the world seeking the truth. It was not a decision taken promptly just after seeing four signs: an old person, a sick person, a dead body, and a recluse. It was difficult to seek the truth while living in the palace. Pabbajjā Sutta provides the evidence for renunciation. “Household life is crowded, a realm of dust, while going forth is the open air seeing this, he went forth.” Prince Siddhārtha had renounced the world while his parents were weeping. Having gone to the forest he shaved his beard and hair by himself and donned saffron robes. Prince Siddhārtha’s renunciation was an unprecedented historical event; one ever has done in the world’s religious history. His sovereign youth, luxurious upbringings, and material pleasures could not prevent the impermanence and sufferings. The quest of truth was the sole intention that acetic Gotama had. He went to some teachers seeking the truth or the answer for birth, age and death (kiṃ sacca gavesī). Ᾱlārākālāma and Uddākāramaputta were the poplar meditation masters in that period. Their teachings based on calmness meditation or Samatha Bhāvanā in Pāli. Ᾱlārakālāma’s teaching was limited up to 7th absorption or Ᾱkiñcaññāyatana Jhāna (Consciousness of nothingness) while Uddakārāmaptta had been developed it up to 8th Jhāna or Nevasaññānāsaññāyatana (Neither Perception nor Non-Perception). Ascetic Gotama first went to Ᾱlārakālāma and learnt whole the teaching he advocated and left the teacher because he couldn’t find what he expected. He went to Uddakārāmaputta and learnt under him and obtained 8th Jhāna as a result of Samatha meditation. These mundane Jhānas are not permanent and cannot give the answer for the problem of life and death. Therefore Ascetic Gotama left his second teacher Uddakārāmaputta too. Then he started to practice severe austerities which were prevailed in India in the 6th century B.C. The acetic Gotama practiced extreme asceticism based on self-mortification. The Mahāsīhanāda Sutta describes all his asceticism. Due to severe austerities (Attakhilamathānuyoga) he reduced his food satisfying having a one sesame seed as his meal for the day. He looked like a walking Skelton. If he touched his belly he could touch his spine, if he touched the spine he could touch his belly. His hair gone and body bent forward as a camel’s hoof. As he refrained from having a bath, the whole body was covered with thick layers of dust which were cracked into parts. But he didn’t feel to clean it. The following example can be quoted from In Ariyapariyesana Sutta the Buddha explained it as follows.
Ascetic Gotama’s austerities are historical and we do not find any other recluse’s practice of austerities similar to him. The Buddha has explained it thus: It was the most difficult thing someone could do in this world. But seeking the truth Ascetic Gotama was able to do so. It shows us how he thirsted to realize the truth to get rid of sufferings. The Buddha Experienced Aging “The blessed One is eighty years old and I am eighty years old.” King Kosala’s words clearly show that the Buddha was eighty years old. Generally when a person grows old his body changes; like loosing strength, wrinkling, back bending etc. The Buddha’s limbs also were subjected to such decay. Once the Blessed One was dwelling at Pubbārāma of Savatthi, on one evening He was warming His body in the western sunrays. Then the Venerable Ānanda came to the Buddha and massaged the Buddha’s limbs. Having observed the Buddha’s old body Venerable Ᾱnanda said as follows:
But the Blessed One accepted what Venerable Ānanda said and replied to him that it was the real nature of life. If some one is young he will be subjected to age; if some one is healthy he will be subjected to illness; if some one lives he will be subject to die. Therefore, it was common to the Buddha. There are three universal characteristics or features in component things: impermanence (anicca), suffering (dukkha), and non-self (anatta) .So the Buddha’s limbs were also component phenomena or Saṃkhata dhamma. Three Universal Characteristics can be stated in another way: birth, changing and destroying. (uppāda, vaya, aññatatta) On Buddha’s last journey to Kusinārā He was tired and weary. “The teacher laid His weary limbs to rest while Cundaka kept beside Him.” In the last bed of the Buddha He proclaimed to monks that He was ripe in age. So He had to separate from them. “Ripe I am in years. My life-span’s determined. Now I go from you, having made myself my refuge.” These words create an old figure of the Buddha in our mind. No one can say that the Buddha never became old because it is clearly stated in the Sutta Piṭaka. The Buddha Himself had accepted that He had become old. In Saṃyutta Nikāya we find a description of the Buddha’s body. He said to Venerable Ānanda that He was like a worn-out cart: “Etarahi kho panāhaṃ Ānanda jinno vuddho mahallako addhagato vayo-anuppatto. Asītiko me vayo vattati. Seyathāpi jajjara sakaṭaṃ.” “As for me, Ānanda, I am now a broken down old man, aged, far gone in years. I have reached the journey’s end. I am come to life’s limit. My age is now turning eighty years. Just as Ānanda, a worn-out cart is kept going by tied together with helps, even so, Ānanda, the Tathāgata’s body is kept going by helps.” The Buddha Experienced Sickness “Diseases originating from bile, from phlegm, from wind, from conflict of the humors, from changes of weather, from adverse conditions (faulty deportment), from devices (practiced by others), from kamma-vipāka (results of kamma); and cold, heat, hunger, thirst, excrement, and urine.” So our body is being changed momentarily and frequently subjected to sickness. It was the same for the Buddha too. Many times the Buddha was sick. “Atha kho bhagavā vassūpagatassa kharo ābādho uppajji, bhāḷhā vedanā vttati māranntikā.” This quotation tells us the Buddha was seriously ill with sharp pains and He was about to die. So it is no doubt about the sickness of the Buddha. Another sutta also describes the same thing with a slight difference. “Now on that occasion the Exalted One was sick, afflicted, stricken with a sore disease.” (tena kho pana samayena Bhagavā ābādhiko hoti dukkhito bāḷha gilāno) The Exalted One told Cunda Thera to preach seven Bojjhaṅgas or the Factors of Enlightenment to get rid of His sickness. Having heard the seven Bojjhaṅgas the Exalted One rose up from His sickness. Rūpa or form gets its name because of its changing. Khajjanīya Sutta explains the characteristics of the form as follows. “Ruppatī’ti kho bhikkhave tasmā rūpanti vuccati.” Because of its changeability the rūpa (body) is called rūpa. Therefore the Buddha’s body also subjected to this universal phenomenon. Cīvara Khandaka provides us information about Buddha’s stomachache which compelled Him to take a laxative. The Buddha told Venerable Ānanda that he would like to have a laxative. Then the Venerable Ānanda visited Jīvaka, the royal physician, and told him that Buddha expects to have a laxative. Jīvaka went to the Buddha and observed the symptoms of the sickness. Then he prescribed a laxative for the Buddha. The Physician realized that the Buddha was too weak to have a strong laxative decoction. Therefore he took three bundles of water lilies and added special kinds of medicine into them. Then he told the Exalted One to inhale them. Having taken this special remedy, the Buddha had twenty-nine bowel movements. Afterwards He took a warm bath and again one more time, He had a bowel movement. Then He was fully recovered. Some suttas show that the Buddha had a back pain time to time. A similar phrase we find in some suttas as follows. “My back is uncomfortable. I will rest it.” (Piṭṭi me agilāyati, tamahaṃ āyamessāmī’ti Bodhirājakumāra wanted to know whether Buddha was free from illness because Buddha some times had been sick. In the last days of the Buddha He was severely sick. “Having eaten the meal provided by Cunda the Lord was attacked by a severe sickness with bloody diarrhea, and with sharp pains as if He were about to die”. Human Characteristics of the Buddha Once the two groups of monks called Dhammavādī and Vinayavādī began to fight with each other due to an insignificant problem. But they took it seriously and made a conflict. Their students and devotees also involved themselves with this problem. The Buddha advised them to stop it but they told the Buddha to mind his own business as they themselves could solve this problem. So the Buddha left them and went to the forest called Pārileyya. This shows the human nature of the Buddha. We find an attractive description of the Buddha’s life in Ariyapariyesana Sutta. The Buddha and His attendant Ven. Ānanda once went to have a bath at the Eastern Bathing Place of Sāvatthi. After having finished bathing the Buddha came out of the water and stayed standing until his body was dried. This opportunity is very important. It shows us how the Buddha behaved as a human being. After having a bath any one likes to warm his body. The Buddha, too, was sensitive to the atmosphere. The Buddha’s limbs also were comprised of five aggregates and four great elements. That is why He was also sensitive to nature. In Cūlagosinghe Sutta we find another instance. Three prominent disciples of the Buddha named Ven. Anuruddha, Ven. Kimbila and Ven. Nandiya once were living in the forest called Gosiṇha Sīla. There the Buddha visited them. When He reached them the park keeper saw him from a distance and did not allow Him to go near them saying thus: “Do not enter this park, recluse, there are three clansmen here seeking their own good. Do not disturb them.” This park keeper could not recognize the Buddha and he did not know who the Buddha was. If he knew that He was their teacher, he would have allowed the Buddha to reach them. The other important thing is the words of Ven. Anuruddha. He heard the voice of the park keeper and saw the Buddha was there. Then he told to the park keeper thus: “Friend park keeper, do not keep the blessed One out. It is our teacher, the Blessed One, who has come.” When we consider this particular situation there may be doubt about the 32 great marks. Though the forest keeper was a general person, Pukkusāti, who was said to have been a king, should have recognized the Buddha. As a teacher, the Buddha was aware of his students’ health. He attended to sick wards often and observed their ups and downs. Gilāna Saṃyutta of Saṃyutta Nikāya is full of stories about sick monks and the Buddha’s visiting them. One time the Buddha visited a sick monk. Then that monk saw the Buddha and tried to offer Him a seat. But the Buddha said to him to be seated. “Enough, brother, stir not on your bed. There are these seats made ready. I will sit there.” Another instance is, whenever he meets the disciples He asks a question like this: This looks like a relationship between father and children. Parents wish their children to live happily; so did the Buddha. If monks do not get alms it is an obstacle to their reclusive lives. He has preached ‘hunger is the greatest disease’ (digacchā paramā rogā- Dhammapada- Sukhavagga Verse 7). When we consider the Soṇadaṇḍa Sutta we find many special virtuous behaviors of Buddha. “…He is welcoming, kindly speech courteous, genial, clear and ready of speech…” Superhuman Characteristics of the Buddha Doṇa: Is not the Venerable One a god? The concept of the Buddha gradually developed and later on the Buddha became as a divine being as a result of this. Now in the modern world there is a new word has come up as Buddhalogy. It is just like Zoology, Biology and etc. The Buddha was attributed with special and extra ordinary characteristics. Some Suttas explain the about 32 Great marks and 80 minor marks in Buddha’s physical body which the Buddha distinguished from others. As it is mentioned in many Suttas we cannot deny it easily. The Buddha’s special identity or specific characteristics show his perfect personality as a successful teacher. Early Buddhism or Buddhist scriptures provide us enough evidence to prove it. Puppha Sutta says us how the Buddha differs from ordinary people. “The Tathāgata [having been born in the world] having come to full growth in the world, passing beyond the world, abides unspotted by the world.” According to above mentioned sutta the Buddha’s life is similar to a lotus flower. Although He lived in this world He was uncontaminated by the world. A lotus is born in the muddy water and grows in the water but it rises out of the water surface without touching water and blossoms. The Buddha is compared to a lotus flower as He came out of the muddy world. Venerable Ᾱnanda Maitreya explains about the Buddha as follows. “The Buddha, the expounder of this Doctrine was neither a god nor a son of a god, nor an incarnation of a god, nor a prophet sent by such an agency. He was a human being a prince of the Sākyan clan of the northernmost part of ancient India…Though he was not a supernatural being; he was a prodigy, an extraordinary person, the rarest type of person.” This interpretation also shows the extra ordinary characteristics of the Buddha. He was the only super human being who ever lived in this world. It is clearly stated in the Sutta Piṭaka the powerful teaching and practice techniques of the Buddha. A standard phrase, which recurs throughout the suttas, is that the Buddha is a teacher of both deities and humans. In Māgandiyā Sutta gives a beautiful explanation about the Buddha. “Master Māgandiyā, there is a recluse Gotama; the son of the Sākyan clan. Now a good report of Master Gotama has been spread to this effect: The Blessed One is accomplished fully enlightened perfect in the knowledge and conduct sublime knower of world, incomparable teacher of persons to be tamed, teacher of gods and humans, enlightened blessed.” The Buddha was praised by many people belonging to various ranks. The Buddha was not only the teacher of humans but also of gods, Māras and Brahmas. Devatā Saṃyutta, Māra Saṃyutta and Brahma Saṃyutta of Saṃyutta Nikāya contain suttas proclaimed by the Buddha on the questions posed to the Buddha by the above mentioned divine beings. The Buddha was unique human being who had realized Dhamma by Himself and preached Dhamma to the world. Thousands of people came to the Buddha and after hearing Dhamma they became Buddha Sāvakas. Therefore some people believed that the Buddha had a miraculous power to convert the people. After the householder Upāli, who was the chief benefactor of the of Jaina Mahāvīra, became a lay disciple of the Buddha, a Nighaṇṭha, called Dīghatapassi, said to Mahāvīra that the Buddha has converted Upāli Gahapati using the miraculous power. “The recluse Gotama is a magician and knows a converting magic by which he converts disciples of other sectarians.” In the beginning of this paper I stated that the Buddha was an extraordinary person. According to Acchariya-abbūta Suta it is mentioned as follows:
Here the Buddha was described as wonderful and marvelous human being. After the bandit Aṅgulimāla was tamed by the Buddha, King Kosala expressed the following words with an exclamation.
As the Aṅgulimāla Sutta describes, Aṅgulimāla was dangerous, murderous, bloody handed, given to blows and violence, merciless to living beings. Villages, towns and districts have been laid waste by him. The only enemy and the only problem, which King Kosala had, were with Aṅgulimāla. King Kosala said to Buddha the following words. How did the Buddha tame dangerous people like Aṅgulimāla? That is nothing but using superior quality named purisadammasārathī (The incomparable quality of taming the untamed persons). From these instances mentioned above, it can clearly be proved that the Buddha was an extra ordinary person. By embellishing on the concept of these qualities, gradually the image of the Buddha developed into a mahāpurisa with thirty-two great marks. It is true that the Buddha was a great person or acchariya manussa. But when the 32 marks attributed to the Buddha automatically He looks like a divine being. Sela Sutta and Brahmāyu Sutta of Majjhima Nikāya and Lakkhaṇa Sutta, Ambaṭṭha Sutta and Mahāpadāna Sutta of Dīgha Nikāya are popular suttas which describe the 32 great marks. The Development of the Concept of the Buddha In Mahāyāna Buddhism we have only six pāramitā-s and some of them also different from Theravāda. Dāna, śīla, kṣānti, vīrya, dhyāna and prajñā are six pāramitās of Mahāyāna literature. Kṣānti and dhyāna pāramitā-s are different from Theravāda. They have new concept regarding Bodhisattva bhūmi (states) called dasa bhūmi which cannot be seen in Theravāda. It clearly shows that they have developed the concept of Bodhisattva. The other thing is they have host of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in their literature and every being also regarded as a Bodhisattva. They believe that he Buddhas live in Sukhāvati. Time to time one Buddha comes to the human world and behaved as a human being and shows to the people the shortage of the human life and returns to Sukhāvatī. Sākyamuni Buddha is one of them. That is the new concept of Buddhalogy. According to early Buddhist scriptures we find only six Buddhas mentioned by our Gotama Buddha both in Dīgha Nikāya and Saṃyutta Nikāya. The Buddha Vipassī, Sikhī, Vessabhū, Kakausanda, Konāgamana, Kassapa are mentioned there. When we come to Buddhavaṃsa it developed up to 24 or 28 or 35 Buddhas. The concept of future Buddha also added as the name Metteyya or Maitreya in Sanskrit. Apart from 32 great marks 80 miner specific marks also attributed to the Buddha. In Buddhavaṃsa just only the name, Asīti anubyañjana or the 80 minor marks are mentioned. But when we come to Apadāna these 80 marks are explained in details. The Buddha was regarded as the Omniscience One (Sabbaññū). In early suttas we find six-fold magical powers (chaḷabhiññū) and three fold knowledge (tevijjā or tisso vijjā). Later on these knowledges and powers developed and 73 knowledges came to be known. Tathāgatabala or Dasabala are mentioned in Mahāsīhanāda Sutta in Majjhima Nikāya. These ten powers are spiritual but not physical. The names used for Buddha also increased in numbers later on. In suttas we find 9 great qualities of the Buddha named, arahaṃ, sammāsambuddho, vijjācaraṇasampanno, sugato, lokavidū, anuttaro purisadammasārathī, satthā devamanussanaṃ, buddho, bhagavā. Two of them, Bhagavā and Tathāgato were used very often to address the Buddha. Another two names Maggaññū and Tevijjo also can be seen in scriptures to address the Buddha. But they were not commonly used. In Buddhist literature we find many names for Buddha. Some of them are Dasabalo, Sabbaññū, Dipaduttamo, Munindo, Nātho, Cakkhumā, Aṅgīraso, Muni, Devadevo, Lokagaru, Dhammassāmi, Lokanātho, Nadhivaro and etc. These names are based on the qualities of the Buddha find in Suttas. The ideas about His existing also developed gradually up to aeons. If the Buddha wants to live eons he could. Conclusion
|
Resources |
Puja |
Links |
Downloads |
Cards |