THE LIFE OF THE BUDDHA
Project Gutenberg EPUB edition
Olcott, Henry Steel
80. Q. What happened there?
A. He converted a man named Kāshyapa, renowned for his learning and teacher of the Jatilas, a great sect of fire-worshippers, all of whom became also his followers.
81. Q. Who was his next great convert?
A. King Bimbisāra, of Magadha.
82. Q. Which two of the Buddha's most learned and beloved disciples were converted at about this time?
A. Sāriputra and Moggallāna, formerly chief disciples of Sañjaya, the ascetic.
83. Q. For what did they become renowned?
A. Sāriputra for his profound learning (Prajña), Moggallāna for his exceptional spiritual powers (Iddhi).
84. Q. Are these wonder-working powers miraculous?
A. No, but natural to all men and capable of being developed by a certain course of training.
85. Q. Did the Buddha hear again from his family after leaving them?
A. Oh yes, seven years later, while he was living at Rājagrha, his father. King Suddhodana, sent a message to request him to come and let him see him again before he died.
86. Q. Did he go?
A. Yes. His father went with all his relatives and ministers to meet him and received him with great joy.
87. Q. Did he consent to resume his old rank?
A. No. In all sweetness he explained to his father that the Prince Siddhārtha had passed out of existence, as such, and was now changed into the condition of a Buddha, to whom all beings were equally akin and equally dear. Instead of ruling over one tribe or nation, like an earthly king, he, through his Dharma, would win the hearts of all men to be his followers.
88. Q. Did he see Yasodharā and his son Rāhula?
A. Yes. His wife, who had mourned for him with deepest love, wept bitterly. She also sent Rāhula to ask him to give him his inheritance, as the son of a prince.
89. Q. What happened?
A. To one and all he preached the Dharma as the cure for all sorrows. His father, son, wife, Ānanda (his half-brother), Devadatta (his cousin and brother-in-law), were all converted and became his disciples. Two other famous ones were Anuruddha, afterwards a great metaphysician, and Upāli, a barber, afterwards the greatest authority on Vinaya. Both of these gained great renown.
90. Q. Who was the first Bhikkuni?
A. Prajāpatī, the aunt and foster-mother of Prince Siddhārtha. With her, Yasodharā and many other ladies were admitted into the Order as Bhikkhunis or female devotees.
91. Q. What effect did the taking up of the religious life by his sons, Siddhārtha and Ānanda, his nephew, Devadatta, his son's wife, Yasudharā, and his grandson, Rāhula, have upon the old King Suddhodana?
A. It grieved him much and he complained to the Buddha, who then made it a rule of the Order that no person should thenceforth be ordained without the consent of his parents if alive.
92. Q. Tell me about the fate of Devadatta?
A. He was a man of great intelligence and rapidly advanced in the knowledge of the Dharma, but being also extremely ambitious, he came to envy and hate the Buddha, and at last plotted to kill him. He also influenced Ajātashatru, son of King Bimbisāra, to murder his noble father, and to become his—Devadatta's—disciple.
93. Q. Did he do any injury to the Buddha?
A. Not the least, but the evil he plotted against him recoiled upon himself, and he met with an awful death.
94. Q. For how many years was the Buddha engaged in teaching?
A. Forty-five years, during which time he preached a great many discourses. His custom and that of his disciples was to travel and preach during the eight dry months, but during the season of Way—the rains—he and they would stop in the pānsulas and vihāras which had been built for them by various kings and other wealthy converts.
95. Q. Which were the most famous of these buildings?
A. Jetāvanārāma; Veluvanārāma; Pubbārāma; Nigrodhārāma and Isipatanārāma.
96. Q. What kind of people were converted by him and his disciples?
A. People of all ranks, nations and castes; rājas and coolies, rich and poor, mighty and humble, the illiterate and the most learned. His doctrine was suited to all.
97. Q. Give some account of the decease of the Buddha?
A. In the forty-fifth season after his attaining Buddhahood, on the full-moon day of May, knowing that his end was near, he came at evening to Kusināgāra, a place about one hundred and twenty miles from Benares. In the sāla grove of the Mallas, the Uparvartana of Kusināgāra, between two sāla trees, he had his bedding spread with the head towards the north according to the ancient custom. He lay upon it, and with his mind perfectly clear, gave his final instructions to his disciples and bade them farewell.
98. Q. Did he also make new converts in those last tours?
A. Yes, a very important one, a great Brāhmana pandit named Subhadra. He had also preached to the Mallya princes and their followers.
99. Q. At day-break what happened?
A. He passed into the interior condition of Samādhi and thence into Nirvāna.