Journey of Siddharth Guatama becoming Buddha

From Kapilavatsu to Rajagraha.

• Leaving Kapilavatsu, Siddharth Gautama thought of going to Rajagraha, the capital of the kingdom of

  

  Image showing remains of Kapilvastu

  Magadha.
• The reigning king was Bimbisara. It was a place which great philosophers and leaders of thought had made their headquarters.
• With this thought in mind he crossed the Ganges, fearing not her rapid flow.
• After a long and arduous journey Gautama reached Rajagraha surrounded by five hills, well guarded and adorned with mountains, and supported and hallowed by auspicious and sacred places.
• On reaching Rajagraha he selected a spot at the foot of the Pandava hill and put up a
• small hut made of the leaves of trees for his sojourn.
• Kapilavatsu by foot is nearly 400 miles distant from Rajagraha.
• This long journey Siddharth Gautama did all on foot.

 King Bimbisara and His Advice to Siddhartha Gautama

• Next day Siddharth Gautama got up and started to go into the city with a begging bowl asking for alms. A vast crowd gathered round him.
• Then Sreniya Bimbisara, the lord of the kingdom of the Magadhas, beheld from the outside of his palace the immense concourse of people, and asked the reason of it ; and thus did a courtier recount it to him :
• The king, having heard this at once spoke to that courtier : " Let it be known whither Siddharth Gautama is going " ; and the courtier, receiving the command, followed the prince.
• Like a mountain in stature, the king ascended the hill where Siddharth Gautama halted.
• There he beheld Gautama, resplendent as he sat on his hams, with subdued senses, as if the mountain was moving, and he himself was a peak thereof.
• Him, distinguished by his beauty of form and perfect tranquillity, filled with astonishment and affectionate regard, the king of men approached.
• Then the king sat down on the clean surface of the rock, and being seated, he thus spoke, desiring to convey his state of mind :
• " I have a strong friendship with thy family, come down by inheritance and well proved ; since from this, a desire to speak to thee, my son, has arisen in me, therefore, listen to my words of affection "
• "If, therefore, gentle youth, thou desirest not thy paternal kingdom, then in thy generosity, accept forthwith one half of my kingdom "

Siddhartha Gautama answers to Bimbisara.

• Thus spoke the monarch of the Magadhas, who spoke well and strongly ; but having heard it, the prince did not falter. He was firm like a mountain.
• Being thus addressed by the monarch of the Magadhas, Gautama, in a strong speech with friendly face,—self-possessed, unchanged, thus made answer :
• " What you have said is not to be called a strange thing for thee. 0 King! born as thou art in the great family whose ensign is the lion, and lover as thou art of thy friends, that ye should adopt this line of approach towards him who stands as one of thy friends is only natural.
• "I have been wounded by the strife of the world, and I have come out longing to obtain peace; I would not accept any empire in the third heaven, for saving me from all the ills of the earth how much less amongst men ?
• " But as for what thou has said to me, O King, that the universal pursuit of the three objects is the supreme end. of man,—and thou saidst that what I regard as the desirable is misery,—thy three objects are perishable and also unsatisfying.
• " And as for what thou saidst, ' wait till old age comes, for youth is ever subject to change';— this want of decision is itself uncertain; for age too can be irresolute and youth can be firm.
• " But since Fate is so well skilled in its art as to draw the world in all its various ages into its power,—how shall the wise man, who desires tranquillity, wait for old age, when he knows not when the time of death will be ?
• " When death stands ready like a hunter, with old age as his weapon, and diseases scattered about as his arrows, smiting down living creatures who fly like deer to the forest of destiny, what desire can there be in anyone for length of life ?
• " It well befits the youthful son or the old man or the child so to act with all promptitude that they may choose the path of the religious man whose soul is all mercy.
• " And as for what thou saidst, be diligent in sacrifices for religion, such as are worthy of thy race and bring a glorious fruit, '—honour to such sacrifices ! I desire not that fruit which is sought by causing pain to others!
• " To kill a helpless victim through a wish for future reward,—it would be unseemly action for a merciful, good-hearted man, even if the reward of the sacrifice were eternal.
• " And even if true religion did not consist in quite another rule of conduct, by self-restraint, moral practice and a total absence of passion,—still it would not be seemly to follow the rule of sacrifice, where the highest reward is described as attained only by slaughter.
• " Even that happiness which comes to a man, while he stays in this world, through the injury of another, is hateful to the wise compassionate heart; how much more if it be something beyond our sight in another life ?
• " I am not to be lured into a course of action for future reward,—my mind does not delight, 0 King, in future births; these actions are uncertain and wavering in their direction, like plants beaten by the rain from a cloud."
• The king himself, folding his hands, replied, "Thou art obtaining thy desire without hindrance; when thou has at last accomplished all that thou has to do, thou shall show hereafter thy favour towards me."
• Having received a firm promise from Gautama to visit him again, the monarch, taking his courtiers with him, returned to the palace.

  

  Image showing Shanti Stupa at Rajgruh