:: 2. The Buddha's First Sermon. ::
1. After exchange of greetings the five Pariv-rajakas asked the Buddha whether he still believed in asceticism. The Buddha replied in the negative.
2. He said there were two extremes, a life of pleasure and a life of self-mortification.
3. One says let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. The other says, kill all vasanas (desires) because they bring rebirth. He rejected both as unbecoming to man.
4. He was a believer in the Madhyama Marga (Majjhima Patipada), the middle path, which is neither the path of pleasure nor the path of self-mortification.
5. " Answer me this," he said to the Parivrajakas, " So long as your self remains active and continues to lust after either worldly or heavenly pleasures, is not all mortification vain?" And they answered, " It is as thou sayest."
6. " How can ye be free from self by leading a wretched life of self-mortification if ye do not thereby succeed in quenching the fires of lust ? " And they replied, " It is as thou sayest."
7. " Only when the self in ye has been conquered that ye are free from lust ; ye will then not desire worldly pleasures, and the satisfaction of your natural wants will not defile ye. Let ye eat and drink according to the needs of your body.
8. "Sensuality of all kinds is enervating. The sensual man is a slave of his passion. All pleasure-seeking is degrading and vulgar. But I say unto you that to satisfy the needs of life is not an evil : to keep the body in good health is a duty, or otherwise you shall not be able to keep your mind strong and clear and have the lamp of wisdom burning.
9. " Know ye, 0 Parivrajakas, that there are these two extremes which man ought not to follow—the habitual indulgence on the one hand, of those things whose attraction depends upon the passions, and especially of sensuality—a low and pagan way of seeking satisfaction, unworthy, unprofitable and the habitual practice thereof, and on the other hand, of asceticism or self-mortification, which is painful, unworthy and unprofitable.
10. " There is a middle path which avoids both these extremes. Know ye, that, this is the path which I preach."
11. The five Parivrajakas listened to him with attention. Not knowing what to say in reply to the Buddha's middle path, they asked him what he was doing after they had left him. Then the Buddha told them how he left for Gaya, how he sat in contemplation under the Banyan Tree and how after four weeks of contemplation he obtained enlightenment as a result of which he was able to discover a new path of life.
12. On hearing this, the Parivrajakas became extremely impatient to know what the path was and requested the Buddha to expound it to them.
13. The Buddha agreed.
14. He began by saying that his path which is his Dhamma (religion) had nothing to do with God and Soul. His Dhamma had nothing to do with life after death. Nor has his Dhamma any concern with rituals and ceremonies.
15. The centre of his Dhamma is man and the relation of man to man in his life on earth. 16. This he said was his first postulate.
17. His second postulate was that men are living in sorrow, in misery and poverty. The world is full of suffering and that how to remove this suffering from the world is the only purpose of Dhamma. Nothing else is Dhamma.
18. The recognition of the existence of suffering and to show the way to remove suffering is the foundation and basis of his Dhamma.
19. This can be the only foundation and justification for Dhamma. A religion which fails to recognise this is no religion at all.
20. " Verily, Parivrajakas! whatsoever recluses or Brahmins (i.e., preachers of religion) understand not, as it really is, that the misery in the world and the escape therefrom, is the main problem of Dhamma, such recluses and Brahmins in my opinion are not to be regarded as recluses and Brahmins ; nor have those worthies come to know fully of themselves what in this very life is the real meaning of Dhamma."
21. The Parivrajakas then asked him : "If the foundation of your Dhamma is the recognition of the existence of suffering and the removal of suffering, tell us how does your Dhamma remove suffering !"
22. The Buddha then told them that according to his Dhamma if every person followed (1) the Path of Purity ; (2) the Path of Righteousness ; and (3) the Path of Virtue, it would bring about the end of all suffering.
23. And he added that he had discovered such a Dhamma.
1. After exchange of greetings the five Pariv-rajakas asked the Buddha whether he still believed in asceticism. The Buddha replied in the negative.
2. He said there were two extremes, a life of pleasure and a life of self-mortification.
3. One says let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. The other says, kill all vasanas (desires) because they bring rebirth. He rejected both as unbecoming to man.
4. He was a believer in the Madhyama Marga (Majjhima Patipada), the middle path, which is neither the path of pleasure nor the path of self-mortification.
5. " Answer me this," he said to the Parivrajakas, " So long as your self remains active and continues to lust after either worldly or heavenly pleasures, is not all mortification vain?" And they answered, " It is as thou sayest."
6. " How can ye be free from self by leading a wretched life of self-mortification if ye do not thereby succeed in quenching the fires of lust ? " And they replied, " It is as thou sayest."
7. " Only when the self in ye has been conquered that ye are free from lust ; ye will then not desire worldly pleasures, and the satisfaction of your natural wants will not defile ye. Let ye eat and drink according to the needs of your body.
8. "Sensuality of all kinds is enervating. The sensual man is a slave of his passion. All pleasure-seeking is degrading and vulgar. But I say unto you that to satisfy the needs of life is not an evil : to keep the body in good health is a duty, or otherwise you shall not be able to keep your mind strong and clear and have the lamp of wisdom burning.
9. " Know ye, 0 Parivrajakas, that there are these two extremes which man ought not to follow—the habitual indulgence on the one hand, of those things whose attraction depends upon the passions, and especially of sensuality—a low and pagan way of seeking satisfaction, unworthy, unprofitable and the habitual practice thereof, and on the other hand, of asceticism or self-mortification, which is painful, unworthy and unprofitable.
10. " There is a middle path which avoids both these extremes. Know ye, that, this is the path which I preach."
11. The five Parivrajakas listened to him with attention. Not knowing what to say in reply to the Buddha's middle path, they asked him what he was doing after they had left him. Then the Buddha told them how he left for Gaya, how he sat in contemplation under the Banyan Tree and how after four weeks of contemplation he obtained enlightenment as a result of which he was able to discover a new path of life.
12. On hearing this, the Parivrajakas became extremely impatient to know what the path was and requested the Buddha to expound it to them.
13. The Buddha agreed.
14. He began by saying that his path which is his Dhamma (religion) had nothing to do with God and Soul. His Dhamma had nothing to do with life after death. Nor has his Dhamma any concern with rituals and ceremonies.
15. The centre of his Dhamma is man and the relation of man to man in his life on earth. 16. This he said was his first postulate.
17. His second postulate was that men are living in sorrow, in misery and poverty. The world is full of suffering and that how to remove this suffering from the world is the only purpose of Dhamma. Nothing else is Dhamma.
18. The recognition of the existence of suffering and to show the way to remove suffering is the foundation and basis of his Dhamma.
19. This can be the only foundation and justification for Dhamma. A religion which fails to recognise this is no religion at all.
20. " Verily, Parivrajakas! whatsoever recluses or Brahmins (i.e., preachers of religion) understand not, as it really is, that the misery in the world and the escape therefrom, is the main problem of Dhamma, such recluses and Brahmins in my opinion are not to be regarded as recluses and Brahmins ; nor have those worthies come to know fully of themselves what in this very life is the real meaning of Dhamma."
21. The Parivrajakas then asked him : "If the foundation of your Dhamma is the recognition of the existence of suffering and the removal of suffering, tell us how does your Dhamma remove suffering !"
22. The Buddha then told them that according to his Dhamma if every person followed (1) the Path of Purity ; (2) the Path of Righteousness ; and (3) the Path of Virtue, it would bring about the end of all suffering.
23. And he added that he had discovered such a Dhamma.
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