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BY MIROJ SHAKYA |
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Kusinagar: Where the Buddha passed Away
The final year of the Buddha's life are marked by the loss of the close Friends as well as contention within the Sangha. The political situation was changing; his two friends, King Bimbisara of Magadha and King pasenadi of Kosala were murdered by their sons and their thrones usurped. Within the sangha the Buddha's cousin Devadatta rose to challenge the Buddha, not just for the position of leadership but also to question his practices. The final years were spent, not in peace and contentment but in bringing the Sangha to order.
It was during the Buddha's visit to Kapilvastu that he had converted Devadutta, along with the other five hundred Sakya princes. Devadatta, in the later Buddhists text, emerges as the schismatic who seeks domination. Although a brilliant and able man, he was unscrupulous and scheming: he wanted to succeed the Buddha, who was then seventy-two years old. The Buddha, however, refused. After him there would only be the Law and the Sangha. Devadatta, instead of Submitting carried out a series of increasingly violent attempts to eliminate the Buddha and establish his supremacy. Some even impute Ajatasatru's killing of his father, King Bimbisara, to Devadatta's evil machinations. The attempts started with an attack on the Buddha's life by hired killers. Devadatta then st the elephant Nalagiri (with the reputation for being a killer), loose on him. The charge of the elephant 'with trunk in the air, ears erect, and tail rigid', became a famous subject in Buddhist art. Later texts further embellish the scene: 'from the head of the Buddha sprang five lions which kept the elephant at day.'
The struggle with Devadatta, when voided of mythical flourishes, is seen to be centered around the practices of the Sangha. Many monks had become critical of what they perceive as the laxity of the rules of the Sangha. Contention arose over the rules pertaining to residence, acceptance of invitations to dinner, clothing, shelter and food. Devadatta and others were critical of the Buddha for they found him wanting in the strict observance of ascetic discipline.
Devadatta advocated, as a minimum condition, strict observance of the rules monks could eat only what they begged, robes could only be made from mended rags, robes could only be made from mended rags, there could be no permanent shelters, monks must abstain from eating meat and fish. It was at Vaishali that this controversy about the rules broke out and Devadatta, when hid ideas were not accepted by the Buddha, left with five hundred monks. The size of the dissatisfied group shows that there were many monks who were happier following a path of severe denial and austerity and had not really come to terms with the Buddha's Middle Path'. Chinese travelers write of his group as a distinct order-these monk is continued to venerate only the Buddha of the past. Thus Devadatta's group represents an early break within the Sangha.
Devadatta marks as early schism, a questioning of the philosophical and organizational principles around which the Buddha had built the Sangha. This challenge was successfully met, but another arose from the outside involving the kingdoms of Kosala and Magadha. The political situation began to change with the usurpation began to change with the usurpation of the Kosala throne by Virudhaka, who drove his father, King pasendai out of the kingdom. The usurpation occurred, significantly, while Pasendi was visiting the Buddha. Virudhaka pursued a policy of expansion and extended the ambit of his control. he sought to subdue the proud Sakyas against whom, it is said, he had an old grudge. (The story is told that viruchaka's mother, a sakyan, was actually of low origin and the sakyas had deliberately misled pasenadi when he sought a sakyan bride. Virudhaka, again according to tradition, died in a fire and went to hell in atonement of his sins.)
The neighboring kingdom of Magadha was also ruled by a parricide, Ajatasatru, who was as much in the process of expanding his territories. Ajatasatrus' physician Jvaka was a Buddhist and it is aid that under his influence Ajatasatru sought to win the Buddha over by repenting the killing of his father. 'In my foolishness, in my blindness, in my wickedness I have caused my father's death, this virtuous man and virtuous king. May the blessed on the, O lord, accept the confession of my sins so that I shall not sing again.'
In trying to expand his kingdom, Ajatasatru sought to conquer the Vajji confederacy which was a tribal grouping. He sent his minister, varshakara to find out from the Buddha whether he would be able to successfully subdue the Vajjian confederacy or not. The Buddha was in his seventy-ninth year when the minister came. Instead of answering his question directly he turned to Ananda and defined the reasons for the Vajji strength. He said that the Vajji held frequent public meetings, lived peacefully, were respectful of the law, displayed respect for the aged and for women, were king towards saints and venerated sanctuaries.
The Buddha, while supporting the republican system of the Vajjis, used this occasion to compare it with the Sangha. What he was saying was that the Sangha too could remain strong as long as it was united and in concord. He also stressed that the bikkhuas should 'delight in a life of solitude ... not engage in, be fond of, or be connected with business... should exercise themselves in mental activity, search after truth, energy, joy, peace, earnest contemplation and equanimity of mind... shall exercise themselves in the realization of the ideas of the impermanent of all phenomena, bodily or mental, the absence of every soul.. so long may the brethren be expected not to decline but to prosper.'
The rainy season came to an end and the monks were to go forth and preach the 'Law'. The Buddha too set out with Ananda and other monks from Rajgir, the Magadhan capital. He stopped briefly at Ambalathika, the mango tree nursery where he delivered a sermon. His next stop was Nalanda, the home of Sariputta. Nalanda later emerges as a great university around the 4th century Ad, Though Emperor Ashoka had built a monastery there earlier. Its period of glory was however during the rule of the imperial Guptas (5th century), one of whom, Narsimha Gupta, built a brick temple.
The Nalanda Malhavihara was, according to the Chinese traveler hiuen Tsang, built on a mango garden donated by a rich merchant. He describes the place as being remarkable for grandeur and height: 'The richly adorned towers and the fairy-like turrets, like pointed hill tops, are congregated together. The observatories seem to be lost in the vapour of the morning, and the upper rooms tower above the clouds.' This magnificent structure was surrounded by translucent pools and had 'roofs covered with tiles that reflect the light in thousand shades.'
At this university, ten thousand scholars are said to have resided and there were over a thousand teachers. they were all fed and clothed free, Each, according to Hiuen Tsang, received daily 'one hundred and twenty janbiras (a fruit), twenty areca nuts, twenty nutmegs, an ounce of camphor, and a pick of the finest variety of rice called Mahasali which grew only in magadha and every month three measure of oil and a daily supply of butter, etc, Each resident was further provided with two servants and one elephant.'
The monastery , with the lands given to it which were cultivated by its residents managed to support itself. Gradually the monastery acquired police as well as administrative rights. In the 7th century, when Hiuen Tsang came, over a hundred villages were endowed to the Nalanda monastery and later their number was increased to two hundred.
During the Buddha's time, the teacher himself was the institution and monasteries were meant for monks and nuns. Gradually, corporate centers of education came up. Early medieval temple colleges at Salogi, Eunariram, Tirumukudda are such examples. Nalanda remained a flourishing center till the 12 th century when Bakhtiyar khalji destroyed it. It Alexander Cunningham who identified the modern Bargon with Nalanda in 1871 but it was only in 1915 that systematic excavations were undertaken.
From Nalanda, the Buddha proceeded to pataligrama on the Ganga, where the great maryan rulers later built their capital and which today is Patna. Here he observed the preparations beings built against the Licchavis. With the rainy season upon them, the Buddha and his monks reached Vaishali. Her he stopped with his disciple Ananda at Beluva, the bamboo village (in the vicinity of Kushinagara).
Vaishali, capital of the powerful licchavis, is also closely associated with the Buddha. The two most striking incidents here are the stories of the courtesan, Ambapalli and the Buddha's foster mother, Mahaprajapati.
The Buddha, much to the discomfiture of the Licchavi nobles, accepted an invitation for a meal from Ambapalli, The Licchavi nobles begged and pleaded with her and offered to recompense her if she would withdraw the invitation but she was adamant and the Buddha, who believed in equality of all, dined with her. Mahaprajapati was an aunt of tghe Buddha who had acted as his foster mother after the death of Queen Maya. When the Buddha came to Kapilvastu she had tried unsuccessfully to join the Sangha, In spite of the Buddha's refusal she continued to persevere and arrived in Vaishali bedraggled, footsore and weary. The Buddha remained reluctant to allow her to join but with the support of Ananda she ultimately convinced him. She founded the Bhikkuni Sangha or the order of nuns.
Both the stories are illustrative ofthe changing attitudes towaqrds women. teh growth ofa sophisticated urban culture is apparent with the existence of courtesans like Ambapalli, At the same time she did not acquire social status, for xuch practicwes were not universally accepted. Teh Brahmans. were opposed to them, For instance, a Brahmana would not take food offered by a ganika or prostitute. On the other hand, the Buddha by accepting Ambapalli's invitation displayed a tollerant attitude. He was treating her as a socially acceptable individual. Yet, his reluctance to allow women into the order does reflect that the change was one of degree. While Anand's insistence gained Mahaprajapati's ordiantaion, nuns still had to be reborn as men to gain salvation.
At Beluva, the Buddha became violently ill, an illness which would finally claim his life. It was here that he delivered his final sermon and explained his views about the Sangha. It is said that Ananda asked him for instructions but the Buddha refused, saying, now the Tathagata, Ananda, thinks not that it is he who should lead the brotherhood, or that the order is dependent on him. Why then should he leave instructions in any matter concerning the Order?' He went on to add, 'Therefore, O, Ananda, be ye lamps unto yourselves. Be ye a refuge to yourselves. Betake yourselves to no external refuge. Hold fast to the truth a lamp!'
The Buddha recovered for a while but the end was near. He made frequent trips to vaishali, the city the loved. It is said that when he set out for home he said, "It is the last time O, Ananda, that the "Predestined One" looks upon vaishali, he will never return!' The licchavis are said to have built a stupa to commemorate that event, after they brought their share of the Buddha's relics. Later Chinese travelers describe the Stiupa, but by the time of Hiuen Tsang the city was in nuns, though the stupa and an Ashokan pillar still existed. Hiuen Tsang also describes a stone tank reportedly dug up by a group of monkeys. As with other sites, Vaishaili lay in obscurity till located by Alexander Cunningham. He identified it with other sites, Vaishali lay in obscurity till located by Alexander Cunningham. He identified it with the present town of Basrah in the district of Muzaffarpur, Bihar.
Later tradition relates that the Buddha, before setting out on his final journey, asked Ananda whether he should live on for another kalpa ( a whole age, from creation to final dissolution) but Ananda remained silent. Another story narrates Mara's visit to the Buddha, who finally agreed to seek parinibbana. (death or the cessation of being). Regardless of these stories it is clear that the Buddha set out from Vaishali towards Kapilvastu but he was not fated to reach his destination. After Vaishali he stopped briefly at pava. Here the Buddha rested at the mango orchard of Kunda, the blacksmith's son. It is here that he is supposed to have eaten a meal which infected his stomach and led to intense dysentery which caused his death. In the later tradition, to absolve kunda of any blame, he tells Ananda, 'These are two offerings of food of equal merit and equal fruitfulness. more meritorious and profitable than any other: the one eaten by the :Predestined One" before the supreme and perfect "Enlightenment" and the one eaten by the "predestined One" before his final decease.
Kunda's offering is obviously a later addition and complements sujata's earlier offering. The acts of the divine Buddha thus attain the shape of a predestined sequence. The Buddha, debilitated by attacks of dysentery, was weak and weary and had to stop mid-way at Kushinagara. At a stream, Kakuttha, the Buddha drank water, muddied by the passing of a large caravan, much against the advice of Andand. Here while the Buddha was resting, Putksasa, a noble of the Malla clan which ruled Kushinagara, came by and engaged him in discussion. This noble had studied under Arada Kalpa, under whom the Buddha too had studied for a while. The noble was awed by the Buddha and presented him a cloth 'the color of gold, shining and ready to wear'. It is said that when Ananda clothed the Buddha clothed the Buddha with this cloth, it lost its lustre because of the greater brilliance emanating from the Buddha.
The Buddha continued his painful journey. Crossing the river Hiranyavati, he rested in a sal grove of the Mallas. To Ananda he said, 'Come Ananda, spread for me a couch with its head to the north between the twin sal trees. I am weary, Ananda and would lie down... and the 'Blessed One' laid himself down on his fright side, with one leg resting on the other and he was totally and self possessed. At the third watch, in the sal grove, the Buddha attained the Great Departure or Decease, Mahaparinibbana.
This sal grove at Kushinagar is near the modern town of Kasia in Deoria district of Uttar Pradesh. While some excavations had been carried out earlier it was during 1861-2 that Alexander Cunningham identified the site Later, the well-known nibbana statue of the Buddha was uncovered as well as other structures. As with the other sites, both Ashoka and the Chinese travelers had visited them. Hiuen Tsang wrote, 'He is lying with his head to the north as if asleep. By the side of this vihara is a stupa built by King Ashoka. Before it is a stone pillar which records the nirvana of the Tathagata.
When the Buddha was near his end, Ananda said, 'Let not the Blessed One die in this little wattle and daub town in the midst of a jungle.' The Buddha replied that it was a large and prosperous city with a great and virtuous ruler, In his last hours the Buddha made arrangements for his end. He first consoled the dejected Ananda by telling him that it was in the nature of things that 'we must divide ourselves from them, leave them,. sever ourselves from them.' Andnada was then sent to inform the Mallas of the Approaching demise of the Buddha so that they could come and pay their respects. Before his end the Buddha was to convert one more person: a man, Subhadra, full of doubts came to him seeking clarification, searching for answers. Ananda tried to turn Subhadra away but the Buddha called the man back and taught him. Subhadra's doubts were dispelled and he was converted and even ordained. He was the last disciple converted by the Buddha.
Before the Buddha went into those successive stages of meditation where sensation and ideas cease to exist, he gave his final exhortation: 'Behold now, brethren, I exhort you, saying: decay is inherent in all composite things! Work out your salvation with diligence.' Later traditions made out the funeral of Buddha to be a grand Affair, much as it would have been for a Chakravartin Raja, a universal monarch. With his passing away his relics were divided into eight parts and carried away by the faithful.
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