Saturday, May 18, 2019






Life of Lord Budhdha –


India has been the land of diversified beliefs and faith, Buddhism was initiated from Lumbini,  a sacred place close to the border of Nepal which is the birthplace of Siddhartha Gautama who was born in 623 B.C. in the Kingdom of Kapilavasthu.  He was born to Queen Mayadevi and King Sudhdhadhana of the Kingdom of Kapilavasthu.  



Queen Mayadevi had a dream in that a white  elephant was moving on the sky, which is considered as highly auspicious during the days of pregnancy, it was a part of their tradition to give birth to the child in the paternal homeland,   hence Queen Mayadevi decided to travel to Devadhaha while she was fully pregnant, but she had to give birth to the child in the Lumbini grove on the way to Devadhaha.   Thus, Supreme Being took the form of a human, later became the source of liberation/Nirvana for the entire clan of Sakhya/branch of Ikshvaku dynasty and the living beings on Earth.   King invited many scholars, priests; astrologers for the naming ceremony of the child, one of the astrologers prophesied that the child would discard all the princely status and will attain enlightenment. 




In the early years of childhood, Siddhdhartha was under the supervision of excellent Masters in various field of knowledge, he was a studious child, he mastered all the subjects, he has grown up into a talented and brave young man. He was extremely caring, compassionate, loving, and kind to all the people and living creatures on the Earth.  King Sudhdhadhana was anxious about the prophecy of the astrologer in his whole life, therefore he has arranged all the comforts and luxuries within the palace ,  not giving any room for  Sidhdhartha  to practice the sense of abandonment, he has arranged superior attendants to fulfill  all his requirements,  and charming young courtesan girls distract him from any sort of renunciation. There was one incident, his visit to the country people, witnessing their poor living standards, illness, sufferings, poverty and death made Sidhdhartha contemplate upon the cause for sufferings.  It ignited the spark in him for the search of absolute truth and the cause for sufferings and miseries of worldly existence.   


 At the age of 16 he was married to his first cousin princess Yasodhara.    Siddhartha Gautama and Yasdhara were same age; at the age of 29, this couple had a son Rahula, on the 7th night after the birth of the child   Siddhartha Gauthama abandonment the material life and conducted search for enlightenment, while Yasodhara was asleep.  When Prince Siddhartha left the chamber, Yasodhara who was pretending to asleep, moved close to the window watching her husband leaving the palace once for all, she sincerely wished that her husband should achieve all the comforts in the forest life, he had chosen over the princely status.    Siddhartha renounced the princely living and went in search of the ultimate truth, the next six years he underwent extreme austerities and penances, it caused physical weakening.    During this period of time, Yasodhara who came to know that her husband is leading a supremely ascetic life, she renounced her royal comforts, she abandonment royal costume, and jewelry embraced saffron robe, and consumed meal once in a day, during these six years of rigorous penance of her husband, Yasodhara has closely followed the news of his development in asceticism.    He proceed his journey to Gaya, on the way he met a farmer who offered a bundle of Kushagrass, he sat under a Bodhi/awakening tree for 49 years and contemplated upon causes of sufferings in the material existence, on a full moon night Siddhartha gained enlightenment, this sacred place has come to know as Bodha Gaya/Buddha Gaya which is situated 150 km south of the city of Patna.  Buddha Purnima is the day commemorates the birth of Siddhartha Gautama, and enlightenment of Buddha.  


When Budhdha visited Kapilavasthu after enlightenment, Yasodhara did not go to meet him; she had a faith that if she is having any virtues, her Lord would definitely come to meet her, as expected, Budhdha met Yasodhara and praised her patience and sacrifices.  Later, Yasodhara and Rahula became devoted disciples of Budhdha.   Yasodhara attained the supreme abode at the age of 78, just two years before the Mahanirvana of Lord Budhdha.









The way to end sufferings –


Sufferings, mental and physical afflictions, the pain of separation, grief, poverty, and illnesses are the genuine cause for the interest in spiritualism, it is the ultimate truth and no one can deny it.   Spirituality is knowledge of self and God-realization, knowledge about Supreme Being who resides as a soul in living beings; we are madly driven by the sensual pleasure without the awareness of supreme consciousness which is the permanent cure for all the sufferings.  The practice of Knowledge of self is definitely not a shallow pond; it is an unfathomable ocean.  All the religious practices teach the ultimate objective, that is true enlightenment and liberation from worldly existence.  The practice of spirituality is definitely not practicing on a particular method of belief or faith which is more appealing and compatible, and practice on it and if it does not work, leave it and pick another one.  Bhagavan Krishna says in Srimadh Bhagavad Gita that practicing one’s own Dharma, though practicing it with flaws is better than following another person’s Dharma with perfection, which could bring dangerous consequences, Varnna/classes was established to follow Dharma meticulously,  four classes are established such as Bhramana, Kshathriya, Vaishya and Shudra were entrusted with certain responsibilities and duties to follow strictly.  The Brahmanas were entrusted with the duty of study of scriptures, promote the growth of Vedic way of living and sincerely follow Bhraminic rites, the performance of fire sacrifices, share knowledge on scriptures and Veda, ensure the augmentation of Vedic knowledge and protection of the same.  The Kshatriyas were entrusted with the duties of protection of Kingdom, implementation of rules and regulations for the welfare of the people of the country, protection of the country from its enemies, ensure the prevalence of peace and welfare in the country.  The Vaishyas were entrusted with the duties of production of grains in abundance; protect the country from famine, development of agriculture and animal husbandry.  The Shudhras were entrusted with the duty of serving all the three Varnnas with utmost sincerity.   Therefore following one’s own duties and responsibilities which are prescribed in the scriptures only can bring salvation from repeated births.