The Life of Lord Buddha

Pranams at the lotus feet of Lord Buddha!

Chapter – 5

At the Palace gate, Siddhartha was met Vasavathimara who represents Maya/illusion, manifested before Siddhartha to put a hold on his search for truth. But Vasavathimara was quite sure that he cannot persuade Siddhartha or his sensual pleasure to deceive him.  Vasavathimara threatened Siddhartha to return to the royal palace where there are only luxuries and happiness, lead a comfortable life of a Prince, in seven days he will be crowned as Monarch, if he discards all the royal pleasures he will go through sufferings and agonies.  Siddhartha sternly replied to him “I do not want to be a Monarch, I do not want any royal status, happiness or luxuries which are not going to provide me bliss, these momentary pleasures are not going to help my subject, and dear ones from their sufferings and sorrows of worldly existence.  Therefore, move away from my path and let me go in search of eternal truth.”  Vasavathimara disappeared from the sight of Siddhartha, before leaving promised that he will chase Siddhartha with greed, hatred, delusion and make his life miserable and follow him like a shadow.

Siddhartha crossed several miles on horseback, Channa dutifully followed the Prince and finally, they have arrived in the beautiful lush green land on the riverside of Anoma.  Siddhartha discarded the royal costume, adopted the saffron robe, long hair was rolled and piled-up as a summit, assumed the form of an ascetic.  Channa was terribly upset and sad, fallen at the feet of the Prince.  He advised Channa “ Channa, I am discarding all the pleasures and royal comfort for finding a way out of sufferings and sorrows for all the living beings on the Earth.   Therefore do not feel depressed or sad.  You go back to the Palace and inform my father that I will not return to the Kingdom until I receive the supreme knowledge and the reason for sufferings and sorrows of worldly existence.”  That was the beginning of the journey of a royal Prince Siddhartha to the highest state of spirituality.

The Life of Lord Buddha

Pranams at the lotus feet of Lord Buddha!

Chapter – 4

On the third day when Siddhartha returned to the palace after the visit of the outside world, he was extremely disappointed and mystified after witnessing the realities of life,one of the servants rushed to him with the good news.  “ Your Highness, your wife has given birth to your son.”.  Siddhartha could not express his joy like an ordinary person; he was just begun to learn the harsh truth of aging, illness, and death which are the trap of human life on the Earth.   He felt the birth of the child was to firm his worldly bondage.    He went to meet the child and Yasodhara, but both of them were asleep.  He uttered in silence “ Yasodhara, you are dear to my heart, and Rahula you are everything to me. Oh! Dear ones, we all have to go through the sufferings like aging, sickness, and death, I have to find a way out of these sufferings for all, I have to find a way beyond all these pain and anguish, I am ready to take up all those troubles and turmoil in search of supreme bliss where there is no sufferings and misery.”  He silently left the chamber of Yasodhara, once again looked at the new born Rahula and his dear wife.

On that night, Siddhartha rushed to the attic of Channa who was half asleep, he called for Channa and asked him to keep the horse ready to leave the palace.  Channa was shocked where did the Prince want to leave in the middle of the night.  Channa received instruction from the Prince to keep his horse Kanthaka ready to leave, he will be waiting before the front gate of the Palace.  Siddhartha informed Channa that no one in the Palace should know that he is leaving the palace forever.  That was the beginning of the journey of a royal Prince to achieve the status of a great religious Monk.

The Life of Lord Buddha

Pranams at the lotus feet of Lord Buddha!

Chapter – 3

As usual the next day, Channa and Siddhartha left the palace in the chariot.  It rolled through the pathways of a village,  Siddhartha could witness a sick old man sitting on the patio of a house.  Seeing this, Siddhartha asked Channa to stop the chariot.  “What’s that, Your Highness?”  Siddhartha said “ Channa, why is that old man is shivering so badly and finding difficult to breathe?”  Channa said, “ He is sick, Your Highness.”  Siddhartha was curious to know what is sickness.  Channa continued “ The sickness is a natural part of life, whoever born on the Earth has to undergo these challenges several times in their lives, none can protect themselves from this for a long time. In fact, every one of us has to experience it several times in our lives.”  On that night after returning from outside of the palace, Siddhartha has nothing to think other than the grave situation of the man who was shaking hardly for breath.  The thought of aging and illness put him gloomy and depressed.  He has not witnessed any of these miserable sights in all these years, there are several people and physicians to serve in the palace.

The next morning, Channa and Siddhartha left the palace a little early.  As usual, they have witnessed the beauty of nature, people, and village.  Siddhartha could see a person fully covered in a white robe, a few of his relatives were standing around and shedding tears.  Siddhartha could not resist himself; he jumped out of the chariot and rushed to the people who were mourning.  Channa requested “ Oh! Your Highness, please come back.” But Siddhartha could not hear Channa.  Soon Channa joined with the Siddhartha who asked: “ Channa, why this man is wrapped in a white robe?”  Channa replied “ Your Highness, that’s a dead man, all the living things have to die.  This is also one of the natural processes, whoever take births has to die one day, no one can escape from it.” Siddhartha asked bluntly, “Even me has to undergo death?” Channa said, “ Yes, Your Highness, everyone is subject to death.”   That night Siddhartha returned home extremely disappointed, he pondered over the things he had witnessed in the last three days.  There was not much appealing sight he could witness other than the beauty of nature.   All that he had been witnessing were terrible realities of life those are aging, sickness and death.

The Life of Lord Buddha

Pranams at the lotus feet of Lord Buddha!

Chapter – 2

While the chariot was rolling through the pathways, suddenly Siddhartha asked Channa to stop the chariot.  Channa stopped the chariot and enquired “ Yes, Your Highness, why did you ask me to stop here?” Siddhartha said, “ Channa, Look at the man walking on the sideways, he is thin and weak, his hairs are grey, his skin all over the body is wrinkled and unappealing, he is too weak to walk.” Channa replied “ Oh! That’s an old man, Your Highness”.  Siddhartha was curious to know more about this old man’s appearance, he wanted to know should we all go through the same state of the body, does it happen to everyone etc… Channa replied “ Yes, Your Highness, whoever took birth on this Earth should undergo these changes in their lives, this is the process of aging.  No one will be freed from this state of transformation.”  This information was all new to Siddhartha and it was shocking as well.  On that night Siddhartha pondered over the sight he had witnessed in the village, their journey began with the most marvelous sight of nature, when they arrived in the human-inhabited areas there were people of different colors and sizes, and domesticated animals, everyone was engaged in various odd activities, finally the sight of an old man with wrinkles who was struggling to move on the pathways, that was not an appealing sight for Siddhartha.  That was the first time Siddhartha came to know about the nature of human life and the sufferings of living beings on the Earth.

The Life of Lord Buddha

Pranams at the lotus feet of Lord Buddha!

Chapter - 1

It was Siddhartha's wife Yasodhara full pregnant with their only son.  One dark night Siddhartha was watching over the sky standing in the palace balcony, his father King  Shudhodhana joined with him.  “ Son, are you awake in the late night? Is there anything bothering you? Is there anything you want to share with me?”  Siddhartha said, “ Yes father, I wanted to ask permission to go out of the Royal Palace and see the beautiful sights nature has to offer.”  Shudhodhana said, “ Siddhartha, there is nothing is charming and attractive to see outside the royal palace.”  Siddhartha said, “ Father, since childhood I have not stepped out of the Royal Palace, I wanted to see how the life out of the palace, I have seen all that sparkling and cheerful life inside the four walls of this Palace.”  His father tried to put off the very idea of Siddhartha to go out of the palace, but he could not convince him for long.  Siddhartha said “ Father, you may be right, there is nothing much attractive in the outside of the Palace, still I wanted to see that with my own eyes. Kindly give me permission to visit outside the palace.”  Finally, King Shudhodhana gave permission to Siddhartha to visit outside the world of the palace,  he also arranged a royal chariot for him to conduct a visit.

The next morning sky was bright, a grand chariot was ready to pick Siddhartha with the charioteer Channa/Chandaka and they left the great walls of the palace.  It was for the first time Siddhartha being out in the open, fresh air, soothing morning wind, trees, and numerous flowering plants, ponds, chirping of birds, lush green fields, streams, etc..  It was a marvelous sight for Siddhartha.  The chariot started rolling through the harsh pathways of the villages.  Siddhartha kept his eyes and ears wide open; he watched each and every sight with awe.  Finally, they arrived in a village where he could see small huts, cattle, and people busily walking over the street and engaged in various activities.  It was the most captivating sight for him. Siddhartha thought why did my father stop me going out of the palace, was unaware of the reason for being not letting him go out in the open.

Significance of Pithrupaksha – Mahalayapaksha

There is a legend of Gayasura, a demon who lived in the sacred land Gaya, was a staunch devotee of Lord Vishnu.  He undertook extreme Tapasya and attained several boons.  He has achieved a unique boon that was, whoever sees him or touches him would attain Moksha or attain the abode of Lord Vishnu, the people who witness him would never go through the hellish tortures in the abode of Lord Yama.   Ultimately, the abode of Lord  Yama has become empty,  the deities were alarmed.  Lord Yama appealed to Lord Bhrama, Lord Vishnu and Lord Mahadeva, even the sinners attained Moksha or Srivaikundham with the help of Gayasura, sinners became fearless and free to commit any crime and therefore deities have to find a solution to stop the increasing crimes.  Lord Bhrama approached Gayasura and praised him, with a proposal “ Gayasura, you are a pious soul, we want to conduct a fire sacrifice on top of your upper back for the welfare of the Universe and its people.” Gayasura was readily agreed for this, all the deities took a seat on the upper back of Gayasura, but after some time his body started moving forcefully, the deities were frightened.  They placed huge and heavy rocks/Prethashila on his upper back to stop the movement, but nothing has worked.  Lord Vishnu came to know about the happenings, he hit hard on the Dharmashila.   Gayasura realized the presence of his beloved Lord Vishnu on his upper back, he requested for a boon to Lord Vishnu “ Oh! Lord kindly offer me a boon, people who perform ancestral rites on this Shila would attain an abundance of piousness and Moksha.”  Lord Vishnu offered the boon, thus the place where the fire sacrifice took place on the upper back of Gayasura known as the sacred land Gaya, one of the   Mokshasthal on the Earth.   

Sant Gorakumbhar

Pranams at the lotus feet of Gorakumbhar Maharaj!

Chapter – 3

One day there arrived a young couple seeking pottery work to Goraba, this couple introduced themselves coming from nearby villages seeking a livelihood.  Goraba invited them to stay with him and do the potteries.  Thus this couple started living with the family of Goraba, they devoted their time to producing potteries; the house became lively as it was before, this couple without any hesitation did all the potteries.  It was the season of Varkari Yathra to Pandharpur, during this time of the year people in large numbers conduct journey by foot to the famous shrine of Lord Panduranga.   This couple expressed their desire to join with the devotees to Pandharpur.  Goraba wished to conduct the journey with his family also joined with this couple and decided to go for Pandharpur.   On their way, they had an opportunity to listen to the passionate lectures of Sant Namdev Maharaj “ The supreme Lord is selfless, he is the protector, he provides the necessities of our lives, he never asks anything in return.  He has given us the form of human after several births, he showers boundless mercy upon us, and therefore it is our prime duty to remember him always.  The devotion to the supreme Lord is like wet clay,  you can envision Lord whichever form you want to witness, for that we need to have pure eyesight and sincere devotion, he is attainable to his staunch devotees.  Whoever constantly remembers him and utters his sacred names, it is definite that he will never leave them.  The person who tastes the nectar-like sacred names of the Lord will not leave the taste of it.  It is difficult to cross the unfathomable ocean of worldly existence which is full of miseries and sorrows.  It can be easily crossed with the ferry of Harinama,  Namasmarana is the easiest way to attain Lord.  It can provide eternal bliss and serenity.”  The group of Varkari saints immersed in the speech, Gorakumbhar was completely wrapped in the Namasmaran, without even sensing the arms which were cut off years ago, back as it was before.  He rushed to the sanctum followed by his wives; he cried before the idol of Lord Vittala and promised to utilize the hands received with the grace of Lord Vittala for the service of Lord.  Lord Panduranga appeared before the couple and blessed them, Goddess Rukmini returned the child safely to the couple that was thrashed and died under the legs of Garba.  Once again, peace and happiness were restored in the life of Sant Gorakumbhar.    It was the intense devotion of Goroba which brought the supreme Lord Vittala as a potter couple who served this family at the time of distress.