Author: Ankit Dhakal "Sandeept"
On the birth of Siddhartha Gautam
About 2600 years ago, on the night of Baishakh Poornima, at Lumbini, Mother Mayadevi gave birth to Siddhartha Gautam. In different times of the history, the Holy Land of Lumbini belonged to different nations. In modern times, it is within the territory of Nepal. This should not, however mean that the Buddha was a Nepali. He was not a citizen of any modern country. Making him a citizen is unfair- historically as well as morally[1].
This is an era of science and technology. Everything is evaluated according to facts and evidences. Had the culture, art and writings of the Buddha Era not been proved, the Buddha might have been declared a myth. But evidences until now have shown all the paths of the Buddha's journey. The historians have also agreed upon the fact that Lumbini was his birthplace. On the other hand, they have not been able to actually pointed out the year of his birth. That's exactly what we need to discover. The accuracy in dates will certainly bring up accurate historical data.
The actual problem is this: It's been 28 years since the "Master Plan" on development of Lumbini has come into action. The slow work means it has not been completed year. In his twenty-ninth year, even Siddhartha had realised that he needed to seek for the truth. Why haven't we been able to look for the truth? Ways have already been shown by the Buddha, after all.
On the Karma of Siddhartha and the Buddha
Siddhartha is said to have a life of comfort. If he felt the emotional comfort he needed is doubtable. His mother had passed away while he was still an infant and his father could not give him enough time. The only comfortable presence would be of Mother Prajapati. The physical comfort must have been adequate as Raja Shuddhodhan had built up three palaces to meet the needs according to the weather. They did not touch Siddhartha, though. This is one story which shows how Siddhartha behaved:
Every year, Raja Shuddhodhan ploughed fields at the beginning of ropaain (rice cultivation). Siddhartha too was taken on his sixth birthday. Instead of getting involved in the feast, he sat under a tree looking silently at the ants around him. A little farther, he saw a lizard eating them up. As he watched with interest, a snake swallowed the lizard. In no time, a hawk pounced upon the snake and took it away. It was the first time, nature had generated curiosity in him. Why did the food cycle go in the way it did? He started questioning himself. He did not care for any comfort though they were easily provided. That was when the three palaces had been built but Siddhartha always craved to return to the nature. Once out of the palace, he saw an old, a sick and a dead[2]. That inspired him to go back to the nature where he would discover the truth of our lives. And became known to the world as the Buddha.
When the Buddha discovered the cause and cessation of suffering, like a common person, he debated with himself, "Should I preach what I've discovered? What if no one believes me?" He thought he should give it a try. His first preached his thoughts to five people at Kushinagar. His voice might have been soft; he might have preached in local dialect in the simplest way. That was probably why he had a huge number of followers. Gautam Buddha is the chief inspiration to the Buddhists all around the world.
One does not become great by their birth, but by their deeds (karma). Siddhartha was born as a warrior. He should have battled all his life. But he preached peace. I bow to the Buddha who became great with his karma; not by his birth.
Our Dharma
To me, right deed is the Dharma. It was Siddhartha's Dharma to discover the truth behind our suffering. Buddha's Dharma was to teach what he knew. Would we have discusses the Buddha had he not done what he should have done? But our Dharma is not just to discuss the life of Buddha. Our Dharma is to practice what he preached. To preserve his path and messages should be our Dharma. Only then we can really respect him.
[Footnotes:
1. Great people are known by their Karma. Only those inspired by right Karma are respected by all, wherever they might have taken birth.
There has been a craze to make Buddha a Nepali. Photoshopped citizenship of the Buddha can be seen in the social media. Not only it is a mockery to the history, it is also an immoral trend. We have politicised the Buddha to conceal our inefficiency. Buddha's teaching are cying alone on in the cornered shelves of libraries.
2. Buddha's stories say that Siddhartha saw three men- an elderly, an ill and a corpse in three consequtive days. Did he actually see one person? Maybe on the first day, he saw an old man and got curious. On the second day, he might have discovered that the old man was sick. The man might have died before Siddhartha saw him the third day. He might have perceived that people suffered. And he might have set a quest to discover the ways to end suffering.]
A similar article has been published here in Nepali.
