Lord Ayyappa is Buddhist

Lord Ayyappa is Buddhist

In addition to Temple at Puri, Pandharpur, and Badrinath in three different corners of India, even the extreme south, viz. Kerala, was also under the influence of Buddhism and among others, the famous deity Lord Ayyappa was originally a Buddhist shrine.
 

Buddhism prospered in ancient Kerala
K.R. Vaidyanathan observes:
"Like Jainism, Buddhism also held sway in ancient Kerala during the reign of Asoka in the 3rd century B.C. Coming by sea, Buddhism was popular in coastal districts, Karumati, Mavelikkara, Bharanikkavu, Pallikkal, Karunagappalli, Idappalli, Dharmapattabnam, Matayi and Pallikkunny being its chief centers... Many prominent Hindu Temples of today like the Vadakkunnathan temple, Trichur and the Kurumga Bhagwati Temple, Kondugallur, and even the famous Ayyappa shrine atop Sabarimala are believed to have been at one time Buddhist shrines. ... While Jainism did hardly leave any impress on Kerala society, Buddhism was absorbed in Hinduism in respect of some of its ceremonies and forms of worship. The images, processions and utsavam, etc. associated with popular worship in present day Hindu temples in Kerala are said to be a legacy of Buddhism. Even the chakiyar kuttu conducted in temples is said to be an adaptation of the Buddhist monk's religious expositions." [Vaidyanathan: 1982: 4]

Ayyappa is Dharma Sasta

Coming specifically to Lord Ayyappa, it would be interesting to know that Lord Ayyappa is also generally, and popularly known as Dharma Sasta. Vaidyanathan observes:

"There are temples dedicated to Dharma Sasta as Ayyappa is generally known all over the State of Kerala - and now of course, in other states also. Even in temples dedicated to other deities in Kerala there will be generally a Sasta shrine. ..." [Vaidyanathan: 1982: 70]

As is well known that word 'Dharma' is deeply rooted in Buddhist literature. Eg. 'sadhamma' as meaning Teachings of Buddha. Sasta is a well known epithet applied to Buddha. Even today Buddha is referred to as Sasta in daily prayer of Buddhists, e.g. ' Sattha dev manussanam '. Amarkosha mentions this as one of the names of Buddha. It appears that though the nature of deity changed, the name still persists. The present nature of the Lord is considered to be a son of Siva on Vishnu. Vaidyanathan observes:

"The story is that, Siva was captivated by the charms of Mohini in which form Vishnu appeared at the time of churning of the Ocean of Milk in order to entice the asuras so that the devas could divide the nectar among themselves. Siva succumbed to the beauty of Mohini and Sasta is believed to have been born out of the union." [Vaidyanathan: 1982: 71]

Caste barriers are weak

Another notable feature is the caste barriers are comparatively weak in this temple, which is a common feature of all those shrines which were previously of Buddhist faith. This became necessary for the Brahmins to concede to, so that masses could be wooed away from Buddhism. Vaidyanathan observes:

"...the temple doors of Sabarimala are open to all, irrespective of caste, creed, religion and social status. Here the high and low, the rich and poor, meet on equal terms; all are alike - Ayyappas as the devotees are called after the deity itself." [Vaidyanathan: 1982: 75]

The pilgrimage to Sabari, in itself thought to be an act of tremendous virtue by the Ayyappas, involves a lot of austerities to be followed by them. It is well known that there are 18 steps that are to be climbed only by those who observe these austerities. But it is little known that these austerities are similar to the vows, known as ashta-shilas, taken by Buddhists. This point should also demonstrate how the traditions persist though the labels change.

Early Hindu literature has no mention of Ayyappa

About references in ancient literature, T.A.Gopinath Rao observes: [Gopinath Rao: 1985: 486]

"This deity which is very peculiar to the Dravida country does not appear to have been known to the region north of Godavari. In no early Sanskrit work is the deity mentioned. Even the dictionaries do not record this name and give its origin..."

In the Vishnu Purana, we hear about Mohini, but
"...It is in the Shri Bhagwata that we learn for the first time that Hara fell in love with Vishnu in his form of Mohini. From the union between Hara and Hari, Arya, Shasta or Hariharputra is said to have been born..."

"...The Suprabhedagama very distinctly mentions that Sasta was distributing the ?amrita? among the gods when it was churned from the milk ocean, by the union with her of Hara..."

Ayyappa is a Deity of lower castes

Shri Rao further observes:
"...That this deity is peculiarly Dravidian and has been taken into fold of the Aryan pantheon at a later period goes without contradiction. At present Hariharputra is treated in the Tamil country as a village deity and is mostly worshiped by the lower classes and the puja in the temple of Hariharputra of Ayyanar (or Ayyanarappan) is performed by a Shudra. The Padmasamhita states that the puja in the temple of Arya should be performed by the Parashava; We know from other sources that a Parashava is an anuloma born of a Brahmana father and a Shudra mother. But somehow Ayyanar, like the more tamasic form of Devi, such as Kali, which are worshiped by lower classes in Tamil country, is made puja to by the Brahmanas in Malabar."

Ayyappa was Buddhist

About the origin of the name Shasta, Shri Rao has to say:
"This deity is called Shasta because he is able to control and rule over the whole world; etymologically therefore, the word means a ruler of a country; and is sometimes applied to teachers and fathers. The Amarkosha applies the name to Buddha also. The Tamil Nighantus call him by the additional names Satavahana, the rider of the white elephant, kari, the wielder of the weapon known as sendu, the consort of purana and pushkala, the protector of Dharma and Yogi; they also state that the vehicle of Sasta is the elephant and the crest of his banner a cock. The names rider of the white elephant, Yogi, protector of Dharma coupled with the significance of Buddha applied to Sasta in the Amarkosha incline one to conclude that Buddha as conceived and worshiped in the Tamil country was ultimately included in the Hindu pantheon and a Puranic story invented for his origin at a later period of the history of Hindu Iconology..." [Gopinath Rao: 1985: 487]

Ayyappa has weapons of Bodhisattva
 

Rao gives description of image as per texts, The Amshumabhedagama, Suprabhedegama and Karanangama, notable among the description is that Lord is seated on a pitha..." with his left leg hanging down the seat and the right one folded and rested upon the seat vertically. On the knee of this latter leg should rest the elbow of the stretched left arm. In the right hand there should be a vajradanda, which is crooked stick (note the vajra a characteristic weapon of the Boudha Bodhisattva)..."
Buddha is worshipped in many forms
Lastly we may quote the opinions of Thiru. N. Vanamalai
"Though Buddhism disappeared from Tamilnadu, it became Tamil by integrating into Tamil. Buddha had become reincarnation of Tirumal. The worship of Sathanar, Ayyanar, Dharma Raja and Bodhi Raj are old Buddha worship." [Arachi: 1969: 160]


By Dr K. Jamanadas

The Buddha's First Sermon

The Conversion of the Parivrajakas  

1. Arrival at Sarnath
    1. Having decided to preach his doctrine, the Buddha asked himself "To whom shall I first teach the doctrine?" The thought [came to him] of Alara Kalam, whom the Buddha adored as the learned, wise, intelligent, and of little impurity; "What if I first teach him the doctrine?" But he was told that Alara Kalam was dead.
    2. Then thought he of preaching it to Uddaka Ramputta. But he too was dead.
    3. Then he thought of the five old companions of his who were with him at Niranjana when he was practising austerities, and who had left him in anger on his abandonment of austerities.
    4. "They did much for me, attended me and looked after me; what if I first teach the doctrine to them?" said he to himself.
    5. He asked for their whereabouts. Having learnt that they were dwelling at Sarnath, in the deer park of Isipatana, he left in search of them.
    6. The five, seeing him coming, decided among themselves not to welcome him. Said one of them, "This, friends, is the ascetic Gautama coming, who has abandoned austerities and has turned to [a] life of abundance and luxury. He has committed a sin. We must not therefore greet him, nor rise in respect, nor take his bowl and robe. We will only set apart a seat for him. If he wishes, he may sit down." And they all agreed.
    7. But when the Buddha approached, the five Parivrajakas were not able to abide by their decision; so greatly impressed were they by his personality that they all rose in their seats. One took his bowl, one took his robe, and one prepared a seat, and one brought water to wash his feet.
    8. It was really a great welcome to an unwelcome guest.
    9. Thus those who intended to scoff remained to pray.

2. The Buddha's First Sermon
    1. After [the] exchange of greetings, the five Parivrajakas 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  [so] 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, O 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 [=had been] 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 [the] 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 [discovering] 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 Brahmin ; 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.

3. The Buddha's First Sermon—(contd.) The Path of Purity
    1. The Parivrajakas then asked the Buddha to explain to them his Dhamma.
    2. And the Buddha was pleased to do so.
    3. He addressed them first on the Path of Purity.
    4. "The Path of Purity," he told the Parivrajakas, "teaches that a person who wishes to be good must recognise some principles as principles of life.
    5. "According to my Path of Purity, the principles of life recognised by it are: Not to injure or kill; Not to steal or appropriate to oneself anything which belongs to another; Not to speak untruth; Not to indulge in lust; Not to indulge in intoxicating drinks.
    6. "The recognition of these principles, I say, is most essential for every man. For every man must have a standard by which to judge whatever he does. And these principles, according to my teachings, constitute the standard.
    7. "There are everywhere people who are patit (fallen). But there are two classes of the patit: the patit who has a standard, and a patit who has no standard.
    8. "The patit who has no standard does not know that he has fallen. Consequently he always remains fallen. On the other hand, a patit who has a standard tries to rise from his fallen state. Why? The answer is, because he knows that he has fallen.
    9. "This is the difference between having a standard, and having no standard, for regulating a man's life. What matters is not so much the fall of the man, but the absence of any standard.
    10. "You may ask, ye Parivrajakas! Why are these principles worthy of recognition as a standard of life?
    11. "The answer to this question you will find for yourselves, if you ask: "Are these principles good for the individual?" also if you ask: "Do they promote social good?"
    12. "If your answers to these questions are in the affirmative, then it follows that the principles of my Path of Purity are worthy of recognition as forming a true standard of life."

4. The Buddha's First Sermon (cont'd)—Ashtanga Marga or the Path of Righteousness
    1. The Buddha next addressed the Parivrajakas on the Ashtangamarga. He said that there are eight constituents in the Ashtangamarga.
    2. He began his discourse with the exposition of Samma Ditti (Right Views), the first and foremost element in the Ashtangmarga,
    3. "To realise the importance of Samma Ditti," the Buddha said to the Parivrajakas:
    4. "O, ye Parivrajakas, you must realise that the world is a dungeon, and man is a prisoner in the dungeon.
    5. "This dungeon is full of darkness. So dark is it that scarce anything at all can rightly be seen by the prisoner. The prisoner cannot see that he is a prisoner.
    6. "Indeed, man has not only become blind by living too long in the darkness, but he very much doubts if any such strange thing as light is said to be, can ever exist at all.
    7. "Mind is the only instrument through which light can come to man.
    8. "But the mind of these dungeon-dwellers is by no means a perfect instrument for the purpose.
    9. "It lets through only a little light, just enough to show to those with sight that there is such a thing as darkness.
    10.  Thus defective in its nature, such understanding as this is.
    11. "But know ye, Parivrajakas! the case of the prisoner is not as hopeless as it appears.
    12. "For there is in man a thing called will. When the appropriate motives arise, the will can be awakened and set in motion.
    13. "With the coming of just enough light to see in what directions to guide the motions of the will, man may so guide them that they shall lead to liberty.
    14. "Thus though man is bound, yet he may be free; he may at any moment begin to take the first steps that will ultimately bring him to freedom.
    15. "This is because it is possible to train the mind in whatever directions one chooses. It is mind that makes us to be prisoners in the house of life, and it is mind that keeps us so.
    16. "But what mind has done, that mind can undo. If it has brought man to thraldom, it can also, when rightly directed, bring him to liberty.
    17. "This is what Samma Ditti can do."
    18. "What is the end of Samma Ditti?" asked the Parivrajakas. "The end of Samma Ditti," replied the Buddha, "is the destruction of Avijja (Nescience). It is opposed to Miccha Ditti.
    19. "And Avijja means the failure to understand the noble truths, of the existence of suffering and the removal of suffering.
    20. "Samma Ditti requires [the] giving up of belief in the efficacy of rites and ceremonies, to have disbelief in the sanctity of the Shastras.
    21. "Samma Ditti requires the abandonment of superstition and supernaturalism.
    22. "Samma Ditti requires the abandonment of all doctrines which are mere speculations without any basis in fact or experience.
    23. "Samma Ditti requires [a] free mind and free thought.
    24. "Every man has aims, aspirations, and ambitions. Samma Sankappo teaches that such aims, aspirations, and ambitions shall be noble and praiseworthy and not ignoble and unworthy.
    25. "Samma Vacca (Right Speech) teaches:

(1) that one should speak only that which is true;
(2) that one should not speak what is false;
(3) that one should not speak evil of others;
(4) that one should refrain from slander;
(5) that one should not use angry and abusive language towards any fellow man;
(6) that one should speak kindly and courteously to all;
(7) that one should not indulge in pointless, foolish talk, but let his speech be sensible and to the purpose.

    26. "The observance of Right Speech, as I have explained, is not to be the result of fear or favour. It is not to have the slightest reference to what any superior being may think of his action, or to any loss which Right Speech may involve.
    27. "The norm for Right Speech is not the order of the superior or the personal benefit to the individual.
    28. "Samma Kamanto teaches right behaviour. It teaches that every action should be founded on respect for the feelings and rights of others.
    29. "What is the norm for Samma Kamanto? The norm is that course of conduct which is most in harmony with the fundamental laws of existence.
    30. "When his [=one's] actions are in harmony with these laws, they may be taken to be in accord with Samma Kamanto.
    31. "Every individual has to earn his livelihood. But there are ways and ways of earning one's livelihood. Some are bad; some are good. Bad ways are those which cause injury or injustice to others. Good ways are those by which the individual earns his livelihood without causing injury or injustice to others. This is Samma Ajivo.
    32. "Samma Vyayamo (Right Endeavour) is primary endeavour to remove Avijja; to reach the door that leads out of this painful prison house, to swing it open.
    33. "Right endeavour has four purposes.
    34. "One is to prevent states of mind which are in conflict with the Ashtangamarga.
    35. "Second is to suppress such states of mind which may already have arisen.
    36. "Third is to bring into existence states of mind which will help a man to fulfil the requirements of the Ashtangamarga.
    37. "Fourth is to promote the further growth and increase of such states of mind as already may have arisen.
    38. "Samma Satti calls for mindfulness and thoughtfulness. It means constant wakefulness of the mind. Watch and ward by the mind over the evil passions is another name for Samma Satti.
    39. "There are, ye Parivrajakas, five fetters or hindrances which come in the way of a person trying to achieve Samma Ditti, Samma Sankappo, Samma Vacca, Samma Kamanto, Samma Ajeevo, Samma Vyayamo and Samma Satti.
    40. "These five hindrances are covetousness, ill-will, sloth and torpor, doubt, and indecision. It is, therefore, necessary to overcome these hindrances, which are really fetters, and the means to overcome them is through Samadhi. But know ye, Parivrajakas, Samma Samadhi is not the same as Samadhi. It is quite different.
    41. "Samadhi is mere concentration. No doubt it leads to Dhyanic states which are self-induced, holding the five hindrances in suspense.
    42. "But these Dhyana states are temporary. Consequently the suspension of the hindrances is also temporary. What is necessary is a permanent turn to the mind. Such a permanent turn can be achieved only by Samma Samadhi.
    43. "Mere Samadhi is negative, inasmuch as it leads to temporary suspension of the hindrances. In it there is no training to the mind. Samma Samadhi is positive. It trains the mind to concentrate and to think of some Kusala Kamma (Good Deeds and Thoughts) during concentration, and thereby eliminate the tendency of the mind to be drawn towards Akusala Kamma (Bad Deeds and Bad Thoughts) arising from the hindrances.
    44. "Samma Samadhi gives a habit to the mind to think of good, and always to think of good. Samma Samadhi gives the mind the necessary motive power to do good."
5. The Buddha's First Sermon (cont'd)—The Path of Virtue
    1. The Buddha then explained to the Parivrajakas the Path of Virtue.
    2. He told them that the path of virtue meant the observance of the virtues called: (1) Sila; (2) Dana; (3) Uppekha; (4) Nekkhama; (5) Virya; (6) Khanti; (7) Succa; (8) Adhithana; (9) Karuna; and (10) Maitri.
    3. The Parivrajakas asked the Buddha to tell them what these virtues meant.
    4. The Buddha then proceeded to satisfy their desire.
    5. "Sila is moral temperament, the disposition not to do evil and the disposition to do good; to be ashamed of doing wrong. To avoid to do [=doing] evil for fear of punishment is Sila. Sila means fear of doing wrong.
    6. "Nekkhama is renunciation of the pleasures of the world.
    7. "Dana means the giving of one's possessions, blood and limbs, and even one's life, for the good of others, without expecting anything in return.
    8. "Virya is right endeavour. It is doing with all your might whatever you have undertaken to do, with never a thought of turning back, whatever you have undertaken to do.
    9. "Khanti is forbearance. Not to meet hatred by hatred is the essence of it. For hatred is not appeased by hatred. It is appeased only by forbearance.
    10. "Succa is truth. A person must never tell a lie. His speech must be truth and nothing but truth.
    11. "Adhithana is resolute determination to reach the goal.
    12. "Karuna is loving kindness to human beings.
    13. "Maitri is extending fellow feeling to all beings, not only to one who is a friend, but also to one who is a foe; not only to man, but to all living beings.
    14. "Upekka is detachment as distinguished from indifference. It is a state of mind where there is neither like nor dislike. Remaining unmoved by the result, and yet engaged in the pursuit of it.
    15. "These virtues one must practice to his utmost capacity. That is why they are called Paramitas (States of Perfection).

6. The Buddha's First Sermon (concluded)
    1. Having explained His Dhamma and what it involved, the Buddha then asked the Parivrajakas:
    2. "Is not personal purity the foundation of good in the world?" And they answered, "It is as thou sayest."
    3. And he continued, "Is not personal purity undermined by covetousness, passion, ignorance, the destruction of life, theft, adultery, and lying? Is it not necessary for personal purity to build up sufficient strength of character so that these evils should be kept under control? How can a man be the instrument of good if he has no personal purity in him?" And they replied, "It is as thou sayest."
    4. "Again, why do men not mind enslaving or dominating others? Why do men not mind making the lives of others unhappy? Is it not because men are not righteous in their conduct towards one another?" And they answered in the affirmative.
    5. "Will not the practice of the Ashtanga Marga, the path of right views, right aims, right speech, right livelihood, right means, right mindfulness, right perseverance, and right contemplation, in short, the Path of Righteousness, if followed by every one, remove all injustice and inhumanity that man does to man?" And they said, "Yes."
    6. Turning to the path of virtue, he asked, "Is not Dana necessary to remove the suffering of the needy and the poor, and to promote general good? Is not Karuna necessary, to be drawn to the relief of poverty and suffering wherever it exists? Is not Nekkamma necessary to selfless work? Is not Uppekka necessary, for sustained endeavour even though there is no personal gain?
    7. "Is not love for man necessary?" And they said "Yes."
    8. "I go further and say, "Love is not enough; what is required is Maitri. It is wider than love. It means fellowship not merely with human beings but with all living beings. It is not confined to human beings. Is not such Maitri necessary? What else can give to all living beings the same happiness which one seeks for one's own self, to keep the mind impartial, open to all, with affection for every one and hatred for none?"
    9. They all said "Yes."
    10. "The practice of these virtues must, however, be accompanied by Prajna, i.e., intelligence.
    11. "Is not Prajna necessary?" The Parivrajakas gave no answer. To force them to answer his question, the Buddha went on to say that the qualities of a good man are: "do no evil, think nothing that is evil, get his livelihood in no evil way, and say nothing. that is evil or is likely to hurt anyone." And they said, "Yes, so it is."
    12. "But is doing good deeds blindly to be welcomed?" asked the Buddha "I say, 'no'. This is not enough," said the Buddha to the Parivrajakas. "If it was enough," said the Buddha to the Parivrajakas, "then a tiny babe could be proclaimed to be always doing good. For as yet the babe does not know what a body means, much less will it do evil with its body beyond kicking about; it does not know what speech is, much less will it say anything evil beyond crying; it does not know what thought is, beyond crying with delight; it does not know what livelihood is, much less will it get its living in an evil way, beyond sucking its mother.
    13. "The Path of Virtue must, therefore, be subject to [the] test of Prajna, which is another name for understanding and intelligence.
    14. "There is also another reason why Prajna-paramita is so important and so necessary. There must be Dana. But without Prajna, Dana may have a demoralizing effect. There must be Karuna. But without Prajna, Karuna may end in supporting evil. Every act of Paramita must be tested by Prajna Paramita, which is another name for wisdom.
    15. "I premise that there must be knowledge and consciousness of what wrong conduct is, how it arises; similarly, there must also be knowledge and consciousness of what is right conduct and wrong conduct. Without such knowledge there cannot be real goodness, though the act may be good. That is why I say Prajna is a necessary virtue."
    16. The Buddha then concluded his sermon by addressing the following admonition to the Parivrajakas.
    17. "You are likely to call my Dhamma pessimistic, because it calls the attention of mankind to the existence of suffering. I tell you such a view of my Dhamma would be wrong.
    18. "No doubt my Dhamma recognises the existence of suffering, but forget not that it also lays equal stress on the removal of suffering.
    19. "My Dhamma has in it both hope and purpose.
    20. "Its purpose is to remove Avijja, by which I mean ignorance of the existence of suffering.
    21. "There is hope in it because it shows the way to put an end to human suffering.
    22. "Do you agree with this or not?" And the Parivrajakas said , "Yes, we do."

7. The Response of the Parivrajakas
    1. The five Parivrajakas at once realised that this was really a new Dhamma. They were so struck by this new approach to the problems of life that they were unanimous in saying, "Never in the history of the world has any founder of religion taught that the recognition of human suffering was the real basis of religion.
    2. "Never in the history of the world has any founder of religion taught that the removal of this misery is the real purpose of it!
    3. "Never in the history of the world had a scheme of salvation been put forth, so simple in its nature; so free from supernatural and superhuman agency; so independent of, even so antagonistic to, the belief in a soul, to the belief in God and to the belief in life after death!
    4. "Never in the history of the world had a scheme of religion been put forth which had nothing to do with revelation, and whose commands are born of the examination of the social needs of man and which are not the orders of a God !
    5. "Never in the history of the world has salvation been conceived as the blessing of happiness to be attained by man in this life and on this earth, by righteousness born out of his own efforts!"
    6. These were the sentiments which the Parivrajakas uttered after they had heard the Buddha's Sermon on his new Dhamma.
    7. They felt that in him they had found a reformer, full of the most earnest moral purpose and trained in all the intellectual culture of his time, who had the originality and the courage to put forth deliberately and with a knowledge of opposing views, the doctrine of a salvation to be found here, in this life, in inward change of heart to be brought about by the practice of self-culture and self-control.
    8. Their reverence for him became so unbounded that they at once surrendered to him and requested him to accept them as his disciples.
    9. The Buddha admitted them into his order by uttering the formula "Ehi Bhikkave" (come in Bhikkus). They were known as the Panchavargiya Bhikkus.

  ~Babasaheb Ambedkar, Buddha and His Dhamma

Last Words of the Buddha

    1. Then said the Exalted One to the venerable Ananda,
    2. " It may be, Ananda, that you will say: 'Gone is the word of the Master: we have no longer any Master now!' But you must not so regard it, Ananda; for the Norm and discipline taught and enjoyed by me, they shall be your teachers when I am gone.
    3. "Now, Ananda, whereas the brethren have the habit of calling one another ' friend'--when I am gone this habit must not be followed. By an elder brother, Ananda, a brother who is a novice should be called by his name or clan name or by the word 'friend'; but by a novice, Ananda, an elder brother should be addressed as 'Lord' or 'Your reverence.'
    4. "Again, Ananda, if the Order so desires, when I am gone, let it abolish the lesser and minor charges.
    5. "You know, Ananda, the brother Channa. How obstinate, perverse and devoid of the sense of discipline he is.
    6. "And to him, Ananda, let the extreme penalty be applied when I am gone."
    7. "What, Lord, do you mean by 'the extreme penalty'?"
    8.  The brother Channa, Ananda, whatever he may say, is not to be spoken to, not to be admonished, not to be instructed by the brethren. He should be left alone. It might improve him."
    9. Then the Exalted One addressed the brethren:
    10. "It may be, brothers, that in the mind of some one brother there is doubt or perplexity, either about the Buddha, or about the Norm, or the Order, or the Path, or the Way to the Path. If it be so, brothers, do ye ask now. Be not hereafter remorseful at the thought, 'Here was our Master face to face with us, and yet we had not the heart to question the Exalted One, though we were in His very presence.'"
    11. At these words the brethren were silent.
    12. Then a second time, and yet a third time did the Exalted One address the brethren in the same words. And a third time the brethren were silent.
    13. Then said the Exalted One: "May be, brethren, it is out of respect for the Master that ye ask not. Speak to me, then, as friend to friend, brethren."
    14. Whereat those brethren were silent.
    15. Then exclaimed the venerable Ananda to the Exalted One: "Strange it is, Lord! A marvel it is, Lord! Thus assured am I, Lord, of this Order of Brethren. There is not any one brother that has a single doubt or perplexity as to the Buddha, the Norm, the Order, or as to the Path, or the Way to the Path."
    16. "You speak out of assurance, Ananda. But in the Tathagata there is knowledge of the fact. There is not in any one brother a single doubt or perplexity as to this. Of these five hundred brethren of mine, Ananda, even he who is the most backward is a stream-winner, one who is assured from the Downfall, assured of reaching the Supreme Wisdom."
    17. Then said the Exalted One to the brethren:
    18. "Come now, brethren, I do remind ye, 'Subject to decay are all compounded things.' Do ye abide in heedfulness."
    19. Those were the last words of the Exalted One.

The Pali formula for taking refuge

Buddham saranam gacchami I go to the Buddha for refuge.  

Dhammam saranam gacchami I go to the Dhamma for refuge. 

Sangham saranam gacchami I go to the Sangha for refuge.

 Dutiyampi Buddham saranam gacchami For a second time, I go to the Buddha for refuge.  

Dutiyampi Dhammam saranam gacchami For a second time, I go to the Dhamma for refuge. Dutiyampi Sangham saranam gacchami For a second time, I go to the Sangha for refuge.  

Tatiyampi Buddham saranam gacchami For a third time, I go to the Buddha for refuge.  

Tatiyampi Dhammam saranam gacchami For a third time, I go to the Dhamma for refuge. 

Tatiyampi Sangham saranam gacchami For a third time, I go to the Sangha for refuge.

Dr. K. JAMANADAS PROVES TIRUPATI TEMPLE AS A BUDDHIST SHRINE

Introduction by Prof. Dr. M. D. Nalawade,
M.A., B.Ed., LL. B., Ph. D.,
Ex- Registrar,
Retd. Professor and Head of History Dept. Pune University,

The book by K. Jamanadas "Tirupati Balaji was a Buddhist Shrine" has potential credibility to create controversies unknown to historical writing and the Hindu common folks who flock to worship Tirupati Balaji as one of the supreme deities. It is also a new challenge to indologist at a time when politically imbued scholars are engaged to wash out their hands by proving and disproving claims of Hindus and the Muslims against each other as they did over the issue of Ayodhya Shrines. The writing of K. Jamanadas, but stand to the test of researchers and it surpasses all controversial writings relating to Hindu Muslim difference.
Of course, a reader while going through this book requires to be equipped with relative knowledge of the Vedic forms and symbols of worship and the creation of monkhood, prayers and practice of Buddhist way of religious life. The author does not show at any place, his intention to religiously injure anybody and his presentation is purely of academic nature. Neither he intends to dethrone Tirupati Balaji from his present glory nor his popularity. He also does not make any comment on his devotees and his paraphernalia, he has with him. His research is to find out the truth hidden in the origin, growth and glory and his relation with the common man.
An eminent surgeon turned to be an indologist, K. Jamanadas stands for operational methods in the historical research. His study of Tirupati Balaji is the best in the science of architecture, theology and history. It seems from his book that all the essentially necessary and available sources and historical writings related to Balaji are carefully taken into consideration. Of course, one can not confidently say that a new evidence may not come up hereafter.
Religious life and socio-cultural interactions, so also their amalgamations on philosophical lines as well as in day today life among the people of this ancient land have created numerous problems for separating and identifying a particular set of features in a religious life either of the Buddhist or the Hindus except broad features and major differences. The land is the same and the people are also the same, naturally customs and traditions that they have carried on for ages together can not go far away from each other than they were in their previous religious life. There can not be a total change in the manners and etiquettes by changing and earlier religion. The walks of people in the earlier native religion, then to the Vedic which is named by the foreigners as Hinduism and then to Non-Vedic religions i. e. Buddhism and Jainism are through which this land is traveled and people have common following and practices even contradictory customs and philosophies they have through such livings of them although they learnt many things and have come across many images, idols and symbols of worships. The institution of the Viharas in Buddhist period is the first one of its kind as an institution of Temple which attracted the masses to keep its existence either in the manner the Buddhist have or the manner the Brahmin changed to their convenience to influence the masses.
Originally Brahmins and their religion are centered around the system of the institution of Yadyna. The Yadynas of various types such as Isthi, Pashu, Som, Chayan, Sava, Satra and others, for their selfish motives of seeking food, prestige and power. The very institution of Yadyna is to make commoners by way of traits, traps and tricks for sacrifices, the Brahmins are to loose nothing but in all the circumstances gain and gain much more beyond their demands and needs. This is how the institution of Yadyna works.
Nowhere it is found and no text of the Brahmin literature tells that in pre-Buddhist time the Brahmins are vegetarians. The offerings and oblations offered to gods and goddesses so also, the sacrifices made in the Yadynas are basically originated in the minds and tastes of the Brahmins. As being the non - vegetarians or the flesh eaters Brahmins ask the masses to offer such things to gods and to them also. History, therefore of the vegetarian gods in Hinduism opens a new avenue for fresh research in Indology. In pre-Buddhist times cow was never a pious animal and Brahmins of those days are found very fond of cow flesh. Rigvedas are genuine witnesses for that, and the river Charmnyavati is the best example. There is enough of information to know as to how both of her banks are covered over by skins and her waters are redden by the flesh blood of cows and other animals washed into her waters. The very name of the river Charmnyavati in a Rigveda tells many more things as Charm - means skin. The river banks of this river are used for performing Yadynas and the cows are used in sacrifices on large scale in the Yadynas. The whole delta of the river seems to have seen as how Cow Satra - Killing of cows is carried on and the name, therefore, of the river Charmnyavati in a Rigveda confirms the same.
The institution of Yadyna and sacrificing or killing cows in it is very much vital if it is understood against the agricultural background of those times. In those days no other animals but bullocks are used mostly for tilling the soil. Killing of the cows means no bullocks and no bullocks means no farming, no agricultural products. As a result there is starvation and then submission to enemies or the rulers of the religion. The pre-Buddhist times, therefore, are worse in a regard to atrocities and injustices carried on, on the Peasant communities. Fortunately but lord Buddha understands the grave situation and stops cow sacrifices in the Yadynas and prevents the slaughtering of cows. He, thus becomes the First saviour of cows who preached farmers in ancient times not to offer cows to Brahmins and in the Yadynas. Under the circumstances it is very safe to hold a view that the adoption of cow as a pious one in later days and vegetarian food for gods and to the Brahmins for themselves is one of the greatest achievements of Buddhism, but it has to pay its cost in return of that achievement because the Brahmins adopted their means and methods to attract and lure the farming communities and attack Buddhism. It is thus the Hindus and the academicians have to admit that the creation of non - vegetarian gods is not the creation of the Brahmins. Therefore, it is in vain to trace out the origin of gods who are vegetarians in pre-Buddhist times. Morality and non-violence are never the cardinal principles of Brahminical teaching and religion. They are the Buddhist and they are most unacceptable for the Brahmins in those early days.
The institution of Temple that the Brahmins practice and which exists at 'Tirupati Balaji' and at all the places of the Hindus is origin in Buddhism as K. Jamanadas rightly states that there are a good number of evidences to prove those facts. The walks of people in the ancient times from one sect or religion to another, from native religion to Vedic, Vedic to Non-Vedic religions that is Buddhism and jainism and then back to Mixed- Vedic or Brahminical religion, although, outwardly, have changed them in adopting different religious names and ultimately, the Brahminism to which popularly called as Hinduism, they continued to practice many of the customs and traditions they liked most and were most difficult for them to unalienate. And to their convenience Brahmins have very skillfully converted Buddhists forms of worship and prayers quite in consonance to Brahminical or Hindu ideals. Therefore, separation and identification of many images, idols and temples have become to show exactly that they either belong to Buddhists or Hindus but as Buddhism is made to disappear, Brahmins claimed them, in totality as the Hindus. And the history of Hindu vegetarian gods is certainly hidden in such changes and conversions from Buddhism to Hinduism.
The book is divided into four parts, but the main theme is dealt with in the second and third parts. Part first naturally begins with earlier findings and interpretations about the strife between Buddhism and Brahminism. The mature saintly opinion of Swami Vivekanand that " Buddhism was mainly responsible for stopping or lessening the customs of drinking wine and killing living animals for sacrifice or for food in India" during the dominance and arrogance of the Brahminical period is given at very appropriate instance. "Buddhism and Vaishnavism are not two different things" as is stated by the Great Swami to make clear that, "During the decline of Buddhism in India, Hinduism tool from her a few cardinal tenets of conduct and made them her own, and these have now come to be known as Vaishnavism". The author, not out of vindictive mood, but purely from academic interest collected sources and evidences, that too again from the Hindu saints and scholars to reveal the truth and truth alone as the proud heritage of this ancient land.
Brahmin's usurpation and imitation of the Buddhist customs, traditions and ideals, so also of forms of architecture , art and sculpture are very common and long back indologists and historians like R. G. Bhandarkar and D. D. Kosambi have brought all those thing to light. The sites at Ter, Aihole, Undavali, Ellora, Badrinatha, Ayodhya, Sringeri, Buddha Gaya and other religious important places have ably been shown as how richly influenced by Buddhist religion and culture and Brahmins have adopted them to their tastes to make the masses feel religiously at home as the Hindus. A fresh touch is given to reascertain for the proved facts by R. G. Bhandarkar, R. C. Dhere and others that the temples of Lord Jagannatha of Puri, Vithalla of Pandharpur, Ayyappa of Kerala, Srisailam of Karnataka and many others as they were originally the Buddhist temples.
The real task of discovering Lord Tirupati as the Buddhist Shrine starts in the Second part. The history given of the worship of Vishnu needs to be added by the information of hymns in Rigveda. Max Muller, Muir and Wilson who have well explained the importance of Vishnu and his Three Strides - Trivikrama. In the Purnsha - Sukta of the Yajurvda (1-31-32) has his description. And to collaborate the original concept of his creation and creating his three different images and the necessities of the Brahmins to convert him in appearance like lord Buddha are not unintentional and without any selfish motive. The author has ably proved that such efforts of the Brahmins have expected good results for them to show their superiority over Buddhism. The chapters- Hindu Shilpa Shastra on Vishnu Images, Nature Image of the Lord of Tirumalai, Is the Image of a Female deity, Is the Lord A Harihara Murthi, and the Account In Venkaechala Itihas Mala, are interesting and thought provoking. They make even commoners to think twice whether he is worshiping Buddhist images or Hindu images and what is his place in such a controversies The reference from a book of Shri. Sitapati P., on Shri. Venkateswara is of great importance in support of author's theory on Tirupati Balaji. The reference runs -"The image (of Lord Tirumalai) bears some resemblance to the famous Budhisattva Padmapani painting in cave I of the Ajanta Hills". This statement, is thus, self explanatory to record the attempts.
Part third of the book has debased old challenges of the Hindu claims in South India. How "not only ideals and morals but also temples were taken over by Brahmins" has been aptly shown quoting well known authorities in the field and interpreting the original sources. It is very interesting to know the even Tirtha Yatras are started by the Buddhists and the Brahmins followed them from the Buddhist traditions to forget their earlier Buddhist religion and traditions. The Kalavars and Kalabhras, the names of clans and families quite in resemblance to Kalewar, kalawad or Kalawade and kalbhor, Bhor, Kalmegh and even Kale in Maharashtra are not without their historical roots. The Kalabhras mentioned by the author belonged to Chola country and are the Buddhist, but later on converted to Brahminism.
The claim put forth by the author on Lord Tirupati Balaji as a Buddhist Shrine is based on sound theory and the evidences approved and accepted by the academicians. The fundamental questions which needs to be correctly answered to prove Tirupati Balaji as a Buddhist Shrine have the following points and which are well taken into account--
1. Yet why the attributes of Murthi are not allowed to be discussed openly and publicly?
2. Tirupati has no parivar devatas, his family members as gods. why?
3. And as to why it is the only ek-devata temple in whole of India.?
4. There was no regular worship of this Tirupati till 966 A. D, Why was it?
5.Why the various murthis are not recognised in this temple by their Agamic names?
The term "self manifested" applied to Tirumalai means that the Murthi or idol is existed earlier and it is at that place only. It is found by one Shudra Rangadasa. Then it is resurrected and worshiping it began. Before the Muslims came, Buddhists are the only people who opposed the Brahmins. But no Buddhist King nor Buddhist people are intolerant towards the Brahmins and no evidence is yet produced by any scholar proving that the Buddhists or any Buddhist King made efforts for destroying Brahminical images, idols or places of worship. In fact the Brahmins have done hundreds of such things and they are in reality the enemies of the Buddhists. Hence allowing the Murthi or idol of Tirumalai uncared, then the quarrel over its possession in between the Vaishnavism and Shaivism, all such matter never happens in case of the original idols of Hindu or Brahminical gods. Fortunately till this day this Lord is mistaken and misunderstood as Shiva or Vishnu and as the Vaishnavaites and Shavaites claim him as if he belongs to one of the two, he grows in eminence. In reality the place and the idol are the Buddhist one, which eternally convey the message of well being to all people.
Temple institution is the creation of the Buddhist people and to grab that glory the Brahmins have usurped the Buddhists Temples for their selfish purpose and to attract the masses and then have converted those temples into Hindu forms making necessary changes and alterations. A good number of authorities have proved long ago and many of the authorities on the subject like R. G. Bhandarkar, Percy Brown, G. S. Ghurey, L. M. Joshi, D. D. Kosambi, K. A. N. Sastri, K. R. Vaidyanthan and others have been taken into consideration in the spirit and letters they presented numerous sources and evidences.
So far the story of Lord of Tirumalai stands historically and on the basis of the available sources it is a Buddhist Shrine. Right from its name, fashions and styles, so also customs like the Tonsure, offering of hair and Rathyatra it is all in one - the Buddhist way. Rathayatra is not originated in the Brahminical life due to caste system and observance of untouchability and touch no one those who even from your kin and kith if they are unbathed and the women of their blood also. Under the circumstances Rathayatra tradition is certainly of the Buddhist origin and where ever it is carried on, the places and gods are the Buddhists, without any doubt. The author K. Jamanadas has maintained throughout his work a very high standard of argument and at all instances he placed either the authorities or the evidence in support of his argument and statements.
Although in the socio-cultural life of this country, it introverts all of those who have their origin in this land, to positively come up for better understanding as if it is vicissitude as the times and culture demand. A good lesson will also be derived out of the reading of this thesis for making this land as if of one people with an appeal to both the Hindus and the Muslims to know their best of heritage and noble humane way of life in Buddhism as one people, blessed and guided eternally by that Great, Supreme Lord, Bhagawn Buddha, the Great.

What are the Triple Gems? (Tisarana)

The Triple Gems - or the Three Jewels - of Buddhism refer to the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha.

Buddha

The Buddha was born in 543 BC in what is now known as Nepal and was given the name Siddhattha Gotama. At the age of 29 he renounced the life as the son of a king and became a homeless ascetic. After six year's of practice and contemplation, Buddha attained Nibbana (Nirvana), and spent the next 45 years with tireless teaching until he died at the age of 80.

Dhamma

The Dhamma (Dharma) is the teachings of the Buddha, which has been handed down in the ancient Pali language, and preserved in three collections of hooks, called the Tipitaka (the three baskets). The Dhamma is not a doctrine of revelation, but offers a realistic system of ethics and analysis as well as practical methods of mind trainings.

Sangha

The Sangha is the order of Bhikkhus (mendicant monks) founded by the Buddha and which still exists in its original form throughout South East Asia. The purpose of the Sangha is to provide the outer framework and favorable conditions for all those who wish to practice the path.
The triple gems form the Threefold Refuge of the Buddhists. One declares oneself a Buddhist by reciting this formula:

To the Buddha I go for refuge ( Buddham Saranam Gacchami)
To the Dhamma I go for refuge ( Dhammam Saranam Gacchami)
To the Sangha I go for refuge ( Sangham Saranam Gacchami)

For the second time - to the Buddha I go for refuge
For the second time - to the Dhamma I go for refuge
For the second time - to the Sangha I go for refuge

For the third time - to the Buddha I go for refuge
For the third time - to the Dhamma I go for refuge
For the third time - to the Sangha I go for refuge

The recitation can be seen as professing ones acceptance of the triple gems as the guides of ones life and thought.

Courtesy: buddhasociety

THE FOURTH NOBLE TRUTH MAGGA: THE PATH

The Fourth Noble Truth is that of the Way leading to the Cessation of Dukkha (Dukkhanirodhagāminīpaṭipadā-ariyasacca). This is known as the ‘Middle Path’ (Majjhimā Paṭipadā), because it avoids two extremes: one extreme being the search for happiness through the pleasures of the senses, which is ‘low, common, unprofitable and the way of the ordinary people’; the other being the search for happiness through self-mortification in different forms of asceticism, which is ‘painful, unworthy and unprofitable’. Having himself first tried these two extremes, and having found them to be useless, the Buddha discovered through personal experience the Middle Path ‘which gives vision and knowledge, which leads to Calm, Insight, Enlightenment, Nirvāṇa’. This Middle Path is generally referred to as the Noble Eightfold Path (Ariya-Aṭṭhaṅgika-Magga), because it is composed of eight categories or divisions: namely,

1. Right Understanding (Sammā diṭṭhi)

2. Right Thought (Sammā saṅkappa)

3. Right Speech (Sammā vācā)

4. Right Action (Sammā kammanta)

5. Right Livelihood (Sammā ājīva)

6. Right Effort (Sammā vāyāma)

7. Right Mindfulness (Sammā sati)

8. Right Concentration (Sammā samādhi)

Practically the whole teaching of the Buddha, to which he devoted himself during 45 years, deals in some way or other with this Path. He explained it in different ways in different words to different people, according to the stage of their development and their capacity to understand and follow him. But the essence of those many thousand discourses scattered in the Buddhist Scriptures is found in the Noble Eightfold Path.

It should not be thought that the eight categories or divisions of the Path should be followed and practised one after the other in the numerical order as given in the usual list above. But they are to be developed more or less simultaneously, as far as possible according to the capacity of each individual. They are all linked together and each helps the cultivation of the others.

These eight factors aim at promoting and perfecting the three essentials of Buddhist training and discipline: namely: (a) Ethical Conduct (Sīla), (b) Mental Discipline (Samādhi) and (c) Wisdom (Paññā).[116] It will therefore be more helpful for a coherent and better understanding of the eight divisions of the Path, if we group them and explain them according to these three heads.

Ethical Conduct (Sīla) is built on the vast conception of universal love and compassion for all living beings, on which the Buddha’s teaching is based. It is regrettable that many scholars forget this great ideal of the Buddha’s teaching, and indulge in only dry philosophical and metaphysical divagations when they talk and write about Buddhism. The Buddha gave his teaching ‘for the good of the many, for the happiness of the many, out of compassion for the world’ (bahujanahitāya bahujanasukhāya lokānukampāya).

According to Buddhism for a man to be perfect there are two qualities that he should develop equally: compassion (karuṇā) on one side, and wisdom (paññā) on the other. Here compassion represents love, charity, kindness, tolerance and such noble qualities on the emotional side, or qualities of the heart, while wisdom would stand for the intellectual side or the qualities of the mind. If one develops only the emotional neglecting the intellectual, one may become a good-hearted fool; while to develop only the intellectual side neglecting the emotional may turn one into a hard-hearted intellect without feeling for others. Therefore, to be perfect one has to develop both equally. That is the aim of the Buddhist way of life: in it wisdom and compassion are inseparably linked together, as we shall see later.

Now, in Ethical Conduct (Sīla), based on love and compassion, are included three factors of the Noble Eightfold Path: namely, Right Speech, Right Action and Right Livelihood. (Nos. 3, 4 and 5 in the list).

Right speech means abstention (1) from telling lies, (2) from backbiting and slander and talk that may bring about hatred, enmity, disunity and disharmony among individuals or groups of people, (3) from harsh, rude, impolite, malicious and abusive language, and (4) from idle, useless and foolish babble and gossip. When one abstains from these forms of wrong and harmful speech one naturally has to speak the truth, has to use words that are friendly and benevolent, pleasant and gentle, meaningful and useful. One should not speak carelessly: speech should be at the right time and place. If one cannot say something useful, one should keep ‘noble silence’.

Right Action aims at promoting moral, honourable and peaceful conduct. It admonishes us that we should abstain from destroying life, from stealing, from dishonest dealings, from illegitimate sexual intercourse, and that we should also help others to lead a peaceful and honourable life in the right way.

Right Livelihood means that one should abstain from making one’s living through a profession that brings harm to others, such as trading in arms and lethal weapons, intoxicating drinks, poisons, killing animals, cheating, etc., and should live by a profession which is honourable, blameless and innocent of harm to others. One can clearly see here that Buddhism is strongly opposed to any kind of war, when it lays down that trade in arms and lethal weapons is an evil and unjust means of livelihood.

These three factors (Right Speech, Right Action and Right Livelihood) of the Eightfold Path constitute Ethical Conduct. It should be realized that the Buddhist ethical and moral conduct aims at promoting a happy and harmonious life both for the individual and for society. This moral conduct is considered as the indispensable foundation for all higher spiritual attainments. No spiritual development is possible without this moral basis.

Next comes Mental Discipline, in which are included three other factors of the Eightfold Path: namely, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness (or Attentiveness) and Right Concentration. (Nos. 6, 7 and 8 in the list.)

Right Effort is the energetic will (1) to prevent evil and unwholesome states of mind from arising, and (2) to get rid of such evil and unwholesome states that have already arisen within a man, and also (3) to produce, to cause to arise, good and wholesome states of mind not yet arisen, and (4) to develop and bring to perfection the good and wholesome states of mind already present in a man.

Right Mindfulness (or Attentiveness) is to be diligently aware, mindful and attentive with regard to (1) the activities of the body (kāya), (2) sensations or feelings (vedanā), (3) the activities of the mind (citta) and (4) ideas, thoughts, conceptions and things (dhamma).

The practice of concentration on breathing (ānāpānasati) is one of the well-known exercises, connected with the body, for mental development. There are several other ways of developing attentiveness in relation to the body – as modes of meditation.

With regard to sensations and feelings, one should be clearly aware of all forms of feelings and sensations, pleasant, unpleasant and neutral, of how they appear and disappear within oneself.

Concerning the activities of mind, one should be aware whether one’s mind is lustful or not, given to hatred or not, deluded or not, distracted or concentrated, etc. In this way one should be aware of all movements of mind, how they arise and disappear.

As regards ideas, thoughts, conceptions and things, one should know their nature, how they appear and disappear, how they are developed, how they are suppressed, and destroyed, and so on.

These four forms of mental culture or meditation are treated in detail in the Satipaṭṭhāna-sutta (Setting-up of Mindfulness).[117]

The third and last factor of Mental Discipline is Right Concentration leading to the four stages of Dhyāna, generally called trance or recueillement. In the first stage of Dhyāna, passionate desires and certain unwholesome thoughts like sensuous lust, ill-will, languor, worry, restlessness, and skeptical doubt are discarded, and feelings of joy and happiness are maintained, along with certain mental activities. In the second stage, all intellectual activities are suppressed, tranquillity and ‘one-pointedness’ of mind developed, and the feelings of joy and happiness are still retained. In the third stage, the feeling of joy, which is an active sensation, also disappears, while the disposition of happiness still remains in addition to mindful equanimity. In the fourth stage of Dhyāna, all sensations, even of happiness and unhappiness, of joy and sorrow, disappear, only pure equanimity and awareness remaining.

Thus the mind is trained and disciplined and developed through Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration.

The remaining two factors, namely Right Thought and Right Understanding go to constitute Wisdom.

Right Thought denotes the thoughts of selfless renunciation or detachment, thoughts of love and thoughts of non-violence, which are extended to all beings. It is very interesting and important to note here that thoughts of selfless detachment, love and non-violence are grouped on the side of wisdom. This clearly shows that true wisdom is endowed with these noble qualities, and that all thoughts of selfish desire, ill-will, hatred and violence are the result of a lack of wisdom – in all spheres of life whether individual, social, or political.

Right Understanding is the understanding of things as they are, and it is the Four Noble Truths that explain things as they really are. Right Understanding therefore is ultimately reduced to the understanding of the Four Noble Truths. This understanding is the highest wisdom which sees the Ultimate Reality. According to Buddhism there are two sorts of understanding: What we generally call understanding is knowledge, an accumulated memory, an intellectual grasping of a subject according to certain given data. This is called ‘knowing accordingly’ (anubodha). It is not very deep. Real deep understanding is called ‘penetration’ (paṭivedha), seeing a thing in its true nature, without name and label. This penetration is possible only when the mind is free from all impurities and is fully developed through meditation.[118]

From this brief account of the Path, one may see that it is a way of life to be followed, practised and developed by each individual. It is self-discipline in body, word and mind, self-development and self-purification. It has nothing to do with belief, prayer, worship or ceremony. In that sense, it has nothing which may popularly be called ‘religious’. It is a Path leading to the realization of Ultimate Reality, to complete freedom, happiness and peace through moral, spiritual and intellectual perfection.

In Buddhist countries there are simple and beautiful customs and ceremonies on religious occasions. They have little to do with the real Path. But they have their value in satisfying certain religious emotions and the needs of those who are less advanced, and helping them gradually along the Path.

With regard to the Four Noble Truths we have four functions to perform:

The First Noble Truth is Dukkha, the nature of life, its suffering, its sorrows and joys, its imperfection and unsatisfactoriness, its impermanence and insubstantially. With regard to this, our function is to understand it as a fact, clearly and completely (pariññeyya).

The Second Noble Truth is the Origin of Dukka, which is desire, ‘thirst’, accompanied by all other passions, defilements and impurities. A mere understanding of this fact is not sufficient. Here our function is to discard it, to eliminate, to destroy and eradicate it (pahātabba).

The Third Noble Truth is the Cessation of Dukkha, Nirvāṇa, the Absolute Truth, the Ultimate Reality. Here our function is to realize it (sacchikātabba).

The Fourth Noble Truth is the Path leading to the realization of Nirvāṇa. A mere knowledge of the Path, however complete, will not do. In this case, our function is to follow it and keep to it (bhāvetabba).[119]

---

[116] M I (PTS), p. 301.

[117] See Chapter VII on Meditation.

[118] Vism. (PTS), p. 510.

[119] Mhvg. (Alutgama, 1922), p. 10.

THE THIRD NOBLE TRUTH: NIRODHA: THE CESSATION OF DUKKHA

The third Noble Truth is that there is emancipation, liberation, freedom from suffering, from the continuity of dukkha. This is called the Noble Truth of the Cessation of dukkha (Dukkhanirodha-ariyasacca), which is Nibbāna, more popularly known in its Sanskrit form of Nirvāṇa.

To eliminate dukkha completely one has to eliminate the main root of dukkha, which is ‘thirst’ (taṇhā), as we saw earlier. Therefore Nirvāṇa is known also by then term Taṇhakkhaya ‘Extinction of Thirst’.

Now you will ask: But what is Nirvāṇa? Volumes have been written in reply to this quite natural and simple question; they have, more and more, only confused the issue rather than clarified it. The only reasonable reply to give to the question is that it can never be answered completely and satisfactorily in words, because human language is too poor to express the real nature of the Absolute Truth or Ultimate Reality which is Nirvāṇa. Language is created and used by masses of human beings to express things and ideas experienced by their sense organs and their mind. A supramundane experience like that of the Absolute Truth is not of such a category. Therefore there cannot be words to express that experience, just as the fish had no words in his vocabulary to express the nature of the solid land. The tortoise told his friend the fish that he (the tortoise) just returned to the lake after a walk on the land. ‘Of course’ the fish said, ‘You mean swimming.’ The tortoise tried to explain that one couldn’t swim on the land, that it was solid, and that one walked on it. But the fish insisted that there could be nothing like it, that is must be liquid like his lake, with waves, and that one must be able to dive and swim there.

Words are symbols representing things and ideas known to us; and these symbols do not and cannot convey the true nature of even ordinary things. Language is considered deceptive and misleading in the matter of understanding of the Truth. So the Lankāvatāra-sūtra says that ignorant people get stuck in words like an elephant in the mud.[87]

Nevertheless we cannot do without language. But if Nirvāṇa is to be expressed and explained in positive terms, we are likely immediately to grasp an idea associated with those terms, which may be quite the contrary. Therefore it is generally expressed in negative terms[88] – a less dangerous mode perhaps. So it is often referred to by such negative terms as Taṇhakkhaya ‘Extinction of Thirst’, Asaṃkhata ‘Uncompound’, ‘Unconditioned’, Virāga ‘Absence of desire’, Nirodha ‘Cessation’, Nibbāna ‘Blowing out’ or ‘Extinction’.

Let us consider a few definitions and descriptions of Nirvāṇa as found in the original Pali texts:

‘It is the complete cessation of that very ‘thirst’ (taṇhā), giving it up, renouncing it, emancipation from it, detachment from it.’[89]

‘Calming of all conditioned things, giving up of all defilements, extinction of ‘thirst’, detachment, cessation, Nibbāna.’[90]

‘O bhikkhus, what is the Absolute (Asaṃkhata, Unconditioned)? It is, O bhikkhus, the extinction of desire (rāgakkhayo), the extinction of hatred (dosakkhayo), the extinction of illusion (mohakkhayo). This O bhikkhus, is called the Absolute.’[91]

‘O Rādha, the extinction of “thirst” (Taṇhakkhayo) is Nibbāna.’[92]

‘O bhikkhus, whatever there may be things conditioned or unconditioned, among them detachment (virāga) is the highest. That is to say, freedom from conceit, destruction of thirst,[93] the uprooting of attachment, the cutting off of continuity, the extinction of “thirst” (taṇhā), detachment, cessation, Nibbāna.’[94]

The reply of Sāriputta, the chief disciple of the Buddha, to a direct question ‘What is Nibbāna?’ posed by a Parivrājaka, is identical with the definition of Asaṃkhata given by the Buddha (above): ‘The extinction of desire, the extinction of hatred, the extinction of illusion.’[95]

‘The abandoning and destruction of desire and craving for these Five Aggregates of Attachment: that is the cessation of dukkha.’[96]

‘The cessation of Continuity and becoming (Bhavanirodha) is Nibbāna.’[97]

And further, referring to Nirvāṇa the Buddha says:

‘O bhikkhus, there is the unborn, ungrown, and unconditioned. Were there not the unborn, ungrown, and unconditioned, there would be no escape for the born, grown, and conditioned. Since there is the unborn, ungrown, and unconditioned, so there is escape for the born, grown, and conditioned.’[98]

‘Here the four elements of solidity, fluidity, heat and motion have no place; the notions of length and breadth, the subtle and the gross, good and evil, name and form are altogether destroyed; neither this world nor the other, nor coming, going or standing, neither death nor birth, nor sense-objects are to be found.’[99]

Because Nirvana is thus expressed in negative terms, there are many who have got a wrong notion that it is negative, and expresses self-annihilation. Nirvāṇa is definitely no annihilation of self, because there is no self no annihilate. If at all, it is the annihilation of the illusion, of the false idea of self.

It is incorrect to say that Nirvāṇa is negative or positive. The ideas of ‘negative’ and ‘positive’ are relative, and are within the realm of duality. These terms cannot be applied to Nirvāṇa, Absolute Truth, which is beyond duality and relativity.

A negative word need not necessarily indicate a negative state. The Pali of Sanskrit word for health is ārogya, a negative term, which literally means ‘absence or illness’. But ārogya (health) does not represent a negative state. The word ‘Immortal’ (or its Sanskrit equivalent Amṛta or Pali Amata), which also is a synonym for Nirvāṇa, is negative, but it does not denote a negative state. The negation of negative values is not negative. One of the well-known synonyms for Nirvāṇa is ‘Freedom’ (Pali Mutti, Skt. Mukti). Nobody would say that freedom is negative. But even freedom has a negative side: freedom is always a liberation from something which is obstructive, which is evil, which is negative. But freedom is not negative. So Nirvāṇa, Mutti or Vimutti, the Absolute Freedom, is freedom from all evil, freedom from craving, hatred and ignorance, freedom from all terms of duality, relativity, time and space.

We may get some idea of Nirvāṇa as Absolute Truth from the Dhātuvibhaṅga-sutta (No. 140) of the Majjhima-nikāya. This extremely important discourse was delivered by the Buddha to Pukkusāti (already mentioned), whom the Master found to be intelligent and earnest, in the quiet of the night in a potter’s shed. The essence of the relevant portions of the sutta is as follows:

A man is composed of six elements: solidity, fluidity, heat, motion, space and consciousness. He analyses them and finds that none of them is ‘mine’, or me, or ‘my self’. He understands how consciousness appears and disappears, how pleasant, unpleasant and neutral sensations appear and disappear. Through this knowledge his mind becomes detached. Then he finds within him a pure equanimity (upekhā), which he can direct towards the attainment of any high spiritual state, and he knows that thus this pure equanimity will last for a long period. But then he thinks:

‘If I focus this purified and cleansed equanimity on the Sphere of Infinite Space and develop a mind conforming thereto, that is a mental creation (saṃkhataṃ).[100] If I focus this purified and cleansed equanimity on the Sphere of Infinite Consciousness … on the Sphere of Nothingness … or on the Sphere of Neither-perception nor Non-perception and develop a mind conforming thereto, that is a mental creation.’ Then he neither mentally creates nor wills continuity and becoming (bhava) or annihilation (vibhava).[101] As he does not construct or does not will continuity and becoming or annihilation, he does not cling to anything in the world; as he does not cling, he is not anxious; as he is not anxious, he is completely calmed within (fully blown out within paccattaṃ yeva parinibbāyati). And he knows: ‘Finished is birth, lived is pure life, what should be done is done, nothing more is left to be done.’[102]

Now, when he experiences a pleasant, unpleasant or neutral sensation, he knows that it is impermanent, that it does not bind him, that it is not experienced with passion. Whatever may be the sensation, he experiences it without being bound to it (visaṃyutto). He knows that all those sensations will be pacified with the dissolution of the body, just as the flame of a lamp goes out when oil and wick give out.

‘Therefore, O bhikkhu, a person so endowed is endowed with the absolute wisdom, for the knowledge of the extinction of all dukkha is the absolute noble wisdom.

‘This his deliverance, founded on Truth, is unshakable. O bhikkhu, that which is unreality (mosadhamma) is false; that which is reality (amosadhamma), Nibbāna, is Truth (Sacca). Therefore, O bhikkhu, a person so endowed is endowed with this Absolute Truth. For, the Absolute Noble Truth (paramaṃ ariyasaccaṃ) is Nibbāna, which is Reality.’

Elsewhere the Buddha unequivocally uses the word Truth in place of Nibbāna: ‘I will teach you the Truth and the Path leading to the Truth.’[103] Here Truth definitely means Nirvāṇa.

Now, what is Absolute Truth? According to Buddhism, the Absolute Truth is that there is nothing absolute in the world, that everything is relative, conditioned and impermanent, and that there is no unchanging, everlasting, absolute substance like Self, Soul, or Ātman within or without. This is the Absolute Truth. Truth is never negative, though there is a popular expression as negative truth. The realization of this Truth, i.e., to see things as they are (yathābhūtaṃ) without illusion or ignorance (avijjā),[104] is the extinction of craving ‘thirst’ (Taṇhakkhaya), andthe cessation (Nirodha) of dukkha, which is Nirvāṇa. It is interesting and useful to remember here the Mahāyāna view of Nirvāṇa as not being different from Saṃsāra.[105] The same thing is Saṃsāra or Nirvāṇa according to the way you look at it – subjectively or objectively. This Mahāyāna view was probably developed out of the ideas found in the original Theravāda Pali texts, to which we have just referred in our brief discussion.

It is incorrect to think that Nirvāṇa is the natural result of the extinction of craving. Nirvāṇa is not the result of anything. If it would be a result, then it would be an effect produced by a cause. It would be saṃkhata ‘produced’ and ‘conditioned’. Nirvāṇa is neither cause nor effect. It is beyond cause and effect. Truth is not a result nor an effect. It is not produced like a mystic, spiritual, mental state, such as dhyāna or samādhi. TRUTH IS. NIRVĀṆA IS. The only thing you can do is to see it, to realize it. There is a path leading to the realization of Nirvāṇa. But Nirvāṇa is not the result of this path.[106] You may get to the mountain along a path, but the mountain is not the result, not an effect of the path. You may see a light, but the light not the result of your eyesight.

People often ask: What is there after Nirvāṇa? This question cannot arise, because Nirvāṇa is the Ultimate Truth. If it is Ultimate, there can be nothing after it. If there is anything after Nirvāṇa, then that will be the Ultimate Truth and not Nirvāṇa. A monk named Rādha put this question to the Buddha in a different form: ‘For what purpose (or end) is Nirvāṇa?’ This question presupposes something after Nirvāṇa, when it postulates some purpose or end for it. So the Buddha answered: ‘O Rādha, this question could not catch its limit (i.e., it is beside the point). One lives the holy life with Nirvāṇa as its final plunge (into the Absolute Truth), as its goal, as its ultimate end.’[107]

Some popular inaccurately phrased expressions like ‘The Buddha entered into Nirvāṇa or Parinirvāṇa after his death’ have given rise to many imaginary speculations about Nirvāṇa.[108] The moment you hear the phrase that ‘the Buddha entered into Nirvāṇa or Parinirvāṇa’, you take Nirvāṇa to be a state, or a realm, or a position in which there is some sort of existence, and try to imagine it in terms of the senses of the word ‘existence’ as it is known to you. This popular expression ‘entered into Nirvāṇa’ has no equivalent in the original texts. There is no such thing as ‘entering into Nirvāṇa after death’. There is a word parinibbuto used to denote the death of the Buddha or an Arahant who has realized Nirvāṇa, but it does not mean ‘entering into Nirvāṇa’. Parinibbuto simply means ‘fully passed away’, ‘fully blown out’ or ‘fully extinct’, because the Buddha or an Arahant has no re-existence after his death.

Now another question arises: What happens to the Buddha or an Arahant after his death, parinirvāṇa? This comes under the category of unanswered questions (avyākata).[109] Even when the Buddha spoke about this, he indicated that no words in our vocabulary could express what happens to an Arahant after his death. In reply to a Parivrājaka named Vaccha, the Buddha said that terms like ‘born’ or ‘not born’ do not apply in the case of an Arahant, because those things – matter, sensation, perception, mental activities, consciousness – with which the terms like ‘born’ and ‘not born’ are associated, are completely destroyed and uprooted, never to rise again after his death.[110]

An Arahant after his death is often compared to a fire gone out when the supply of wood is over, or to the flame of a lamp gone out when the wick and oil are finished.[111] Here it should be clearly and distinctly understood, without any confusion, that what is compared to a flame or a fire gone out is not Nirvāṇa, but the ‘being’ composed of the Five Aggregates who realized Nirvāṇa. This point has to be emphasized because many people, even some great scholars, have misunderstood and misinterpreted this smile as referring to Nirvāṇa. Nirvāṇa is never compared to a fire or a lamp gone out.

There is another popular question: If there is no Self, no Ātman, who realizes Nirvāṇa? Before we go on to Nirvāṇa, let us ask the question: Who thinks now, if there is no Self? We have seen earlier that it is the thought that thinks, that there is no thinker behind the thought. In the same way, it is wisdom (paññā), realization, that realizes. There is no other self behind the realization. In the discussion of the orgin of dukkha we saw that whatever it may be – whether being, or thing, or system – if it is of the nature of arising, it has within itself the nature, the germ, of its cessation, its destruction. Now dukkha, saṃsāra, the cycle of continuity, is of the nature of arising; it must also be of the nature of cessation. Dukkha arises because of ‘thirst’ (taṇhā), and it ceases because of wisdom (paññā). ‘Thirst’ and wisdom are both within the Five Aggregates, as we saw earlier.[112]

Thus, the germ of their arising as well as that of their cessation are both within the Five Aggregates. This is the real meaning of the Buddha’s well-known statement: ‘Within this fathom-long sentient body itself, I postulate the world, the arising of the world, the cessation of the world, and the path leading to the cessation of the world.’[113] This means that all the Four Noble Truths are found within the Five Aggregates, i.e., within ourselves. (Here the word ‘world’ (loka) is used in place of dukkha). This also means that there is no external power that produces the arising and the cessation of dukkha.

When wisdom is developed and cultivated according to the Fourth Noble Truth (the next to be taken up), it sees the secret of life, the reality of things as they are. When the secret is discovered, when the Truth is seen, all the forces which feverishly produce the continuity of saṃsāra in illusion become calm and incapable of producing any more karma-formations, because there is no more illusion, no more ‘thirst’ for continuity. It is like a mental disease which is cured when the cause or the secret of the malady is discovered and seen by the patient.

In almost all religions the summum bonum can be attained only after death. But Nirvāṇa can be realized in this very life; it is not necessary to wait till you die to ‘attain’ it.

He who has realized the Truth, Nirvāṇa, is the happiest being in the world. He is free from all ‘complexes’ and obsessions, the worries and troubles that torment others. His mental health is perfect. He does not repent the past, nor does he brood over the future. He lives fully in the present.[114] Therefore he appreciates and enjoys things in the purest sense without self-projections. He is joyful, exultant, enjoying the pure life, his faculties pleased, free from anxiety, serene and peaceful.[115] As he is free from selfish desire, hatred, ignorance, conceit, pride, and all such ‘defilements’, he is pure and gentle, full of universal love, compassion, kindness, sympathy, understanding and tolerance. His service to others is of the purest, for he has no thought of self. He gains nothing, accumulates nothing, not even anything spiritual, because he is free from the illusion of Self, and the ‘thirst’ for becoming.

Nirvāṇa is beyond all terms of duality and relativity. It is therefore beyond our conceptions of good and evil, right and wrong, existence and non-existence. Even the word ‘happiness’ (sukha) which is used to describe Nirvāṇa has an entirely different sense here. Sāriputta once said: ‘O friend, Nirvāṇa is happiness! Nirvāṇa is happiness!’ Then Udāyi asked: ‘But, friend Sāriputta, what happiness can it be if there is no sensation?’ Sāriputta’s reply was highly philosophical and beyond ordinary comprehension: ‘That there is no sensation itself is happiness.’

Nirvāṇa is beyond logic and reasoning (atakkāvacara). However much we may engage, often as a vain intellectual pastime, in highly speculative discussions regarding Nirvāṇa or Ultimate Truth or Reality, we shall never understand it that way. A child in the kindergarten should not quarrel about the theory of relativity. Instead, if he follows his studies patiently and diligently, one day he may understand it. Nirvāṇa is ‘to be realized by the wise within themselves’ (paccattaṃ veditabbo viññūhi). If we follow the Path patiently and with diligence, train and purify ourselves earnestly, and attain the necessary spiritual development, we may one day realize it within ourselves – without taxing ourselves with puzzling and high- sounding words.

Let us therefore now turn to the Path which leads to the realization of Nirvāṇa.

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[87] Lanka. p. 113

[88] Sometimes positive terms like Siva ‘Auspicious’, ‘Good’, Khema ‘Safety’, Suddhi ‘Purity’, Dīpa ‘Island’, Saraṇa ‘Refuge’, Tāṃa ‘Protection’, Pāra ‘Opposite shore’. ‘Other side’, Santi ‘Peace’, ‘Tranquillity’ are used to denote Nirvāṇa. There are 32 synonyms for Nibbāna in the Asaṃkhata-saṃyutta of the Saṃyutta-nikāya. They are mostly metaphorical.

[89] Mhvg. (Alutgama,1922), p. 10; S V p. 421. It is interesting to note that this definition of Nirodha ‘Cessation of Dukkha’, which is found in the first sermon of the Buddha at Sarnath, does not contain the word Nibbāna, though the definition means it.

[90] S I, p. 136

[91] Ibid. IV, p. 359.

[92] Ibid. III, p. 190.

[93] Here the word pipāsa which lit. means thirst

[94] A (PTS) II, p. 34.

[95] S (PTS) IV, p. 251.

[96] Sāriputta’s words. M I, (PTS), p. 191.

[97] Words of Musīla, another disciple of the Buddha. S II (PTS), p. 117.

[98] Ud. (Colombo, 1929), p. 129.

[99] Ibid. p. 128; D I (Colombo, 1929), p. 172.

[100] Notice that all the spiritual and mystic states, however pure and high they may be, are mental creations, mind-made, conditioned and compound (saṃkhata). They are not Reality, not Truth (sacca).

[101] This means that he does not produce new karma, because now he is free from ‘thirst’ will, volition.

[102] This expression means that now he is an Arahant.

[103] S V (PTS), p. 369.

[104] Cf. Lanka. p. 200; ‘O Mahāmati, Nirvāṇa means to see the state of things as they are.’

[105] Nāgārjuna clearly says that ‘Saṃsāra has no difference whatever from Nirvāṇa and Nirvāṇa has no difference whatever from Saṃsāra.’ (Madhya. Kari XXV, 19).

[106] It is useful to remember here that among nine supra-mundane dharmas (navalo-kuttara-dhamma) Nirvāṇa is beyond magga (path) and phala (fruition).

[107] S III (PTS), p. 189.

[108] There are some who write ‘after the Nirvāṇa of the Buddha’ instead of ‘after the Parinirvāṇa of the Buddha’. ‘After the Nirvāṇa of the Buddha’ has no meaning, and the expression is unknown in Buddhist literature. It is always ‘after the Parinirvāṇa of the Buddha’.

[109] S IV (PTS), p. 375 f.

[110] M I (PTS), p. 486.

[111] Ibid. I, p. 487; III, p. 245; Sn (PTS), v. 232 (p. 41).

[112] See Aggregates of Formations above pp. 16, 21.

[113] A (Colombo, 1929), p. 218.

[114] S I (PTS), p. 5.

[115] M II (PTS), p. 121.