SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF SKYAMUNI, THE FOUNDER OF BUDDHISM

ORIGIN.--THE PRINCIPAL EVENTS IN HIS LIFE.--HIS ATTAINMENT OF THE

PERFECTION OF A BUDDHA.--PERIOD OF HIS EXISTENCE.

ALTHOUGH the numerous legends respecting the life and works of Skyamuni,
the reputed founder of the Buddhist faith, contain much that is fabulous, yet
most of the incidents mentioned therein, when deprived of the marvellous garb
with which early historians invariably used to embellish their tales, seem to be
based on matters of fact. At present scientific researches have put Skyamuni's
real existence beyond a doubt;[1] but the period in which he lived will ever
remain somewhat vaguely defined.

[1. See for details the biographies published by Csoma de Krs, "Notices of the
life of Shakya," in the Asiatic Researches, Vol. XX., pp. 285-318; Hardy, "Manual
of Buddhism," pp. 138-359; Schiefner, "Eine tibetanische Lebensbeschreibung
Skyamuni's," in the "Mmoires des Savants trangers," Vol. VI., pp. 231-332. For
Tibetan and Singhalese traditions about the Skya race, see Foe koue ki, English
translation, Calcutta, 1848, p. 203.]

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Skyamuni was born at Kapilavastu in Gorakhpr. The legends tell us that his
father, the king Suddhodana (in Tibetan Zastang), requested one hundred and
eight learned Brahmans to inform him of his son's destiny; the Brahmans, the
legends say, after a careful examination of the prince's body, expressed their
conviction that, "if he remained a layman during his lifetime, he would become a
powerful monarch of vast territories; but in the event of his turning recluse, he
would enter the state of a supreme Buddha or wise man: and in solemn
assembly they declared that this prince would hereafter prove a blessing to the
world, and that he himself would also enjoy great prosperity." It was in
consequence of this answer, that the prince received the name of Siddhrtha,
"the establisher."[1]

Siddhrtha proved to be endowed with extraordinary faculties, and the legends

even go so far as to assert that, when he was about to be taught his letters, he
could already distinguish them, and his eminent qualities were manifest, not only
in his mental, but also in bodily perfection. It is added as particularly
characteristic that already in his youth he was inclined to retirement and

[1. In the sacred legends he is generally characterised by other names. Those of

Skyamuni--in Tibetan Shakya Thub-pa, "Skya, the mighty"--Gautama, or
Sramana, Gautama, "the ascetic of the Gautamas," refer alike to his family and
career. The names of Bhagavat, "the fortunate," Sugata, "the welcome," Buddha,
"the wise," designate his supreme perfection. A name which is very frequently
given to the Buddhas in sacred books is Tathgata, in Tibetan Dezhin, or Dezhin
shegpa, "he who has gone in the manner of his predecessors." See Abel
Rmusat, "Note sur quelques pithtes descriptives de Bouddha." Journ. des
Savans, 1817, p. 702. Burnouf "Introduction," p. 70 et seq. Barthlemy St.
Hilaire, "Le Bouddha et sa Religion", p. 75.]

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solitude: he abandoned his gay, playful comrades and buried himself in the dark
recesses of dense forests, where he gave himself up to profound meditation.
Suddhodana, the father, however, wished his son to become rather a powerful
monarch, than a lonely ascetic. When, therefore, after a renewed consultation
with the Brahmans, he learned that Siddhrtha would certainly leave his
magnificent palace and become an ascetic, in the event of his seeing four things,
viz. decrepitude, sickness, a dead body, and a recluse, he placed guards on all
sides of the palace, in order that these, dreaded objects might not come near his
beloved son. Moreover, in order to weaken his love of solitude and meditation, he
married him to Gop (in Tibetan Sa Tsoma), the daughter of Dandapni, of the
race of the Skyas, and gave orders that he should be provided with every kindof pleasure. But all these precautions proved futile. Siddhrtha, though living in
the midst of festivities and in the enjoyment of all wordly {sic} pleasures, never
ceased to reflect upon the pains which arise from birth, sickness, decay, and
death; upon their causes, and upon the remedies to be used against them. He
found that existence is the real cause of these pains, that desire produces
existence, and that the extinction of desire causes cessation of existence. He
then determined--as he had already done a hundred times before-to lead human
beings to salvation--by teaching them the practice of virtues :and by detaching
them from the service of the world. Although he had hitherto often hesitated, his
resolution to renounce the world and to become an ascetic was, finally put into

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execution, when he happened, on his walk to a garden in the vicinity of the

palace, to meet at four different periods an old man, a leper, a dead body, and a
man in a religious garb. He had attained the age of twenty-nine years, when he

left his palace, his wife, and the infant son to whom she is said to have given
birth at the very moment of her husband's meeting with the recluse.[1]

Siddhrtha began his ascetic life by assiduously studying the doctrines of the
Brahmans and by becoming the disciple of the most learned of them. Being,
however, dissatisfied with their theories and practices, which, he declared, did
not offer the true means of salvation, he left them altogether, and gave himself
up during the next six years to earnest meditation and the exercise of great
austerities; the latter, however, he soon renounced, perceiving from his own
experience, that the mortifications practised by the Brahmans were not of a
nature to lead to the attainment of perfection. The six years past, he proceeded
to the holy spot Bdhimanda, where the Bdhisattvas become Buddhas; and it
was here, that, having seated himself upon a couch of grass of the kusa species,
he arrived at supreme perfection, which became manifest by his remembering
the exact circumstances of all human beings that had ever existed; by his
obtaining

[1. It is more probable, says Wassiljew, in his "Buddhismus," p. 12, that

Skyamuni was led to view existence as the cause of pain and sorrow in
consequence of a war in which the Skya tribe was defeated, and which obliged
him to wander about, rather than by his seeing the four dreaded objects
mentioned; for there is a legend which says that the Skya race was almost
entirely exterminated during the life of the Buddha.]