At first, it is said, he intended to address himself to his old teachers, Alara and Udraka. Finding that they were dead, he walked straight to Benares, where his former disciples were then living. On the way he met with an acquaintance named Upaka, and from him received his first rebuff. The account of the conversation is only preserved to us in one of the lesser known biographies, but is so striking that it is deserving of notice. The Brahman, surprised at Gautama’s expression and carriage, asked him: “Whence comes it that thy form is so perfect, thy countenance so lovely, thy appearance so peaceful? What system of religion is it that imparts to thee such joy and such peace?” To this question Gautama replied, in verse, that he had overcome all worldly influences and ignorance, error, and passionate craving.
Then the Brahman asked where he was going, and on hearing he was going to Benares, asked him for what purpose; to this the ‘World-honoured’ replied in the following verses: “I now desire to turn the wheel of the excellent Law. For this purpose I am going to that city of Benares to give Light to those enshrouded in darkness, And to open the gate of Immortality to men.”
After further questioning, he then informed Upaka that having completely conquered all evil passion, and forever gotten rid of the remnants of personal being, he desired by the light of his religious system to dispense light to all, as a lamp enlightens all in the house.
On this the Brahman, unable apparently to further tolerate such pretensions, said curtly, “Venerable Gautama, your way lies yonder,’ and turned away himself in the opposite direction.
We have this episode in its Pali form, in the Vinaya Pitaka (“Pitaka” is the term used for a Buddhist canon of scriptures). The expression ‘turning the wheel of the excellent Law’ means, roughly, ‘to found a kingdom of righteousness;’ and the expression ‘to open the gate of Immortality to men,’ being quite unbuddhistic, has probably arisen from a mistranslation of the word ‘amata,’ meaning ambrosia or nectar. This is a name applied to Nirvana, as being the heavenly drink of the wise.
Nothing daunted, the new prophet went on to Benares; in the cool of the evening, he entered the deer park about three miles north of the city, where his five former disciples were then living. They, seeing him coming, resolved not to recognize him as a master because he had broken his vows; they chose to address him simply by his name. On the other hand, as he was of high caste descent, they offered him a mat to sit on. They respected him still, but a strong sense of duty prevented them from receiving him as an authoritative teacher because he had fallen from orthodoxy. Gautama remarked the change of manner in the others, and told that they were still on the path of suffering, whereas he had found the way of salvation which had so long remained hidden. Having become a Buddha, he could show them how to escape from the evils of life. They objected to his claim from a Hindu ascetic point of view; how can his mind have won the victory when he had yielded to his body? Gautama replied by explaining the fundamental truths of his system, an exposition preserved in the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutra, the Sutra of the Foundation of the Kingdom of Righteousness.
The oldest form of this Sutra is in Pali, and the later accounts are poetical versions of the ancient tradition. The devas – supernatural beings – thronged to hear the discourse until all the heavens were empty; the sound of their approach was like the noise of a storm, until at the blast of a heavenly trumpet they became as still as a waveless sea. All nature was moved; the everlasting hills, on which the world is built, leapt for joy, and bowed themselves before the Teacher, while the powers of the air disposed all things as was fitting; gentle breezes sighed, and delicious flowers filled the air with their scent.
According to the scripture, “The evening was like a lovely maiden; the stars were the pearls upon her neck, the dark clouds her braided hair, the deepening space her flowing robe. As a crown she had the heavens where the angels dwell; these three worlds were as her body; her eyes were the white lotus flowers which open to the rising moon; and her voice was, as it were, the humming of the bees. To worship the Buddha, and hear the first preaching of the word, this lovely maiden came.” When Gautama spoke, though he spoke in Pali, each one of the assembled hosts thought himself addressed in his own language, as did the different kinds of animals, great and small. There are very few lengthened accounts of what was actually said, and they differ almost entirely in the miraculous and poetical details; but they agree on the whole as to the course of Gautama’s argument.
64. Head of a Buddha, date unknown, Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon, Ayutthaya, Thailand, gilt bronze.
65. Seated statue of Gautama Buddha as the ninth incarnation of the Hindu creator god, Vishnu, date unknown, Mandalay, Burma, gold.
The Buddha’s first sermon, to the group of five ascetics (Pali Canon):
On one occasion the Blessed One was staying at Varanasi in the Game Refuge at Isipatana. There he addressed the group of five monks:
“There are these two extremes that are not to be indulged in by one who has gone forth. Which two? That which is devoted to sensual pleasure with reference to sensual objects: base, vulgar, common, ignoble, unprofitable; and that which is devoted to self-affliction: painful, ignoble, unprofitable. Avoiding both of these extremes, the middle way realised by the Tathagata – producing vision, producing knowledge – leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding.
[The Noble Eightfold Path]
“And what is the middle way realised by the Tathagata that – producing vision, producing knowledge – leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding? Precisely this Noble Eightfold Path: right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. This is the middle way realised by the Tathagata that – producing vision, producing knowledge – leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding.
[The Four Noble Truths]
“Now this, monks, is the noble truth of stress: Birth is stressful, aging is stressful, death is stressful; sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, and despair are stressful; association with the unbeloved is stressful, separation from the loved is stressful, not getting what is wanted is stressful. In short, the five aggregates of clinging/sustenance are stressful.
“And this, monks, is the noble truth of the origination of stress: the craving that makes for further becoming – accompanied by passion and delight, relishing now here and now there – i.e., craving for sensual pleasure, craving for becoming, craving for non-becoming.
“And this, monks, is the noble truth of the cessation of stress: the remainderless fading and cessation, renunciation, relinquishment, release, and letting go of that very craving.
“And this, monks, is the noble truth of the way of practise leading to the cessation of stress: precisely this Noble Eightfold Path – right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration.
[One’s duties with regard to the Four Noble Truths]
“Vision arose, insight arose, discernment arose, knowledge arose, illumination arose within me with regard to things never heard before: ‘This is the noble truth of stress’…
‘This noble truth of stress is to be comprehended’… ‘This noble truth of stress has been comprehended.’
“Vision arose, insight arose, discernment arose, knowledge arose, illumination arose within me with regard to things never heard before: ‘This is the noble truth of the origination of stress’… ‘This noble truth of the origination of stress is to be abandoned’… ‘This noble truth of the origination of stress has been abandoned.’
“Vision arose, insight arose, discernment arose, knowledge arose, illumination arose within me with regard to things never heard before: ‘This is the noble truth of the cessation of stress’… ‘This noble truth of the cessation of stress is to be directly experienced’… ‘This noble truth of the cessation of stress has been directly experienced.’
“Vision