He Is, Of Course,
Wrong In Placing The Scene Of The History In Ceylon, Though Probably It
Was So Told Him, As The Vulgar In All Buddhist Countries Do Seem To
Localise The Legends In Regions Known To Them.
Sakya Sinha, Sakya Muni, or Gautama, originally called Siddharta, was the
son of Suddhodhana, the Kshatriya prince of Kapilavastu, a small state
north of the Ganges, near the borders of Oudh.
His high destiny had been
foretold, as well as the objects that would move him to adopt the ascetic
life. To keep these from his knowledge, his father caused three palaces to
be built, within the limits of which the prince should pass the three
seasons of the year, whilst guards were posted to bar the approach of the
dreaded objects. But these precautions were defeated by inevitable destiny
and the power of the Devas.
When the prince was sixteen he was married to the beautiful Yasodhara,
daughter of the King of Koli, and 40,000 other princesses also became the
inmates of his harem.
"Whilst living in the midst of the full enjoyment of every kind of
pleasure, Siddharta one day commanded his principal charioteer to prepare
his festive chariot; and in obedience to his commands four lily-white
horses were yoked. The prince leaped into the chariot, and proceeded
towards a garden at a little distance from the palace, attended by a great
retinue. On his way he saw a decrepit old man, with broken teeth, grey
locks, and a form bending towards the ground, his trembling steps
supported by a staff (a Deva had taken this form).... The prince enquired
what strange figure it was that he saw; and he was informed that it was an
old man. He then asked if the man was born so, and the charioteer answered
that he was not, as he was once young like themselves. 'Are there,' said
the prince, 'many such beings in the world?' 'Your highness,' said the
charioteer, 'there are many.' The prince again enquired, 'Shall I become
thus old and decrepit?' and he was told that it was a state at which all
beings must arrive."
The prince returns home and informs his father of his intention to become
an ascetic, seeing how undesirable is life tending to such decay. His
father conjures him to put away such thoughts, and to enjoy himself with
his princesses, and he strengthens the guards about the palaces. Four
months later like circumstances recur, and the prince sees a leper, and
after the same interval a dead body in corruption. Lastly, he sees a
religious recluse, radiant with peace and tranquillity, and resolves to
delay no longer. He leaves his palace at night, after a look at his wife
Yasodhara and the boy just born to him, and betakes himself to the forests
of Magadha, where he passes seven years in extreme asceticism. At the end
of that time he attains the Buddhahood. (See Hardy's Manual p. 151
seqq.) The latter part of the story told by Marco, about the body of the
prince being brought to his father, etc., is erroneous. Sakya was 80 years
of age when he died under the sal trees in Kusinara.
The strange parallel between Buddhistic ritual, discipline, and costume,
and those which especially claim the name of CATHOLIC in the Christian
Church, has been often noticed; and though the parallel has never been
elaborated as it might be, some of the more salient facts are familiar to
most readers. Still many may be unaware that Buddha himself, Siddharta the
son of Suddodhana, has found his way into the Roman martyrology as a Saint
of the Church.
In the first edition a mere allusion was made to this singular story, for
it had recently been treated by Professor Max Mueller, with characteristic
learning and grace. (See Contemporary Review for July, 1870, p. 588.)
But the matter is so curious and still so little familiar that I now
venture to give it at some length.
The religious romance called the History of BARLAAM and JOSAPHAT was for
several centuries one of the most popular works in Christendom. It was
translated into all the chief European languages, including Scandinavian
and Sclavonic tongues. An Icelandic version dates from the year 1204; one
in the Tagal language of the Philippines was printed at Manilla in 1712.[2]
The episodes and apologues with which the story abounds have furnished
materials to poets and story-tellers in various ages and of very diverse
characters; e.g. to Giovanni Boccaccio, John Gower, and to the compiler of
the Gesta Romanorum, to Shakspere, and to the late W. Adams, author of
the Kings Messengers. The basis of this romance is the story of
Siddharta.
The story of Barlaam and Josaphat first appears among the works (in Greek)
of St. John of Damascus, a theologian of the early part of the 8th
century, who, before he devoted himself to divinity had held high office
at the Court of the Khalif Abu Jafar Almansur. The outline of the story is
as follows: -
St. Thomas had converted the people of India to the truth; and after the
eremitic life originated in Egypt many in India adopted it. But a potent
pagan King arose, by name ABENNER, who persecuted the Christians and
especially the ascetics. After this King had long been childless, a son,
greatly desired, is born to him, a boy of matchless beauty. The King
greatly rejoices, gives the child the name of JOSAPHAT, and summons the
astrologers to predict his destiny. They foretell for the prince glory and
prosperity beyond all his predecessors in the kingdom. One sage, most
learned of all, assents to this, but declares that the scene of these
glories will not be the paternal realm, and that the child will adopt the
faith that his father persecutes.
This prediction greatly troubled King Abenner. In a secluded city he
caused a splendid palace to be erected, within which his son was to abide,
attended only by tutors and servants in the flower of youth and health.
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