Gautam Buddha - Part IV

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Republics & Kingdoms | Magadha as Empire | Ajatashatru | Gautam Buddha | Vardhamana Mahavira | Nandas | Alexander | Battle of Hydaspes  continued.... Buddha's death. At the age of 80, the Buddha became ill and died. His death took place at Kusinara, and is called the pari or final nirvana. Buddhists believe that the Buddha attained eternal peace and happiness at his enlightenment, when all greed, hatred, and ignorance were overcome in his life. But they believe that he had to wait until the natural death of his body for this state of nirvana to be fully realized. The Buddha told his followers not to be sad. He had taught them that he was only human, and would die like everyone else. His followers gave him a ceremonial cremation, and buried his bones as relics in burial mounds called stupas. These mounds are the characteristic monuments of Buddhism all over the Buddhist world. The place where the Buddha died, as well as the places of his birth, enlightenment, and first sermon, have become important places of pilgrimage for Buddhists. Such places generally have two kinds of statue. One shows the Buddha in his enlightenment, sitting in a lotus posture. The other shows his death, lying peacefully on his right side. Traditional lives of the Buddha. The oldest complete collection of Buddhist scriptures in an Indian language is the Pali Canon. This collection does not contain a continuous life of Gautama Buddha, but describes some of the most important parts, such as his enlightenment and his death. It also includes long sections of his teachings. Books on the traditional life of the Buddha, such as the Lalitavistara and Buddhacarita, were written later in the Sanskrit language. These contain many tangled layers of history, legend, and myth. They have been told and retold, and have inspired paintings and sculptures in the Buddhist world for centuries. next page >> << back

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