him and hear what new thing he had to say. When Gautama went to the raja’s house to receive his daily meal, he was surrounded by an enthusiastic multitude. The raja received him with great respect and, saying that Yashtivana was too far off, assigned to him as a residence a bamboo grove (veluvami) close by, which became celebrated as the place where Gautama spent many rainy seasons, and delivered many of his most complete discourses.
There he stayed for two months, and during that time two ascetics named Sariputra and Moggallana joined the Sangha or Society, as the small company of Buddhist mendicants was called. The high position that Gautama soon assigned these new disciples created some ill-feeling among the older members of the Sangha. To disperse the tension, Gautama called together his followers and addressed them at some length on the means requisite for Buddhist salvation, which he summed up in the celebrated verse:
To cease from all wrong-doing,
To get virtue,
To cleanse one’s own heart,
This is the religion of the Buddhas.
83. Seated Gautama Buddha before a wall containing dozens of niches sheltering small Buddha images, date unknown, Pagoda of One Thousand Buddhas at the monastery of Wat Si Saket, Vientiane, Laos.
His reputation spreads (Pali Canon):
“A monk called Gautama, it seems, a son of the Sakyans who went forth from a Sakyan clan, has been wandering in the Kosalan country with a large Sangha of bhikkhus and has come to Sala. Now a good report of Master Gautama has been spread to this effect: ‘That Blessed One is such since he is arahant and Fully Enlightened, perfect in true knowledge and conduct, sublime, knower of worlds, incomparable teacher of men to be tamed, teacher of gods and humans, enlightened, blessed. He describes this world with its gods, its Maras, and its (Brahma) Divinities, this generation with its monks and brahmins, with its kings and its people, which he has himself realised through direct knowledge. He teaches a Dharma that is good in the beginning, good in the middle and good in the end with (the right) meaning and phrasing, he affirms a holy life that is utterly perfect and pure.’ Now it is good to see such arahants.”
[MN 41]
At the same time he laid down the first rules for the guidance of the society, the simple code called the ‘Patimokkha,’ that is ‘the Disburdenment,’ a word afterwards applied to a book containing a summary of the more complex system of laws, as elaborated at the time of Gautama’s death. This meeting of mendicants at which the Society was first incorporated is known as the ‘Savakasannipata,’ or assembly of the disciples.
The enthusiasm of the people seems to have cooled down more rapidly than it arose, for we hear of no other conversions besides those of Sariputra and Moggallana and their pupils. Moreover, the members of the society began even to complain to Gautama that when they went out to beg their daily food they were received with abuse and ridicule, on the grounds that the new teaching would deprive households of their support and depopulate and ruin the country. This they did not know how to answer, which is not surprising, for the charge was unfortunately true. The Brahmans, indeed, held celibacy in high honour, but only in youth and old age; and the ascetics, far from seeking imitators, added such penance to their celibacy expecting that it would be unattainable by ordinary men. The Buddhists painted in glowing colours the contrast between the miseries of life in the world and the sweet calm of life in the Order, and wanted every one for his own sake to share at once in their salvation. Gautama’s answer, perhaps the best possible, does not dispute the charge but simply reasserts that what the people called ruin he called good. He advised his followers to say that he, the Buddha, was only trying to spread righteousness as former Buddhas had done; that he used no weapons except persuasion; those whom he won over, he did so only by means of the truth, which he proclaimed for the benefit of all.
84. Caverns of Seated Buddhas, date unknown, Po Win Daung Caves, near Monywa, Burma.
85. Seated Buddhas, date unknown, Shwedagon Pagoda, Yangon, Burma, gilt bronze.
86. Seated image of Gautama Buddha with floral offerings, date unknown, Bodh Gaya, site of the Buddha’s enlightenment, Bihar State, India, Gandharan style, stone.
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