The life of the Siddhartha (Buddha)

Siddhartha was born to king Shuddhodhana and Mayadevi around 566 B.C. at Lumbini
(now in Nepal and therea!ter spent the !irst twenty"nine years o! his li!e in #apilavastu$
be!ore renoun%ing earthly pleasures in a tireless &uest !or salvation. 'hile leaving the
%ity he de%lared in a lion(s roar that )* shall not enter #apilavastu till * have seen the
bourne beyond li!e and death.+
Seated under a pipal tree$ with an intense desire$ whi%h he e,pressed in his own words$
)-* will not stir !rom this seat until * have attained supreme and absolute insight$+ he
re%eived enlightenment and was %alled .autama (his gotra Buddha (the /nlightened
0ne. 1herea!ter$ during 25 year o! his illustrious so3ourn he visited many pla%es on !oot
tea%hing his do%trine (saddharma$ %onverting people and organi4ing them into a
%ommunity (sangha.
Mahaparinirvana o! the Buddha and 5istribution o! the 6Sa%red 7eli%s( o! the Buddh8
8!ter bidding !arewell to 9aishali he pro%eeded towards :ava$ halting at pla%es on the
way. 1he Buddha$ as he rea%hed the last days o! his illustrious so3ourn spoke to 8nanda$
his beloved dis%iple saying.
)* too$ 0 8nanda$ am now grown old$ and !ull o! years$ my 3ourney is drawing to its %lose$
* have rea%hed my sum o! days$ * am turning eighty years o! age; and 3ust as a worn"out
%art$ 8nanda$ %an only with mu%h additional %are be made to move along$ so$ methinks$
the body o! the 1athagata %an only be kept going with mu%h additional %are.+
0n rea%hing :ava (variously identi!ied with :adaraona and <a4ilpur$ both near #asia$
he halted in the mango"grove o! Chunda$ the smith. Soon a!ter taking the meal o!!ered
by Chunda he had an atta%k o! dysentery$ but he persisted in his 3ourney till he rea%hed
the suburbs o! #ushinagara (#asia in =ttar :radesh$ the %apital o! the Mallas. 1here
8nanda$ a beloved dis%iple o! the Buddha$ spread a %ou%h between two shaala trees on
whi%h the Buddha laid himsel! on his right side and passed away in the last wat%h o! the
night. >e breathed his last$ with the words$
)Behold now$ brethren$ * e,hort you$ saying$
5e%ay is inherent in all %omponent things?
'ork out your own salvation with diligen%e?+
1he Mallas o! #ushinagara %remated his body with %eremonies be!itting a
universal king. >is %orporeal reli%s$ !rom the !uneral pyre were %olle%ted and divided into
eight shares and distributed among 83atashatru o! Magadha$ the Li%h%hhavis o! 9aishali$
the Shaakyas o! #apilavastu$ the Bulis o! 8llakappa$ the #oliyas o! 7amagrama$ the
Mallas o! :ava and a Brahmin o! 9ethadipa.
1hey built the !irst eight shaaririka stupas over the %orporeal remains o! the
Buddha as suggested by himsel! that stupas should be ere%ted over his mortal remains.
1hus$ these stupas are the earliest surviving Buddhist shrines.
#apilavastu identi!ied with :iprahwa (=ttar :radesh
1he mound at :iprahwa is ri%h in Buddhist remains and reveals the se%ret in identi!ying
it with the an%ient #apilavastu. 1he dis%overy o! one ins%ribed %asket in @ABA by '.C.
:eppe re!ers to the reli%s o! the Buddha and his %lan$ 6Sakya( and the ins%ription runs
thusC )Sukiti bhatinam sa"bhaginikanam sa"puta"dalanam iyam salila nidhane Buddhasa
bhagavate sakiynam+
*t(s meaning a%%ording to 7hys 5avids$ )1his shrine !or the reli%s o! the Buddha$
the 8ugust 0ne$ is that o! the Shaakyas$ the brethren o! the 5istinguished 0ne$ in
asso%iation with his sisters and with their %hildren and their wives+.
<urther e,%avations %ondu%ted by the 8r%haeologi%al Survey o! *ndia (@BD@"DD$
resulted in the dis%overy o! two more un"ins%ribed steatite %askets whi%h has been
epo%h"making dis%overy.
1he ins%ription on the reli% %asket dis%overed at :iprahwa and its pro,imity to Lumbini
whi%h is only nine miles eastward %ompelled the 8r%heologi%al Survey to !urther dig the
stupa that was partly dug by '.C. :eppe. 1he two steatite reli%"%askets$ one ea%h !rom
the northern and southern %hambers %ontained a total o! EE sa%red bone reli%s$ o! whi%h$
!our have been brought to Sri Lanka !or this /,position.
1his was !ollowed by the dis%overy o! more than FG terra%otta sealings !rom
di!!erent levels and spots in the eastern monastery at :iprahwa with the legends )0m$
5evaputra 9ihare$ #apilavastu$ Bhikshu Sanghasa+ meaning 6Community o! the
Buddhist monks o! #apilavastu living in 5evaputra 9ihara( and 6Maha #apilavastu
Bhikshu Sanghasa( in Brahmi %hara%ters o! @st and End %enturies 8.5. whi%h have
provided ade&uate eviden%e to establish that :iprahwa was the an%ient #apilavastu.
<inally$ the remains o! the main township o! #apilavastu were unearthed at .anwaria$
whi%h had its beginning in the eight %entury B.C. where a !ew %enturies later
monasteries were %onstru%ted to enable the monks to stay.
1his brie! a%%ount has been drawn !rom the Maha"parinibbana"suttanta$ translated in
1.'. 7hys 5avids$ Buddhist Suttas$ Sa%red books o! the /ast$ H* (0,!ord$ @BA@$ whi%h
%ontains a detailed des%ription o! the events in the last !ew months o! Buddha(s li!e.