The Event of Awakening:
At that time a girl named
Sujata Senani lived in
Uruvela. When adult,
she prayed before a certain Banyan tree, that she might get a husband
equal to herself in caste and that her firstborn may be a son. Her prayer
was successful, since so indeed did it happen. At the full moon day of the
Vesak month, she rose at early dawn & milked the cows. As soon as new
buckets were placed under the cows, their milk poured forth in streams
spontaneously all by itself. Seeing this miracle, she knew something
special
was going on.
Sujātā
offering the
Bodhisatta
her milk rice.
Now at that very night the Future
Buddha had 5 specific dreams that
made him conclude: Certainly, without doubt, today is the very day,
I will reach Enlightenment! His 5 colored radiance illuminated the whole tree.
Then Sujata came & offered the cooked milk rice in the hands of the Great Being.
After that a grass-cutter came going with a bundle of grass just harvested from
nearby. He offered the Great Being 8 handfuls of Kusa grass, when he saw that
this Sage was a Holy Man. The Future Buddha accepted the grass and proceeded
to the foot of the great
Bodhi-Tree. Reaching the imperturbable Eastern side,
where all
Buddhas take their
seat, he sat down determined & said to himself:
This is indeed the immovable spot where all the Buddhas have planted
themselves!
This is the very place for destroying the net of desire!
Then the Future Buddha turned his back to the trunk and faced East.
Right there he then made this mighty decision:
Let just blood & flesh of this body dry up & let skin & sinews
fall from the frame of bones.
I will not leave this seat before
having attained the absolute
supreme Enlightenment!
So determined did he seat himself in this unconquerable seat, which not
even a 100 strikes of lightning could make him waver from.
At this very moment the rebel deity
Mara -the Evil One- raised exclaiming:
Prince
Siddhattha will
now pass beyond my power, but I will never allow it!
and sounding the
Mara's war shout, he prepared his army & went out for
battle. Then
Mara said to his militia: This Sakyamuni, son of
Suddhodana,
is far greater, than any other man, so we will never succeed to fight him
up front. We will therefore attack him from behind. Frustrated, being unable
even to touch this Wielder of Power even with 9 mighty hurricanes of wind,
rain, rocks, weapons, red coals, hot ashes, sand, mud, & darkness
Mara somewhat
in panic commanded his army: Why do you stand still?
Seize, kill & drive away this prince. And
Mara yelled:
Siddhattha,
leave this seat.
It is not yours but mine! Hearing this the Well-gone One replied:
Mara, neither have you
ever fulfilled the 10 perfections to the third degree,
nor have you given the 5 great donations. Neither has you striven for
insight,
nor for the welfare of the world, nor for enlightenment! Therefore does
this
seat not belong to you, but indeed only and forever to me!
Suddenly overpowered by fear
Mara's followers fled helter-skelter
in all directions. Not two went the same way, but leaving their weapons
in a chaos all behind, they fled terrified by panic. Seeing them flee, the
great assembly of deities triumphantly shouted:
Mara is defeated. Prince
Siddhattha has Won! Let us celebrate the Victory! The deities then sang:
The Victory has this illustrious
Buddha Won.
The Evil One, The End-maker is defeated & done.
Thus they jubilantly circled the wisdom throne,
the band of
nagas singing their praises of the Seer,
the flocks of birds singing their praises of the Sage,
the assembly of Deities singing their praises of the Conqueror,
the group of
Brahmas singing their praises of the Worthy One.
It was before the sun had set that the Tathagata thus conquered
Mara &
defeated his army. Then at the same night, after having bathed, while the
Bodhi-Tree rained red sprigs on his robe, the Consummate One acquired
knowledge of previous existences in the first watch of the night:
With the mind thus concentrated, purified, bright, fixed, unified, focused,
tractable, compliant, steady & imperturbable, I directed it to remembrance
of my past lives. I recollected numerous past lives, i.e., one birth,
two...five,
ten...fifty, a hundred, a thousand, a hundred thousand, many eons of
cosmic
contraction, many eons of cosmic expansion:
There I had such a name, belonged to such a clan & species, had such
a body. Such was my food, such my experience of pleasure & pain,
such the end of my life. Passing away from that state, I re-arose there.
There I had such name, belonged to such a sort & family, had such a form.
Such was my food, such my experience of pleasure & pain, such the
end of my life. Passing away from that state, I re-arose here. Thus I
remembered my various past lives in all their various modes & details.
This was the first knowledge I attained in the first watch of the night.
Ignorance was destroyed; knowledge arose; darkness was destroyed;
light arose as happens in one who is alert, aware,
and determined.
But the pleasant feeling that arose in this way did not invade my mind
nor remain. With the mind thus still concentrated, purified, bright, intact,
pliant, malleable, steady, & imperturbable, I directed it to the knowledge
of the passing away & reappearance of beings. I saw by means of the
divine
eye, purified & surpassing the human eye I saw beings passing away &
re-appearing, and I realized how & why they are high & low, beautiful &
ugly, fortunate & unfortunate all in accordance with the intentions of their
prior actions: 'These beings who were endowed with bad behavior of
body, speech, & mind, who reviled the Noble Ones, held wrong views and
acted under the influence of wrong views, with the break-up of the body,
after death, have re-appeared in the plane of misery, the bad destinations,
the lower realms, even in the hells.
But these beings, who were gifted with good behavior of body, speech &
mind, who did not revile the Noble Ones, who held right views and acted
under the influence of right views, with the break-up of the body, after
death, have re-appeared in happy destinations, even in a divine world.'
Thus -- by means of the
divine eye, purified & surpassing the human --
I saw beings passing away & re-appearing, all in accordance with their
particular mixture of good & bad
kamma.
But the satisfaction that arose in this way did not invade my mind nor
did
it remain. With the mind thus concentrated, fully absorbed, I directed it
towards understanding the stilling of all the mental fermentations.
Then I realized how it actually comes to be, that:
Such is
Misery...
Such is the
Cause of Misery...
Such is the
End of Misery...
Such is the
Way to End Misery...
Such is the
mental fermentations...
Such is the cause of
mental
fermentation...
Such is the end of
mental
fermentation...
Such is the way leading to the end of
mental
fermentation...!
When my mind saw that, realized that, it was freed of the fermentation of
sense-desire, released from the fermentation of becoming, unobstructed by
the fermentation of ignorance. Fully &
Perfectly Enlightened - The
Buddha -
perceiving this immense glory, spoke these 2 solemn verses, which
never has
been omitted by any of countless thousands of prior Buddhas:
Through this round of countless existences have I searched
yet failed to find 'the Creator', who framed this formation:
What Misery! is such Endless Birth, Ageing, Decay & Death!!
Now I see that 'the Constructor' of this structure is
Craving...!
Never shall this construction be build again, as all the rafters
are shattered and the main beam is busted &
fully broken...
At this stilling of all
Craving, mind has finally
found calm...
Then, friends, this vision of certainty then arose in me: This release
is irreversible, this is the last rebirth, this
endless reappearance
has
finally ended...
Here do all the Buddhas Awaken:
Bodhgaya!
About Awakening see also:
https://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/b/bodhisatta.htm
https://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/b/buddha.htm
https://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/s_t/sammaa_sambodhi.htm
https://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/b_f/bodhi.htm
https://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/b/bodhirukka.htm
