The Gospel of Buddha, Compiled from Ancient RecordsCarus, Paul
ReligionEastern
The Gospel of Buddha, Compiled from Ancient Records
Carus, Paul
Buddhism; Christianity and other religions -- Buddhism; Gautama Buddha; Gautama Buddha -- Teachings
Then Kassapa went to the Jatilas and said: "I am anxious to lead
a religious life under the direction of the great Sakyamuni, who
is the Enlightened One, the Buddha. Do as ye think best." 18
And the Jatilas replied: "We have conceived a profound affection
for the great Sakyamuni, and if thou wilt join his brotherhood,
we will do likewise." 19
The Jatilas of Uruvelā now flung their paraphernalia of
fire-worship into the river and went to the Blessed One. 20
Nadi Kassapa and Gayā Kassapa, brothers of the great Uruvelā
Kassapa, powerful men and chieftains among the people, were
dwelling below on the stream, and when they saw the instruments
used in fire-worship floating in the river, they said: "Something
has happened to our brother." And they came with their folk to
Uruvelā. Hearing what had happened, they, too, went to the
Buddha. 21
The Blessed One, seeing that the Jatilas of Nadi and Gayā, who
had practised severe austerities and worshipped fire, were now
come to him, preached a sermon on fire, and said: 22
"Everything, O Jatilas, is burning. The eye is burning, all the
senses are burning, thoughts are burning. They are burning with
the fire of lust. There is anger, there is ignorance, there is
hatred, and as long as the fire finds inflammable things upon
which it can feed, so long will it burn, and there will be birth
and death, decay, grief, lamentation, suffering, despair, and
sorrow. Considering this, a disciple of the Dharma will see the
four noble truths and walk in the eightfold path of holiness. He
will become wary of his eye, wary of all his senses, wary of his
thoughts. He will divest himself of passion and become free. He
will be delivered from selfishness and attain the blessed state
of Nirvāna." 23
And the Jatilas rejoiced and took refuge in the Buddha, the
Dharma, and the Sangha. 24
XX
THE SERMON AT RĀJAGAHA.
And the Blessed One having dwelt some time in Uruvelā went forth
to Rājagaha, accompanied by a great number of bhikkhus, many of
whom had been Jatilas before; and the great Kassapa, chief of the
Jatilas and formerly a fireworshipper, went with him. 1
When the Magadha king, Seniya Bimbisāra, heard of the arrival of
Gotama Sakyamuni, of whom the people said, "He is the Holy One,
the blessed Buddha, guiding men as a driver curbs bullocks, the
teacher of high and low," he went out surrounded with his
counsellors and generals and came to the grove where the Blessed
One was. 2
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account