Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-04-14
WHERE BUyDHA LIVED
Home of th6zPrince Who
Labored for Others,
He PREACHED PEACE
HIS RELIGION A SHARP CON-
TRAST TO BRAHMINIsM.
Benares Distinctly the City of silva
Followers of Vishnu and
Ganesa.
BY WILLIAM +. CURTIS,

BY WILLIAM T.. CURTIS
Special Correspondents Of The Evening Star and
Chicago Record Herald
BENARES March Is. 1904.
Benares is as sacred to the Buddhists as
it is to the Brahmins. for it was here that
Gautama afterward called Buddha "a title
which means The Enlightened'D, lived In
the sixth century before Christ and from
here he sent out his missionaries to convert
the world.
Gautama was a prince of the Sakya tribe
and of the Rajput caste. He was born go
Be. and lived in great wealth and luxury
Driving in his pleasure grounds one day
he met man crippled with age: then a
second m-a smftten with an incurabe dis
ease; then corpse. and finally a fakir or
ascetic. walking in calm. dignified. serene
manner. These spectacles set him thinking
and after long reflection he decided to sur
render his wealth. to relingush his happi-
ness and devote himself to the reformation
OF his people. He left his home, his wife
a. child which had just been born to him.
cut off his long hair, shaved his head
clothed. himself with rags. and taking moth
ing with him but a brass bowl from which
he could eat his food and cup from which
ne could drink. he became pilgrim, an In
qlirer after Truth and Light. Having dis
covered that he could drink from the hollow
Of his hand, he gave away his cup and
kept nothing but his bowl. That is the
reason why every pilgrim and every falSir,
every monk and priest in India carries a
brass bowl for although Buddhism Is prac-
tically extinct in this country the teachings
and the example Of Gautama had per-
petual influence over the Hindus.
After what Is called the great renuncia-
ton Guatama spent six years notifying
the body and gradually reduced his food to
one grain OF rio, day. But this brought
u i'm vol haP oh af ind 10
thereupon abandoned further penance and
devoted six years to meditation. sitting
under the now famous bo-tree, near the
modern town of Gaya.
Where Gautama Became Buddha.
In the year 5SS 3. c. he obtained COM
plete enlightenment, and devoted the rest
of his life to the instruction of his disciples
He taught that all suffering is caused by in
dulging the desires; that the only hope of
relief lies in the suppression of desire and
impressed his principles upon more millions
of believers than those of any other religion.
1t is the boast of the Buddhists that no life
was ever sacrificed that no blood was ever
shed; that no suffering was ever caused by
the propagation of that faith and the con-
version Of the world to 1t.
After he became enlightened Gautama as
Sumed the name of Euddha ard came to
Benares. where he taught and preached.
and had monastery at the town called
Sarnath, now extinct in the suburbs of
Benares. There. surrounded by heaps of
ruins and rubbish. stand two great TOPICS
or towers. the largest of which marks the
spot where Buddha preached his first SER
mon 1t is supposed to have been built in
the sixth century of the Chinese era. for
Hiouen Thsang, a Chinese traveller who WIS.,
tied Sarnath in the seventh century, de-
scribes the tower and monastery which was
situated near it. 1t Is one of the most in
teresting, as 1t is one of the most ancient
monuments in India. but We do not quite
understand the purpose for which it was
erected. 1t is no feet high. 95 feet in di-
ameter. and built of solid masonry with
the exception of a small chamber in the
center and narrow shaft or chimney run
ming up to the top. The lower half is
composed of immense blocks of stone
clamped together with iron, and at in
terVals the monument was encircled by
bands of sculptured relief fifteen feet wide
The upper part was of brick, which is now
IN an advanced state of decay and covered
with heavy crop of grass and bushes A
large tree grows from the top.
There used to be an enormous mastery
in the neighborhood. of which the ruins re-
MAIN The cells and chapels were arranged
around square court similar to those
cloisters of modern monas cries
half mile distant is another tower and
the ruins of other inconsistencies. and every
inch of earth in that part of the city is as
ISOLATED with the life and labor of the great
apostle of peace and love- whose theology
OF sweetness and light and gentleness was
in startling contrast with the atrocious
doctrines taught by the Brahmns and the
hideous rites practiced at the shrines of the
Hindu gods
But these towers are not the oldest relics
of Buddha. At Gaya where he received
the enlightenment. the actual birthplace of
buddhism. is temple built in the year 500
A. D., and 1t stands upon The site of ono
that was 200 or 500 years older
silva and -Vishnu.
Benares is distinctly the city of silva. but
several thousand other gods are worshiped
here. including his several wives. Una is
his first wife. and she is the exact coun
terpart Of her husband; Sati is his most de-
voted wife; Karali is his most horrible
wife; Devi. another of his wives. is the god
dess of death: Kali is the goddess of mis-
fortune. and there are half a dozen other
ladies OF his household whose business
seems to be to terrorize and distress their
worshipers. But that is the ruling feature
or the Hindu religion There Is no sweet
ness or light in its theology-it exists to
MAKE people unhappy and wretched. and to
bring misery, suffering and crime into the
world. ~
Inc Hindus fear their gods but do not
iGVe them. with perhaps the exception of
Vishnu, the second person in the Hindu
trinity. while Brahma is the third These
three are the supreme deities in tho nan
tEecn. but Brahma is more of an abstract
proposition than an actual god For pur-
poses of worship the IIindus may be diyid-
ed INTO two classes-the followers of silva
and the followers of Vishnu. They can he
distinguished by the. god marks" or paint
ed signs upon their foreheads. Those who
wear red ere the adherents of silva, and the
followers or Ffshnu wear white. Subordi-
nate TO these two great divinities are mil
mems OF other gods and it would take a
volume to describe their various functions
and attributes.
Vishnu is much more agreeable god