TORTURING THE BODY / The life of the Buddha tutorial 5

Torturing the Body

After leaving Uddaka, Ascetic Gotama and his five friends wandered from place to place as before. He practised fasting which was thought to be one of the best ways to acquire wisdom. He, too, at the beginning took little food. Later on he only ate one meal a day for months. Then he took food once in two or three days. He was eating roots of plants, leaves and juice of various leaves and fruits. Because of the lack of proper food his body became so thin that his legs became like bamboo sticks, his backbone was like a rope, his rib-bones in the chest were like an uncompleted roof of a house, his eyes sank right inside, like a stone in a deep well. His skin was so dry and wrinkled that hairs were missing. In fact he looked like a living skeleton - all bones without any flesh! He suf- fered terrible pain and hunger and he thought that the only way to happiness was to be most unhappy now. He continued to meditate but still he did not know anything new. 

Another way of torturing his body and mind was holding his breath for a long time until he felt terrible pains in the ears, head and the whole body. Then he began to be alone or practised lone- liness. During the Full Moon and New Moon nights he went out to the forests, cemetery and other lonely places to meditate. He became frightened at first in these places, He stayed behind bravely in these dreadful places meditating all the time. 

He used to wear rags or torn dirty clothes from grave-yards and rubbish heaps during this period. In the hot summer he stayed Indoors at night and in the burning sun in the day time. In the cold winter at midnight he used to dip himself in the icy cold water and Stay for a long time. This was to torture his body and mind even more and suffer even more than ever. 

For six long years he did all these practices and in spite of e great pain and suffering he did not find out anything. He finally thought that this was not the way to find out wisdom. One day he fainted in a place called Uruvela. Then a goat boy came and gave him some milk and that made him better. Soon he began to take more milk and food and built up his body. When the five friends saw that he was not fasting anymore, they felt disapointed and left him alone.

SUJATA, GAVE HIM MILK-RICE 

In a village called Senani there lived a young, very beautiful and rich girl who wanted to marry and have a son. She waited for many years and she was not successful. The people told her that she must go to a Banyan tree near Neranjana river and ask the tree-god to give her a husband and a lovely son. People at that time believed and prayed to trees and images for help. She did as told by the people. Later on she got married to a young man and they had a lovely son. She was extremely happy and decided to fulfil her vow to that tree-god for giving her all that she had asked for. So on the day she wanted to fulfil the vow she sent her servant to the tree to clean the foot of the Banyan tree. 

This young and beautiful lady's name was Sujata. She had a thousand cows and she fed them with sweet creepers called Valmee so that the cow's milk was sweet. Then she milked the thousand cows and fed that-milk to five hundred cows and their milk to two hundred and fifty cows and so on until she fed only eight cows. She did this to get the sweetest and most nourishing milk to make the delicious milk-rice for the tree-god. She then cooked the rice in this milk. Suddenly she was surprised to see her servant running and coming to her very happy and excited and said:

 "O! my lady Sujata, the Banyan tree-god himself has come down from the tree for your food. He is seated under the tree medi- tating. How lucky you must be to have the god in person to accept your food."

Sujata too was very happy and excited. She danced with joy with the servant. They then took even more pains to prepare the milk-rice. 

Taking with them the delicious milk-rice both of them went towards the Banyan tree. Sujata was so surprised and excited to See her tree-god himself- who was so handsome-looking so se- sitting and meditating. She did not know that he was in fact Ascetic Gotama. While she was putting the delicious milk-rice in Is bowl she said. "May you be successful in obtaining your wishes I have been."

Ascetic Gotama ate the food and then with the empty bowl in his hand, crossed the river Neranjana on the way to Gaya.