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Justitia

@Justitia

IF-Rockerz

Posted: 10 years ago

Why do most of us say "Buddha was born in Nepal"?? Don't get me wrong, I'm not disputing his birthplace. The only problem is that, technically speaking, this statement is wrong. Buddha WASN'T "born" anywhere. It is Prince Siddhartha Gautama who was born in Nepal. Siddhartha Gautama did NOT become The Buddha immediately after birth.

And, if you really have to talk about Buddha's "birth", it is actually Siddhartha's enlightenment, after which he became known as The Buddha. This glorious event happened in Bodh Gaya, Bihar, India. I presume you've all heard of the Mahabodhi Temple, right?

I honestly don't understand why some people get so egoistically possessive about Siddhartha's birthplace. Yes, I am aware that many people still make the mistake of saying that he was born in India. But why feel so egoistic about the whole thing that you actually get "offended", if someone mistakenly says that he was born in India? I mean, Buddha's teachings are for the "entire world", and not just "restricted" for the country where he was born as Siddhartha.

I wonder if Siddhartha himself really cared about where he was born. And I wonder how Siddhartha himself would react if he came to know that arguments actually occur over his birthplace...

By making his birthplace an ego issue of sorts, we are basically displaying our own narrow mindset that we cannot escape from the shackles of regionalism.

Siddhartha Gautama was born in Nepal, and he became The Buddha in India.

See - BOTH countries get credit, if that is what people argue about so much.

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Frequent Posters

Justitia

@Justitia

IF-Rockerz

Posted: 10 years ago

This content was originally posted by: .Vrish.
I have a couple of questions about Siddharth
When his father confronted him about his duties to succeed him, why didn't he ask his son Rahul to take on the succession, instead of admitting him & Yashodhara into the Sangha?
Didn't Devadatta have any desires for the Kapilavastu throne? Once Siddharth had vacated it, why didn't he simply stake his claim and try and win it for himself?
What happened to Kapilavastu (in terms of succession) after Suddhoyana died?
On a different note, if this show is authentic in terms of story, I hope it gets translated into other languages whose speakers are Buddhist - Tibetan, Sinhala, Burmese/Myanmarese, Thai, Cambodian, Vietnamese, maybe even Korean.

Didn't the concept of a "rajarshi" exist in those days? I've read about Rajarshis that they were basically kings ("raja") who ruled their kingdom, but were "spiritually advanced" (rishi"). For example, Raja Janak.

The main reason I'm asking this question is because I'd like to know why did Siddhartha have to compulsorily renounce the palace in order to search for the meaning of life? I agree that as a child and even as a young adult, he lived an extremely sheltered life and all.

But couldn't he have become a "rajarshi" instead? He could've achieved his life's purpose AND become a king as well (yes, he would've become the most non-violent king in history).

Part in bold - As per what I read, Shuddhodhana was extremely upset on hearing of Siddhartha's departure. And, Siddhartha had already become Buddha when Shuddhodhana was on his deathbed.

But what happened to Kapilvastu after Shuddhodhana died, I don't know.

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Arunita Chandra

@RoseFairy

IF-Dazzler

+ 3

Posted: 10 years ago

This content was originally posted by: .Vrish.

But Nepal was more or less pretty isolated from the rest of India - during the Maurya, Gupta, Saka, Kushana and other empires in the Classical Age, while several kingdoms from Gaur to Gandhara interacted w/ each other, there wasn't much w/ Nepal, probably due to the Himalayas and its accessibility. In fact, Nepal, while not a political entity, was very much a regional entity separate from the rest of Aryavarta - about as much as Lanka was.

kathmandu valley was always independent Nepal it was never part of India but tarain region or southern Nepal many times became part of India

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Manan

@Proud-India

IF-Sizzlerz

+ 5

Posted: 10 years ago

Who was king after Suddhodan? Dev vrat or Siddharth's step brother?

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Dilli

@Dilli4BALH

Goldie

+ 2

Posted: 10 years ago

This content was originally posted by: shani88

Why do most of us say "Buddha was born in Nepal"?? Don't get me wrong, I'm not disputing his birthplace. The only problem is that, technically speaking, this statement is wrong. Buddha WASN'T "born" anywhere. It is Prince Siddhartha Gautama who was born in Nepal. Siddhartha Gautama did NOT become The Buddha immediately after birth.

And, if you really have to talk about Buddha's "birth", it is actually Siddhartha's enlightenment, after which he became known as The Buddha. This glorious event happened in Bodh Gaya, Bihar, India. I presume you've all heard of the Mahabodhi Temple, right?

I honestly don't understand why some people get so egoistically possessive about Siddhartha's birthplace. Yes, I am aware that many people still make the mistake of saying that he was born in India. But why feel so egoistic about the whole thing that you actually get "offended", if someone mistakenly says that he was born in India? I mean,Buddha's teachings are for the "entire world", and not just "restricted" for the country where he was born as Siddhartha.

I wonder if Siddhartha himself really cared about where he was born. And I wonder how Siddhartha himself would react if he came to know that arguments actually occur over his birthplace...

By making his birthplace an ego issue of sorts, we are basically displaying our own narrow mindset that we cannot escape from the shackles of regionalism.

Siddhartha Gautama was born in Nepal, and he became The Buddha in India.

See - BOTH countries get credit, if that is what people argue about so much.

ha ha.. Ur own comment is so contradictory.. If buddha and Siddhartha is same person then why does people get confused on his birthplace?? for example, Mother Teresa got name Mother Teresa in India after her devoted work.. But u can't say Teresa(sorry don't know her real name so using Teresa only) was born in west Germany but mother Teresa was born in India..
I agree wid u on point abt our concern on his Gyan but not on birthplace.. Our focus should have been on his gyan Ahinsa,Styabachan but what we r doing now?? fighting against eachothers on his birthplace issue and we say we are his follower.. Edited by Dilli4BALH - 10 years ago

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Vrish

@Vr15h

Viewbie

+ 4

Posted: 10 years ago

I'm glad to see this thread. My questions will be not about Buddhism, since I'm not a Buddhist, but rather, about Siddhartha's history.

From what I recall - granted, it was from the ACK, Siddhartha & Buddha led 2 very different lives. Siddhartha's only interactions were with the Sakhyas of Kapilavastu & neighboring Nepali kingdoms. After he became Buddha, then he started meeting rulers like Bimbisara and Prasenjit, or had followers like Amrapali or Upagupta.

But in this serial, they showed Prasenjit being a guest @ Siddhartha's wedding, and the same for Bimbisara. But again, from what I recall, Siddhartha first met Bimbisara when he was meditating on life's true meaning. Bimbisara saw him the first time and asked him what he was up to, and he explained. Bimbisara asked him to visit him once he did find that out, and Buddha kept his word.

So it is confusing to see post Buddha characters appear in Siddhartha's marriage. Also, the wedding seemed overdramatized - a scorpion in the garland? 😲 I genuinely hope that the makers of this serial ain't doing what Swastik productions are doing in Mahabharata and making up the whole story. Last few weeks, too much of it suspiciously looks like they are. But I don't know a lot of details about Siddhartha's history, so can't confidently comment.

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Vrish

@Vr15h

Viewbie

+ 4

Posted: 10 years ago

Any idea - why did Devadatta want to lead the Sangha, as opposed to just trying to succeed Sudhoyana as the ruler?

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Arunita Chandra

@RoseFairy

IF-Dazzler

+ 3

Posted: 10 years ago

This content was originally posted by: .Vrish.
Any idea - why did Devadatta want to lead the Sangha, as opposed to just trying to succeed Sudhoyana as the ruler?

Because he wanted everything that Buddha got , that was the honor , he wanted people will respect and worship him more than Buddha , kingly pleasure was immaterial in front of Sidharth's achievement because he had become lord then he was ruling people and specially mighty emperors like Bimbisara and Prasenjit's heart , perhaps Devdutta thought Buddha can control the politics of Aryabart now so Devdutta wanted to attain the lordship so that by influencing those rulers he could influence whole Aryabarta and also people worship and respect him

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Vrish

@Vr15h

Viewbie

+ 4

Posted: 10 years ago

Seeing this episode, I have a few questions:

Were there actually palace intrigues in Sudhyoyana's court b/w Mangala Devi, Prajapati, et al?
Did Siddhartha ever actually find out that Mahadevi was his mother, as they showed today?
Did Devadatta actually have a crush on Yashodhara?
This question from long back - was Yashodhara actually Siddhartha's cousin? From the ACK Buddha, I thought that he had won her in a swayamvara, where archery & horseriding were the main events

Anybody know more on this one?

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Arunita Chandra

@RoseFairy

IF-Dazzler

+ 3

Posted: 10 years ago

yashodhara was obviously sidhartha's cousin

devdutta in some version is mentioned as yashodhara's own brother so this crush thing i donno

other things are creative liberty sidhartha knew abt his mother
Edited by RoseFairy - 10 years ago

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