Vol. 11 · pages 16–20

PROLOGUE “FROM time to time men find themselves forced to reconsider current and inherited beliefs and ideas, to gain some harmony between present and past experience, and to reach a position which shall satisfy the demands of feeling and reflexion and give confidence for facing the future. If, at the present day, religion, as a subject of critical or scientific inquiry, of both practical and theoretical significance has attracted increasing attention, this can be ascribed to (a) the rapid progress of scientific knowledge and thought ; (b) the deeper intellectual interest in the subject ; ( c) the widespread tendencies in all parts of the world to reform or reconstruct religion, or even to replace it by some body of thought, more ‘rational’ and ‘scientific’ or less ‘superstitious’ ; and (d) the effect of social, political, and international events of a sort which, in the past, have both influenced and been influenced by religion. Whenever the ethical or moral value of activities or conditions is questioned, the value of religion is involved ; and all deep-stirring experiences invariably compel a reconsideration of the most fundamental ideas, whether they are explicitly religious or not. Ultimately there arise problems of justice, human destiny, God, and the universe ; and these in turn involve problems of the relation between ‘religious’ and other ideas, the validity of ordinary knowledge, and practicable conceptions of ‘experience’ and ‘reality.’ —From “Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics,” Vol. X, p. 669.

BOOK I Siddharth Gautama—How a Bodhisatta became the Buddha Part I —From Birth to Parivraja Part II —Renunciation for Ever Part III —In Search of New Light Part IV—Enlightenment and the Vision of a New Way Part V —The Buddha and His Predecessors Part VI —The Buddha and His Contemporaries Part VII —Comparison and Contrast

PART I From Birth to Parivraja 1. His Kula 2. His Ancestry 3. His Birth 4. Visit by Asita 5. Death of Mahamaya 6. Childhood and Education 7. Early Traits 8. Marriage 9. Father’s Plans to Save His Son 10. The Failure of the Women to Win the Prince 11. The Prime Minister’s Admonition to the Prince 12. The Prince’s Reply to the Prime Minister 13. Initiation into the Sakya Sangh 14. Conflict with the Sangh 15. Offer of Exile 16. Parivraja—the Way Out 17. Parting Words 18. Leaving His Home 19. The Prince and the Servant 20. The Return of Channa 21. The Family in Mourning

BOOK I I § 1. His Kula 1. Going back to the sixth century B.C., Northern India did not form a single Sovereign State. 2. The country was divided into many States, some large, some small. Of these some were monarchical and some non-monarchical. 3. The monarchical States were altogether sixteen in number. They were known by the name of Anga, Magadha, Kasi, Kosala, Vriji, Malla, Chedi, Vatsa, Kuru, Panchala, Matsya, Saursena, Asmaka, Avanti, Gandhara and Kambhoja. 4. The non-monarchical States were those of the Sakyas of Kapilvatsu, the Mallas of Pava and Kushinara, the Lichhavis of Vaisali, the Videhas of Mithila, the Koliyas of Ramagam, the Bulis of Allakapa, the Kalingas of Resaputta, the Mauriyas of Pipphalvana and the Bhaggas with their capital on Sumsumara Hill. 5. The monarchical States were known as Janapada and the non-monarchical as Sangh or Gana. 6. Not much is known about the nature of the polity of the Sakyas of Kapilvatsu, whether it was republican or oligarchic. 7. This much, however, is definitely known, that there were many ruling families in the Republic of the Sakyas and that they ruled in turns. 8. The head of the ruling family was known as Raja. 9. At the time of the birth of Siddharth Gautama it was the turn of Suddhodana to be the Raja. 10. The Sakya State was situated in the northeast corner of India. It was an independent State. But at a later stage the King of Kosala had succeeded in establishing his paramountcy over it. 11. The result of this paramountcy was that the Sakya State could not exercise certain sovereign powers without the sanction of the King of Kosala.