Gautama Buddha

[Paramananda das]

Sri Gautama Buddhas life came to my memory today, such remembrance comes from Sri Krsna , he was sheltered from seeing anyone getting sick and dying even getting old , his father even moved people away from the capital so Prince Siddharta did not see any suffering .But eventually he found out .He never liked to see anyone suffer ,get sick and die.He was truely compassionate to all .One king started war with kingdom of the Sakhya that was in Nothern India part Nepal and Lord Buddha came riding on 1000 white elephants , this was of course seen by both armies so it is not a made up story.The opposing army of Magada kingdom (same kingdom Jarasandha used to rule before being killed by Bhima on Sri Krsna instrruction )

White elephants are rare, even his mother Queen Maya had a dream when Lord Buddha entered her womb a white elephant appeared and enteted her womb . King Suddhodana was his father and raised Prince Siddharta in Kapilvastu the capital ,the place is now known as Tilaurakot in Nepal .Anyhow Prince Siddharta stopped all violence and war between the Sakhas and Magadhas .Everyone was scared how could he have such divine powers to sit on a white Elephant and bring another 100 large powerfull white Elephants .Prince Siddharta was born in Lumbini which is also in Nepal. It is a big holy place for the Buddhists .Kapilvastu was founded by king Ikshvaku so it is a very ancient city .At age 29 Prince Siddharta became Gautama Buddha. Srila Prabhupadas sannyasa Guru Srila Bhakti Prajana Kesava Maharaja has described that Gautama Buddha and Lord Buddha mentioned in Srimad Bhagavatam are different .Prince Siddharta shaved his head and went to Buddha Gaya and meditated .Some of the many teachings of Gautama Buddha was non violence ,since child hood Gautama Buddha never ate meat and one his cousin showed his great skills in using a bow and killed a bird flying high in the sky Prince Siddharta brought it back to life.Gautama Buddhas teachings are very similar to what was taught by Lord Buddha some thousand years prior to him the patch of non violence.Thus if anyone say I am Buddhist that eat meat is as much a contradiction as if someone said I follow Jesus Christ and eat meat ,what to speak of the Vaisnavas .Gautama Buddha tried to bring peace in India by making people non violent.Herman Hesse tried to explain about Gautama Buddha to the western mind and many young people used to read his book Siddharta .So I just wanted to share something about Gautama Buddha because Lord Krsna inspired me too from within .He did not teach Bhagavata Philosophy but kindness and love that the world needs first then they can easy understand Srimad Bhagavatam .