[In the 68th United Nations General Assembly in New York few days ago, Nepal somehow made a lamentably restrained lowly assertion that the Buddha was born in its Lumbini. The Himalayan country’s Interim Election Council Chairman Justice Khil Raj Regmi in his address to the general assembly said, “ I bring with me the message of peace and non-violence from Lumbini; the birth place of Gautam Buddha, the apostle of peace and the greetings and best wishes from the government and people of Nepal.” I rather would have loved him say instead that he had brought with him “the message of peace and non-violence from Nepal’s Lumbini; the birth place of Gautam Buddha”. But he did not say so and, which is very lamentable. We fully understand why he had required to make such a strangely twisted, indirect reference in his address but very sadly he failed to do so truly. ]
By B. K. Rana
While debating the Buddha, recent television serial on him and the news reported by Hindustan Times [1],
also by The Washington Post[2]
and The Huffington Post [3]
from down here, it may be worthwhile writing something today again on the other 12 part
Buddha film made by a professor of history from Odisha[4] who also had discussed with me after the publication of my paper on the Buddha birthplace on February 14, 2010[5].
I have no idea how he has made those 12 part films but his writings seemingly based on
later day literature such as Vamsa Gathas from Ceylon, that is to say from Shri
Lanka and other local publications, I assume they are also like what Zee TV aired
recently.
It is not only the Buddha birthplace, Lumbini of
present day Nepal Tarai, which has been brought into question since 1928; those
professors and other authors from Odisha are also found questioning about the actual
location of the Bodhi Tree[6]
under whose shade the Buddha had attained enlightenment. Those scholars following,
Mahagatimbiya—Tissadatta, a Bhikkshu from Shri Lanka,
who seems to have visited the Bodhi Tree site, think
the tree being very close to an ocean and also think the view running parallel
to those of the Chinese travelers. Those historians and authors also talk of Majjhimdesh (मज्झिम देश). In Jatakas and Lalita Vistara the Buddha is said to have
himself told he was born in Majjhimdesh
or Majjhim Desh (मज्झिम देश) – the ‘middle country’ (मध्य देश) or
Madhesh (मधेश). Therefore, some Nepalese political
leaders from Madhesh have nowadays begun to say that the Buddha was born in Madhesh (मधेश) – not in Lumbini either. But where was Majjhimdesh or Majjhim Desh (मज्झिम देश) ? I shall copy below few lines from my 2010 paper:
“Another less heard but
interesting claim so far made by another Orissan scholar is that Buddha himself
had said he was born in the “Majjhima Desha of Jambu Dwipa”. He argues the
‘Majjhima Desh’ of Jambu Dwip cannot be Nepal. Here the writer himself
appears to be forgetting that Orrisa too, doesn’t happen to be in
central India or ‘Majjhima Desh of Jambu Dwip’. Orissa is on the
western edge of Bay of Bengal in the Indian subcontinent. It is not
at the center of India. The writer quotes, “Edward J. Thomas[32] had
clearly said that the Jatakas and Lalita Vistara described the words of Buddha
himself in this connection” of his birth in the Middle Province of India.[33]
Here the “Pali Majjhima-desha is a *small* area in Malla country near Lumbini”[34] -
not in Orissa. It is called ‘Madhyadesha or modern Madesh”.Nepal’s Tarai
is also known as ‘Madhesh’ which may look identical to Madhya Pradesh
of India, but not any particular place in Orissa.”
In Parinibbana Sutta, the Buddha is written to have said
four different places related to him:
his place of birth, enlightenment, first sermon, and passing away would
be places of future pilgrimage. The Buddha birthplace is naturally
a place of great importance to the Buddhist world today. So many scholars from
India and Srilanka also sometimes wrongfully assert the Buddha being born to their respective
countries. They seem to be either not taking seriously the present day Lumbini
Ashokan inscription in Nepal Tarai or not accepting it at all.
Not only scholars from India or Shri Lanka, the western scholars also hesitate to
attest Lumbini as the birthplace of Gautam Buddha. They shrink back and write him “a native of the ancient Shakya republic in the Himalayan
foothills” and who “taught
primarily in northeastern India.”[7]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha.
I think Nepal has to do something assertive about the Buddha birthplace which has remained long over due.
In the 68th United Nations General Assembly in New York few days ago, Nepal somehow made a lamentably restrained lowly assertion that the Buddha was born in its Lumbini. The Himalayan country’s Interim Election Council Chairman Justice Khil Raj Regmi in his address to the general assembly said, “ I bring with me the message of peace and non-violence from Lumbini; the birth place of Gautam Buddha, the apostle of peace and the greetings and best wishes from the government and people of Nepal.” I rather would have loved him say instead that he had brought with him “the message of peace and non-violence from Nepal’s Lumbini; the birth place of Gautam Buddha”. But he did not say so and, which is very lamentable. We fully understand why he had required to make such a strangely twisted, indirect reference in his address but very sadly he failed to do so truly.
Again, while
discussing the Buddha birthplace
Lumbini, which lies in southwestern Nepalese Tarai today already mentioned
above, historical records and archaeological evidence are what should be taken
into account. It can’t be like “an old medievalist story about the fact that
multiple Christian pilgrimage sites boasted of having the head of St. John the
Baptist. The story goes that the issue was resolved by deciding that one site
contained the head of St. John the Baptist when he was a young man and the
other his head when he was an old man." as Steve farmer, a bright Stanford neuro-biologist had posted to my query on the Buddha
birthplace in 2009.[8]
Furthermore, if we agreed with recent Lumbini excavation find as reported by
Professor Robert Cunnigham, there was a
pre-Ashokan brick temple already in Lumbini. He is reported as saying, “For the first time in South Asia, excavations have revealed a pre-Ashokan temple of brick, which itself was built over an earlier structure made of timber,”[9] in
Lumbini.
We
may also find some people doing ‘Buddha’s Birthday Education Project’[10] to celebrate ‘the Buddha birthday’ but
not telling where and when he was born exactly? The Buddha’s message of peace and nonviolence is important while observing his birthday but shouldn’t
they be telling people in what exact location, that is to say in modern day
Nepal’s Lumbini, where he was born ?
There are no exact dates so far when the Buddha was born. Some scholars believe he was born on April 8,543 B.C[11] some other say it was May 15, 587 BCE Gregorian May 21, 586 Julian[12] and a Nepalese Buddhist scholar says it should be May 15, 552 BC[13]. The times of Buddha's birth and death are uncertain. They vary from one historian to another.
There are no exact dates so far when the Buddha was born. Some scholars believe he was born on April 8,543 B.C[11] some other say it was May 15, 587 BCE Gregorian May 21, 586 Julian[12] and a Nepalese Buddhist scholar says it should be May 15, 552 BC[13]. The times of Buddha's birth and death are uncertain. They vary from one historian to another.
*
[1] Hindustan
Times : Nepal blocks Indian TV channels over Buddha birthplace claim. Utpal
Parashar, Hindustan Times Kathmandu, September 14, 2013 http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/Nepal/Nepal-blocks-Indian-TV-channels-over-Buddha-birthplace-claim/Article1-1121886.aspx
[2] The Washington
Post: Nepal battles misconceptions over Buddha’s birthplace. By Vishal Arora| Religion News Service,September 11, 2013 http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-09-11/national/41962323_1_lord-buddha-zee-tv-lumbini
[3]The Huffington
Post: Buddha's Birthplace: Nepal Or India? New Currency Sets The Record
Straight. By Vishal Arora Posted: 09/15/2013 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/15/buddha-birthplace-nepal-india_n_3923499.html
[4]Daily News: TuesdayDecember 28, 2010: Akhil Kumar
Sahoo is the former Professor and Head of Department of Buddhist Studies
(NISWASS college) India. He is also the Editor of Bodhi Life Magazine, Life
Member of Maha Bodhi Society, India, and General Secretary of Orissa Buddhist
Front. This essay is a fresh look at places linked with the Buddha’s life in
accordance with the Vamsa literature.http://archives.dailynews.lk/2001/pix/PrintPage.asp?REF=/2010/12/28/fea19.asp
[5] The Himalayan
Voice: Another 12 Part Film on The Buddha From Orissa ? May 3, 2010
[6] Places
Linked With The Buddha’s Life: Daily News, Tuesday, 28 December 2010 http://archives.dailynews.lk/2010/12/28/fea19.asp
[7] Wikipedia : Gautam Buddha http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha
[8] Steve Farmer:
Indo-Eurasia Research Group; August 1, 2009 http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Indo-Eurasian_research/conversations/topics/12797
[9] The Hindu: Remains
of pre-Ashokan shrines found in Lumbini
[10] Buddha's
Birthday Education Project: Connecting Past and Present, East and West
http://www.paradeofthebuddhas.org/
http://www.paradeofthebuddhas.org/
[11] Celebration of
The 2550th anniversary of the Buddha. International Symposium and
intercultural dialogue on Buddhist Contributions to Humanity and sustainable
Development pf World Peace. October 7 to 9. 2006. UNESCO Headquarters, Paris
France. http://www.amtb.org.tw/pdf/ch48-12-01.pdf
[12] The Himalayan
Voice: The Buddha Horoscope and Major Events in His Life - April 2, 2010 http://thehimalayanvoice.blogspot.com/2010/04/wayne-turner-on-buddha-birth-chart.html
[13] Amrit Ratna Tuladhar <losthorizon@mail.com.np>:
Email communication September 16, 2013 : “To witness the tallying of Birth, Enlightenment and Death Day
of LORD BUDDHA, the triple coincidence that took place within a cosmic period
of 8 decades, I guess there occurs a difference of a complete day.
Thus the 15th of May 552 B.C[13].
and the 16th of May 507 B.C. both ought to be the 15th of May. This is my thinking because Lord
Buddha was
born, got enlightened and passed away on the same Summer
Full-Moon referred to as Vaisakh Purnima or Swanya Punhi, a thrice blessed
auspicious occasion. This is a unanimous record without any doubt at
all. The rest is fine !”
[14] The Buddha picture courtesy: Tricycle http://www.tricycle.com/feature/buddhas-birthplace
[14] The Buddha picture courtesy: Tricycle http://www.tricycle.com/feature/buddhas-birthplace