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| The First Cermon | ||||||
| Lord Buddha decided to preach his doctrine to the five Brahmins with whom he had spent six years practising religious activities while they were in Deer Park at Isipatana (the present Sarnath) near Varanasi. He told them about the origin of birth. about death, about ignorance as the root of all evils and about their link to the development of life called the twelve nidanas or the Pratityasamudpada ('dependent origination'). The Enlightened One explained to them the four noble truths and pointed out the path leading to Nirvana ('extinction of self). He also explained to them the eight-fold path ('asta sila) by which freedom from birth, old age, disease and death could be attained, and so the elimination of all wrong, vice and evil in the world. This is shown in the sculpture entitled "The First Sermon" (5th century AD) in the Archaeological Museum, Sarnath, depicting the image of the Buddha delivering the First Sermon at Deer Park in Samatha. The symbol of the well-known Dharmachakra is seen carved on the pedestal (P.D., 83:195 6 fig. 10). (Pl. # 62) The Conception of the Buddha | ||||||
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