On the Way to Benares to Teach the Dhamma

"To whom shall I teach the Dhamma first? Who will understand the Dhamma quickly?" was the first thought that occurred to the Buddha before He embarked on His noble Mission.

"Well, there is Alara Kalama, who is learned, clever, wise, and has for long been with little dust in his eyes. How if I were to teach the Dhamma to him first? He will understand the Dhamma quickly."

Then a deity appeared before the Blessed One and said:-

"Lord! Alara Kalama died a week ago." With His Divine Eye He perceived that it was so. Then He thought of Uddaka Ramaputta. Instantly a deity informed Him that he died the evening before. With His Divine Eye the Buddha perceived this to be true.

Ultimately He thought of the five Bhikkhus who attended on Him during His struggle for Enlightenment. With His superhuman Divine Eye He perceived that they were residing in the Deer Park at Isipatana in Benares. So the Buddha stayed at Uruvela as long as He wished and set out for Benares.

Between Gaya and the Bodhi, Upaka, a wandering ascetic, saw the Buddha traveling on the highway, and said:-

"Extremely clear are your senses, friend! Pure and clean is your complexion. On account of whom have you renounced, friend? Who is your teacher? Whose doctrine do you profess?"

The Buddha replied:

"All have I overcome, all do I know.

From all am l detached, all have I renounced.

Wholly absorbed am I in the destruction of craving (Arahantship)

Having comprehended all by myself who shall I call my teacher?

No teacher have I

An equal to me there is not.

In the world, including the gods, there is no rival to me.

Indeed an Arahant am I in this world.

An unsurpassed teacher am I.

Alone am I the All-Enlightened.

Cool and appeased am I.

To establish the wheel of Dhamma I go to the city of kasi

In this blind world

I shall beat the drum of Deathlessness."

"Then, friend, you do admit that you are an Arahant, a limitless Conqueror?" queried Upaka. "Like me are conquerors who have attained to the destruction of Defilements. All the evil conditions have I conquered. Hence, Upaka, I am called a Conqueror," replied the Buddha.

" It may be so, friend!" Upaka curtly remarked, and nodding his head, turned into a by-road and departed. Unperturbed by the first rebuff the Buddha received, He wandered from place to place and arrived in due course at the Deer Park in Benares.

The five monks who saw Him coming from a far resolved not to pay him due respect as they misconstrued His change of effort during His struggle for Enlightenment. But as the Buddha drew near, His august personality was such that they were compelled to receive Him with due honor. Nevertheless, they addressed Him by name and by the title ‘Avuso’ (friend) a form of address applied generally to juniors. The Blessed One advised them not to address Him thus as He had attained Buddhahood. But the skeptical monks refused to believe Him. For the second and third time the Buddha advised them. Yet the monks refused to acknowledge His superiority.

Finally the Buddha said:

"Do you know, O Bhikkhus, of an occasion when I ever spoke to you thus before?"

"Nay, indeed, Lord!"

"The Tathágata, O Bhikkhus, is not luxurious, has not given up striving, and has not adopted a life of abundance. An Exalted One, O Bhikkhus, is the Tathágata: a Fully Enlightened One is He. Give ear, O Bhikkhus! Immortality has been attained. I shall instruct and teach the Dhamma.

If you act according to my instructions, you will before long realize, by your own intuitive wisdom, and thereafter continue attaining in this life itself, that supreme state of the Holy Life, for the sake of which sons of noble families rightly renounce the household for the homeless life."

It was a frank utterance, issuing from the sacred mouth of the Buddha. The cultured monks, though adamant in their views, were now fully convinced of the great achievement of the Buddha and of His competence to act as their spiritual Guide.

Two of the Bhikkhus the Buddha instructed, whilst three went out for alms. With what they brought, all the six sustained themselves. Three of the Bhikkhus He instructed, whilst two Bhikkhus went out for alms. With what they brought, all the six sustained themselves.

The Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta was the first discourse the Buddha delivered to them. Hearing it Kondanna, the eldest, attained Sotapatti, the first stage of Sainthood. The other four attained Sotapatti later. It was after hearing the Anattalakkhana Sutta, which deals with soul-less-ness, that they all attained Arahantship, the final stage of Sainthood.