The Three Ashokan Pillars: King Asoka visited Kapilvastu in 249 BC with his spiritual advisor Upagupta. He erected numerous stone pillars and stupas. In Nepal three Asokan Pillars have been found so far one each in Lumbini, Niglisagar and Gotihawa. They are the only three structural elements found today credited to Asoka in Kapilvastu. Lumbini and Niglihawa Pillars are inscribed and dated. The Lumbini and Gotihawa Pillars are in situ. Huen Tsian witnessed all the three pillars during his visit to Kapilvastu in 6th Century AD. In 1177 AD Ripu Malla engraved the date of his visit in the Lumbini and Niglihawa Pillar. All three pillars were erected within the dominion of Kapilvastu of which two were in the vicinity of the city of Kapilvastu. Of the two, one of them have been found in Gotihawa and second one at Niglihawa in Nepal. In Gotihawa the lower part of the stump standing on a sandstone base was found. The upper part of the pillar with the inscription has broken off and is missing. Three fragments of the pillars were found around the village and one of them is a portion of the bell shaped base which is about 1'-7" in height and 1'-8 '12" broad. The pillar is about 10'- 6" long and is standing on a sandstone base stone. There is no damage to the surface of the stem and there are no signs of any dents due to the intentional hammering to the pillar. The sharp edges at the point where the pillar was broken indicates that the pillar was damaged due to the natural disaster and the damage is not very old. The assumption that the pillar was carried from some other place to its present position is quite remote and highly unlikely. The pillar is still fixed to its original position. The pillar is standing next to an ancient stupa on a base stone placed in a pit 7-8 feet deep over rock bedding. It is not simple to erect a pillar 30-40 feet tall weighing fifty tons. Great accuracy and engineering precision is required to erect such pillar and is against any engineering norm to dig a pit, prepare a rock foundation, place the base slab, erect 50 ton pillar and then shift it to the intended place. The only uncertainty of the Gotihawa Pillar is that there is no inscription on the pillar. The upper stem with the inscription is missing. The identification of the Gotihawa Pillar with Krakuchanda pillar could be confirmed by the description of Huen Tsian. He had mentioned three pillars erected by Asoka in Kapilvastu
commemorating the birthplace Kanakmuni Buddha, Krakuchanda Buddha and Sakyamuni Buddha. The pillar of Lumbinigrama of Sakyamuni Buddha and the Kanakmuni pillar of Niglihawa have been found with inscription so the third one has to be Gotihawa Pillar for there are no records of other pillars erected by Asoka in Kapilvastu. The distance and bearing given by Fah Hien and Huen Tsian between Kapilvastu and the town of Krakuchanda Buddha quite matches with the distance and direction between Tilaurakot and Gotihawa. Niglihawa Pillar was found the bank of a lake in two pieces. Top portion 14'-9'12" in length was found at the bank of Niglisagar. It was lying over a small tree, which indicates that it was in that position as recently as only 20 years before its discovery. Second 10'-0" piece was found half buried with inscribed part visible. The pillar was not in situ and the place of its origin is not known but its inscription proves that it was previously located at the town of Kanakmuni Buddha about a yojana (7-9 miles) from the city of Kapilvastu. The bottom part of the base along with the base is missing. After closely examining the pillar even though it seems to be badly mutilated it does not look as if the pillar was initially damaged intentionally. The damage must be due to the natural cause. The deep cuts at the edges are not intentional and there are no sign of dents from hammering while trying to damage the pillar. The buried part of the inscribed piece has pointed edges indicating the breakage similar to the Gotihawa Pillar. The pillar exhibited the most important evidence for the identification of Kapilvastu. The inscription confirmed the erection of the commemorative pillar by Asoka for Past Buddha in the town of Kanakmuni. It is mentioned that he doubly enlarged the stupa in his 14Ih year of his reign, personally visited the place and erected the pillar on his 20th year of his reign. There is collateral evidence that the town of Kanakmuni is located at the neighborhood of city of Kapilvastu. Huen Tsian who visited the town nine hundred years after it was erected confirmed the existence of the pillar and its position. As per him it was in a neighborhood of about 6-7 miles South East of the town of Kapilvastu and today it was found at about 3 miles North East of Tilaurakot . G. Buhler in his article "The Asoka Edicts of Paderia and Niglihawa" in 1898 after finding Huen Tsian's note about Kanakmuni Buddha pillar that the city of Kapilvastu should be in the neighborhood of Niglihawa. The finding of both the
Gotihawa and Niglisagar pillars at the neighborhood of Tilaurakot clearly indicates that Tilaurakot is the actual position of the city of Kapilvastu. It is further backed by the findings of 12-15 feet thick walled fortress surrounded by a moat in Tilaurakot and the discovery of the terracotta seal containing the legend Sa-ka-nasya; Ruins around Lumbini Tilaurakot Tilaurakot where is known as Kapilvastu castle is located 27km west from Lumbini. The prince Siddhartha stayed there for 29 years before he goes into forests. East and West gate is excavated and brick structures of castle are remaining inside the forest. Such as clay pots, beads what is found in Tilaurakot is displayed at a small museum near the ruin. Kudan is just 10 km south from Tilaurakot. According Buddha story, Buddha stayed in this place instead of stay in his castle when he returned his home after his enlightenment. There is another Ashok pillar at Niglihawa. King Ashok dedicated it for the birthplace of Kanakmuni Buddha who is the Second Buddha in this world. Devadaha is the hometown of Maya Devi where is 50 km east from Lumbini. Ancient stupa was found south of Devadaha called Ram gram. Buddhist believes that Buddha's original relics are still buried in there.
Tilaurakot
Kapilvastu
Niglihawa
The way of Bodhisattvas (the Seekers) The Buddha was born a Shakya prince in Kapilvastu, a small village 18 miles northwest of Lumbini. Since, as a prince, Siddhartha spent 29 years of his life in the ancient village of Kapilvastu, or modern day’s Tilaurakot, all the incidents that eventually impelled him to find solutions to the eternal problems that caused suffering in all living beings took place here. The luxury and comforts his father Shuddhodana, the king of the Shakya kingdom, showered on the prince to keep him tethered to material pursuits, convinced Siddhartha, instead, of its futility very early in life. It was also here that he felt the first pangs of compassion, fundamental to all his post-enlightenment teachings. Once he refused to hand an injured crane over to his cousin, Devadatta, whose arrow had wounded the bird? Instead, he argued successfully at the royal court that life belongs to the one who protects and not to the one who tries to kill. On seeing illness, old age and death on various occasions, Siddhartha refrained from princely
pleasures as he realized that his body, though capable of enjoying, is also susceptible to the sufferings that he saw. It was here that he entered into the state of trance for the first time sitting under an apple rose (Jambu) tree, the shadow of which refused to move in accordance to the sun to provide shade to the soon-to-be Buddha. And it was here on seeing a serene face of a hermit that he became certain that the best way to search the end of suffering was as a wandering mendicant or a monk. Since the tranquil air and hushed surroundings of Lumbini still conveys the tenacity of Siddhartha’s contemplation, the land is a great inspiration to anyone seeking enlightenment. The place also holds special significance not only to the followers of Buddhism, but to everyone who wishes to attain enlightenment or at least hopes to get initiated on to the path. But Siddhartha was not the only Buddha to have descended or walked on the soil of Lumbini. Krakuchchhanda & Kanakmuni: The other Buddha’s Born in Lumbini The seven Buddha’s, all of the same lineage to which Siddhartha belonged, are Vipassi, Sikhi, Vessabhu, Krakuchchhanda (also Kakusandha or Kosunda), Kanakmuni (also Konagamana), Kassapa and Siddhartha. The last four belong to bhadrakalpa (where bhadra means fortunate and kalpa is an immeasurable time span or eon), which is the on-going kalpa. Buddha Krakuchchhanda was the first Buddha of the Fortunate eon. Lord Gautama Buddha, as per Mahapadanasutta, said that Lord Krakuchchhanda Buddha lived for 40,000 years, and helped 40,000 monks attain enlightenment, while Lord Kanakmuni lived for 30,000 years and helped 30,000 monks attain enlightenment. Historically, all the Buddha’s of the past have been born and spread the Dharma across the Nepalese Terai and north Indian plains. While the Ashoka pillar has proved that Siddhartha was born in Lumbini, scholars believe that among the last four, except for Kassapa who was born in Varanasi (Banaras), the other two, Krakuchchhanda Buddha and Kanakmuni Buddha, were also born in Lumbini. Speaking of the lineage of the Buddha’s, Lord Gautama Buddha, in Mahapadanasutta, says: “The Lord Buddha Kakusandha father was the Brahmin Aggidatta, his mother was the Brahmin lady Visakha. The king at that time was called Khema; his capital was
Khemavati. The Lord Buddha Konagamana’s father was the Brahmin Yannadatta; his mother was Brahmin lady Uttara. The king at that time was Sobha; his capital was Sobhavati. The Lord Buddha Kassapa’s father was Brahmin Brahmadatta; his mother was the Brahmin lady Dhanavati. The king at that time was Kiki; his capital was Varanasi. And now monks, my father was King Shuddhodana, my mother was Queen Maya, and the royal capital was Kapilavatthu [Kapilvastu].” In 1898, P.C. ‘Babu’ Mukherjee, deputed by the British government to find the location of Kapilavastu, confirmed the town of Arorakot in Lumbini as Sobhavati, the birth place of Kanakmuni Buddha, and that Gotihawa was Khemavati, the native place of Krakuchchhanda Buddha. He also claimed Tilaurakot to be the exact site of Kapilvastu. Both Krakuchchhanda and Kanakmuni are said to have visited Kathmandu valley with their disciples to pay homage to Lord Swayambhu. During his visit to Swayambhu, Buddha Krakuchchhanda was served with great devotion and faith by one Jyotipala Bodhisattva, who was to be born later as Siddhartha, the Buddha familiar to our generation. Mogallana and Sariputta Aggasavakas, the Chief Disciples.The two standing monk figures carved at the entrance to the shrines of most monasteries are the Buddha’s chief disciples, Mogallana (or Maudaglyayana) and Sariputta (or Shariputra). Sometimes they are also seen inside the shrine, and in most Buddhist art depictions. Sariputta is seen standing on the right of Buddha and Mogallana on the left. Mogallana gained enlightenment within seven days of following the Buddha and possessed exceptional supernatural powers, whereas it took Sariputta another week to become enlightened. Supernatural powers were quite common among Buddha’s disciples. Buddha discouraged all of his disciples, except Mogallana, to use those powers. Mogallana, in one of his past lives, saw a paccheka (individual) Buddha who, not being very eloquent, used his super natural powers to explain the Dharma. Mogallana was impressed and vowed that he too would achieve supernatural powers to propagate the Dharma. As his chief disciples (Aggasavakas in the Pali language) who accompanied the Lord Buddha everywhere, Mogallana and Sariputta came to Lumbini when the Buddha visited Kapilavastu to meet his parents and kinfolk for the first time after attaining enlightenment. This visit is recorded in Buddhist tales. On the seventh day of the visit, Sariputta ordained Rahula, the son of the Lord Buddha. The stories describe Sariputta as Rahula’s preceptor and Mogallana as his teacher.
Mogallana, based on the stories on the life of the Buddha, can be said to have visited Kapilavastu at least one more time. When the armies of Virudhaka surrounded the warriors of the Shakya clan, Mogallana attempted to save them using his magical power. The Buddha tried to dissuade Mogallana saying it was of no use, but he went ahead. Mogallana flew into the city of Kapilavastu and used his supernatural powers to transform 500 Shakyas to fit into his alms bowl, and flew out of the city to a safe spot. However, when he opened the bowl to recover the men, he found it full of blood. Mogallana realized that supernatural powers cannot overcome Karma. Buddha explained to him that this was due to the past bad Karma of the people in Kapilavastu. In 1951, King Tribhuwan, accompanied by Bhikshu Amritananda participated in the procession to receive the relics of Sariputta and Maudaglyayana from srilanka. Enlightened Ones among the Shakya Kinfolks Ananda was the Lord’s cousin, Rahula his son, and Upali was the barber of the Shakya princes. All of them where born in Kapilavastu and, therefore, it can be safely assumed that like Lord Buddha, they too visited the city frequently after attaining enlightenment. They were ordained into the order of monks during the Buddha’s first visit to Kapilavastu after enlightenment. Upali Lord Buddha, in order to teach humility to the Shakya princes, ordained Upali before others of the royal lineages. Upali observed the precepts of the sangha (community) strictly and was frequently asked by the Buddha to settle disputes among the monks. The Buddha’s clarifications to Upali’s queries on the precepts and monastic way of life gave rise to many sutras. Vinaya Sutta, which lays out sangha discipline and moral code, was compiled with Upali’s help at the first Buddhist council. Rahula When the Buddha was returning after visiting his wife Yashodhara, she sent Rahula, their son, after the Lord. She had tutored Rahula that his father was destined to reign as a chakravarti raja (‘ruler of the world’), but he forsook it in order to become a monk. She urged Rahula to ask for his inheritance and seek the Lord’s blessing to become the chakravarti raja. When Rahula asked the Buddha for his inheritance the Lord, saying all material things he may receive in inheritance were subject to decay, offered Rahula the inheritance of Dharma.
He then turned Rahula over to Sariputta and asked him to ordain him. Rahula was just seven and was ordained as a samana (a novice monk). King Shuddhodana was saddened by the development, as he had hoped that Rahula would take over the throne after him. The king then appealed to the Buddha to make it a sangha rule in future not to ordain children without their parents’ consent, to which Lord Buddha agreed. Rahula died before his mother, who in turn died before the Buddha. Ananda Ananda was the son of Amitodana, the brother of the Buddha’s father, Shuddhodana, and hence the Lord’s cousin. He was ordained along with his brother Anuruddha and his cousin Devadatta. Ananda is credited with helping to establish the order of nuns and to record Buddha’s teachings at the first council. Ananda, it is said, could remember anything he had once heard up to fifteen thousand stanzas of sixty thousand lines. Ananda was the Buddha’s personal attendant for more than 25 years, but he did not attain enlightenment until after the Buddha’s parinirvana. The Buddha is reputed to have said that “Should Ananda die without attaining enlightenment, in his next birth, by his virtue of piety on this, would seven times win the rule over the devas (gods) and seven times be the king of Jambudipa (most of Asia). Ananda, though, in this very life will attain Nibbana [Nirvana].” Due to his closeness to the Buddha, the Bhikshu (monks) urged Ananda to ask Buddha that after his final nirvana: Who shall be their teacher? Where should monks focus their minds on? How would the evil people be subdued? And, how can they instill faith in the followers on the compiled sutras?Buddha replied: “Ananda, you and everyone should regard the precepts as your teacher; focus your minds on the four places of mind dwelling; when you meet evil people, respect and do not react to their provocations; when you compile the sutras, put the first phrase as ‘Thus I have heard’. As long as you follow the Dharma, the Buddha will be with you.” After the Buddha’s death the sangha severely criticized Ananda for failing to ask the Buddha to live longer. Three months before the death of Buddha, on three occasions, the Lord had indicated to Ananda that he could postpone his parinirvana, if requested. Since it would be unbecoming for the Buddha to himself desire to prolong his life, he said to Ananda: “Ananda, whosoever has fully developed the Iddhipada—Four Paths of Accomplishment, he could, if he so desires, remain in the same birth for a kappa (kalpa) and a little more.” Buddha, of course, had already mastered Iddhipada and, therefore, was openly hinting at himself. But during the last days of the Buddha, Ananda was weighed down with
grief and not always mindful; hence, he could not comprehend the Buddha’s hints and failed to entreat the Buddha to postpone his parinirvana. Had Ananda figured out the meaning of the Buddha’s indication, scholars say, the kalpa (eon) we are in would have been different! Following the Footsteps of the Inspired Ones, the Prominent Pilgrims King Asoka’s Visit in 249 BC, on the 20th year of his coronation, the Mauryan emperor Asoka visited Lumbini accompanied by his royal preceptor Upagupta. Asoka was filled with remorse for being the cause of the death and devastation of millions of lives during the Kalinga war. In order to atone for his misdeeds, Asoka urged Upagupta to guide him to all the places where Lord Gautama Buddha had sojourned. The first place they visited was Lumbini. He erected a stambha (pillar) and had his visit engraved on it as a typical Mauryan inscription. One line within the inscription—“Hida Buddha jate Sakyamuni” (Here the Buddha of Shakya clan was born)—proved once and for all the Buddha, indeed, was born in Lumbini. The full inscription on the Ashokan pillar reads: Devanapiyena piyadsina lajina visativasabhisitena atana agaca mahiyite hida Buddha jate Sakyamuni ti silavigadabhi ca kalapita silathabhe ca usapapite hida bhagavam jate ti lumminigame ubalike Kate athabhagiye ca. “King Priyadarsan, who is dear to the gods, came here in twentieth year following his coronation and paid reverence. Thinking here the Buddha, the muni of Shakya clan, was born I caused a bathing pond of stone to be made and a pillar of stone to be erected. Thinking here the Lord was born; I exempted the village of Lumbini from taxes and had it receive the eight rights.” Chinese Pilgrims: Three earliest Chinese pilgrims to visit Lumbini are Tseng Tsai in 4th century AD, Fa-Hien in 5th century and Hiuen-Tsang in 7th century. Their travel accounts written in Chinese are translated to English in a book entitled The Places Where Siddhartha Trod: Lumbini and Kapilavastu by Max Deeg (2003). When Tseng Tsai visited Kapilavastu, the descendents of king Shuddhodana still lived in the city. His travel account says, “The city and its pond are deserted and dirty, there being only empty space. There are some upasakas (devotees), about twenty households of the Shakya family; they are the descendents of king Shuddhodana.” Tseng Tsai saw the Ashoka tree under which the Buddha was born. “King Asoka made out of lapis lazuli a statue of the queen in the act of grasping the tree and giving birth to the prince. The branches of the tree are old and they still shelter the statue,” says his travel account of the famous tree and the statue of the nativity.
When Siddhartha was born two nagas (serpent deities) spewed warm and cold water to bath him. In his account Tseng Tsai says, “They produced two pools. Even nowadays the one is cold and the other is warm.” A Chinese monk, Fa-hien, visited Kapilavastu in 5th century AD. His travel account says that in Kapilavastu he saw stupas at several places to commemorate events in the life of Buddha, and “In the whole city there is neither king nor population, and there are many mounds and much destruction. Only a few monks and ten families live here.” In Lumbini, he saw the tree under which the Buddha was born and the water pool (the holy pond, Puskarni) where Mayadevi bathed before giving birth to Buddha. “On the spot where his (the Buddha’s) body was washed a well was built, and from the pond in which Mayadevi bathed the monks still drink today,” says Fa-hien. In 7th century, another Chinese pilgrim, Hiuen-Tsang, visited Lumbini. The travel account he wrote mentions the bathing pool, the Asoka pillar with horse capital, the tree under which Buddha was born, a spring of hot and cold water and many stupas built to mark the events that occurred during the nativity period of Lord Buddha. He also saw the Telar (oily) river flowing towards the east of the tree under which Lord Buddha was born. The Visits of Nepalese Kings-The names of Jitari Malla (287-89 AD) and Ripu Malla (1312 AD) were also engraved (later) on the Asoka pillars at the Lumbini garden and Niglihawa. The one inscribed during Ripu Malla’s visit reads “Om mani padme hum, shree Ripumallaschiran jayatu, and 1234”. The first part of the inscription is a Mahayana Buddhist prayer and the later part translates into ‘Ripu Malla, be victorious for long time, 1234’. The year 1234 in the Shakya era corresponds to 1312 AD. King Mahendra visited Lumbini on February 19, 1956. He was the first king of Nepal to visit Lumbini with an intention of paying homage to Lord Buddha. He floated the idea of the Lumbini Master Plan to Mr. U Thant, Secretary General of United Nations, during U Thant’s visit to Nepal and Lumbini in 1967. Mahendra’s enthusiasm convinced U Thant that the project was well worth carrying out. The Secretary General then helped form a UN committee to develop Lumbini. Gradually many countries began showing interest to join in to support the development activity and within a few years work to complete a plan was on.