12 km north-east of Bodh Gaya is located in the slopes of the ridge which resides cave complex Pragbodhi. He does not have the exact name. Hindus call it Mahakala Cave -Maha Kala - "The Great Black". Buddhists call it Pragbodhi kava - pragbodhi «to enlightenment" guidebooks call it (Dungeshwari, Dhungeshwari) - this is the official place name.
These places are associated with a particular moment in the life of the Buddha Sakyamuni, during many years of austerity, ended in this cave.
Until that time, Prince Siddhartha leaves the palace because the search for eternal youth and the right way.
He walked the earth Magadha, headed for a place or Uruvela Urubilvy on the river Nerandzhara (currently Bodh Gaya) located south of Patna.
Peaceful location attracted him and he decided to stay.
He described this place because: "In search of what might be skillful, seeking the unexcelled state of sublime peace, I wandered by stages in the Magadhan country and came to the military town of Uruvela. There I saw some delightful countryside, with an inspiring forest grove, a clear-flowing river with fine, delightful banks, and villages for alms-going on all sides. The thought occurred to me: 'How delightful is this countryside, with its inspiring forest grove, clear-flowing river with fine, delightful banks, and villages for alms-going on all sides. This is just right for the striving of a clansman intent on striving. ' So I sat down right there, thinking, 'This is just right for striving. "
It is attached to this group, where 5 ascetics who did not eat, do not cover the sun, did not wear clothes. But Siddhartha was a strong ascetic than they are.
"People on seeing me would say, 'Gotama the contemplative is black.' Other people would say, 'Gotama the contemplative is not black, he's brown.' Others would say, 'Gotama the contemplative is neither black nor brown, he's golden-skinned.' So much had the clear, bright color of my skin deteriorated, simply from eating so little.
"Devas, on seeing me, said, 'Gotama the contemplative is dead.' Other devas said, 'He is not dead, he's dying.' Others said, 'He's neither dead nor dying, he's an arahant, for this is the way arahants live.'
In extreme deprivation and constant practice Siddhartha to conduct 6 years, he brought to own body utmost to depletion . But eventually understood ,what thus don`t to reach enlightenment.
"I thought: 'Whatever brahmans or contemplatives in the past have felt painful, racking, piercing feelings due to their striving, this is the utmost. None have been greater than this. Whatever brahmans or contemplatives in the future will feel painful, racking, piercing feelings due to their striving, this is the utmost. None will be greater than this. Whatever brahmans or contemplatives in the present are feeling painful, racking, piercing feelings due to their striving, this is the utmost. None is greater than this. But with this racking practice of austerities I haven't attained any superior human state, any distinction in knowledge or vision worthy of the noble ones. Could there be another path to Awakening?'
And he thought : 'So why am I afraid of that pleasure that has nothing to do with sensuality, nothing to do with unskillful mental qualities?'
"So when I had taken solid food and regained strength, then — quite secluded from sensuality, secluded from unskillful mental qualities, I entered & remained in the first jhana: rapture & pleasure born from seclusion, accompanied by directed thought & evaluation. "
" I recollected my manifold past lives, i.e., one birth, two...five, ten...fifty, a hundred, a thousand, a hundred thousand, many eons of cosmic contraction, many eons of cosmic expansion, many eons of cosmic contraction & expansion: 'There I had such a name, belonged to such a clan, had such an appearance. Such was my food, such my experience of pleasure & pain, such the end of my life. Passing away from that state, I re-arose there. There too I had such a name, belonged to such a clan, had such an appearance. Such was my food, such my experience of pleasure & pain, such the end of my life. Passing away from that state, I re-arose here.' Thus I remembered my manifold past lives in their modes & details."
On the one hand, you might think that years of ascetics been in vain. But this is not true. Such hardships were just the flip side of the luxury in which was the Prince before leaving the Palace. He had everything:
"Monks, I lived in refinement, utmost refinement, total refinement. My father even had lotus ponds made in our palace: one where red-lotuses bloomed, one where white lotuses bloomed, one where blue lotuses bloomed, all for my sake. I used no sandalwood that was not from Varanasi. My turban was from Varanasi, as were my tunic, my lower garments, & my outer cloak. A white sunshade was held over me day & night to protect me from cold, heat, dust, dirt, & dew.
"I had three palaces: one for the cold season, one for the hot season, one for the rainy season. During the four months of the rainy season I was entertained in the rainy-season palace by minstrels without a single man among them, and I did not once come down from the palace. Whereas the servants, workers, & retainers in other people's homes are fed meals of lentil soup & broken rice, in my father's home the servants, workers, & retainers were fed wheat, rice, and meat.
"Even though I was endowed with such fortune, such total refinement, the thought occurred to me: 'When an untaught, run-of-the-mill person, himself subject to aging, not beyond aging, sees another who is aged, he is horrified, humiliated, & disgusted, oblivious to himself that he too is subject to aging, not beyond aging. If I — who am subject to aging, not beyond aging — were to be horrified, humiliated, & disgusted on seeing another person who is aged, that would not be fitting for me.' As I noticed this, the [typical] young person's intoxication with youth entirely dropped away.
Now about the cave Prabodhi
It has no large dimensions :depth meters -5 ,-3.2 meter width ,height of 2.9 meters.
Height of door is about 1.2 meters.But before the passage was not more than 70 centimeters.
Inside the cave the wall is the figure of the Buddha Gautama in attenuated form.The cave is located on territory the Tibetan monastery .
On the upper platform on the left is a Tibetan stupa and a small room for prayers. Inside the temple the statue of Buddha.
Riding the crest of a rocky ridge, are the remains of ancient Buddhist stupa and a Hindu Shrine.
The cave was identified by the founder and first leader of the Indian Archaeological service by sir Alexander Cunningham in the report descriptions of
famous Chinese pilgrims: Faxian (Fаxiаn, traveled in the 5th century) and Xuan Zang (Xuan Zang, traveled to the 7th century), who visited this place during his travels.
a Tibetan stupa and a small room for prayers. Inside the temple the statue of Buddha.
Riding the crest of a rocky ridge, are the remains of ancient Buddhist stupa and a Hindu Shrine.
The cave was identified by the founder and first leader of the Indian Archaeological service by sir Alexander Cunningham in the report descriptions of famous Chinese pilgrims: Faxian (Fаxiаn, traveled in the 5th century) and Xuan Zang (Xuan Zang, traveled to the 7th century), who visited this place during his travels.
No matter the name, it is important to what happened here.
These places are associated with a particular moment in the life of the Buddha Sakyamuni, during many years of austerity, ended in this cave.
Until that time, Prince Siddhartha leaves the palace because the search for eternal youth and the right way.
He walked the earth Magadha, headed for a place or Uruvela Urubilvy on the river Nerandzhara (currently Bodh Gaya) located south of Patna.
Peaceful location attracted him and he decided to stay.
He described this place because: "In search of what might be skillful, seeking the unexcelled state of sublime peace, I wandered by stages in the Magadhan country and came to the military town of Uruvela. There I saw some delightful countryside, with an inspiring forest grove, a clear-flowing river with fine, delightful banks, and villages for alms-going on all sides. The thought occurred to me: 'How delightful is this countryside, with its inspiring forest grove, clear-flowing river with fine, delightful banks, and villages for alms-going on all sides. This is just right for the striving of a clansman intent on striving. ' So I sat down right there, thinking, 'This is just right for striving. "
It is attached to this group, where 5 ascetics who did not eat, do not cover the sun, did not wear clothes. But Siddhartha was a strong ascetic than they are.
"People on seeing me would say, 'Gotama the contemplative is black.' Other people would say, 'Gotama the contemplative is not black, he's brown.' Others would say, 'Gotama the contemplative is neither black nor brown, he's golden-skinned.' So much had the clear, bright color of my skin deteriorated, simply from eating so little.
Prince performed pranayama: "I thought: 'Suppose I were to become absorbed in the trance of non-breathing.' So I stopped the in-breaths & out-breaths in my nose & mouth. As I did so, there was a loud roaring of winds coming out my earholes, just like the loud roar of winds coming out of a smith's bellows ... So I stopped the in-breaths & out-breaths in my nose & mouth & ears. As I did so, extreme forces sliced through my head, just as if a strong man were slicing my head open with a sharp sword ... Extreme pains arose in my head, just as if a strong man were tightening a turban made of tough leather straps around my head ... Extreme forces carved up my stomach cavity, just as if a butcher or his apprentice were to carve up the stomach cavity of an ox ... There was an extreme burning in my body, just as if two strong men, grabbing a weaker man by the arms, were to roast & broil him over a pit of hot embers. And although tireless persistence was aroused in me, and unmuddled mindfulness established, my body was aroused & uncalm because of the painful exertion. But the painful feeling that arose in this way did not invade my mind or remain.
"Devas, on seeing me, said, 'Gotama the contemplative is dead.' Other devas said, 'He is not dead, he's dying.' Others said, 'He's neither dead nor dying, he's an arahant, for this is the way arahants live.'
In extreme deprivation and constant practice Siddhartha to conduct 6 years, he brought to own body utmost to depletion . But eventually understood ,what thus don`t to reach enlightenment.
"I thought: 'Whatever brahmans or contemplatives in the past have felt painful, racking, piercing feelings due to their striving, this is the utmost. None have been greater than this. Whatever brahmans or contemplatives in the future will feel painful, racking, piercing feelings due to their striving, this is the utmost. None will be greater than this. Whatever brahmans or contemplatives in the present are feeling painful, racking, piercing feelings due to their striving, this is the utmost. None is greater than this. But with this racking practice of austerities I haven't attained any superior human state, any distinction in knowledge or vision worthy of the noble ones. Could there be another path to Awakening?'
And he thought : 'So why am I afraid of that pleasure that has nothing to do with sensuality, nothing to do with unskillful mental qualities?'
"So when I had taken solid food and regained strength, then — quite secluded from sensuality, secluded from unskillful mental qualities, I entered & remained in the first jhana: rapture & pleasure born from seclusion, accompanied by directed thought & evaluation. "
" I recollected my manifold past lives, i.e., one birth, two...five, ten...fifty, a hundred, a thousand, a hundred thousand, many eons of cosmic contraction, many eons of cosmic expansion, many eons of cosmic contraction & expansion: 'There I had such a name, belonged to such a clan, had such an appearance. Such was my food, such my experience of pleasure & pain, such the end of my life. Passing away from that state, I re-arose there. There too I had such a name, belonged to such a clan, had such an appearance. Such was my food, such my experience of pleasure & pain, such the end of my life. Passing away from that state, I re-arose here.' Thus I remembered my manifold past lives in their modes & details."
On the one hand, you might think that years of ascetics been in vain. But this is not true. Such hardships were just the flip side of the luxury in which was the Prince before leaving the Palace. He had everything:
"Monks, I lived in refinement, utmost refinement, total refinement. My father even had lotus ponds made in our palace: one where red-lotuses bloomed, one where white lotuses bloomed, one where blue lotuses bloomed, all for my sake. I used no sandalwood that was not from Varanasi. My turban was from Varanasi, as were my tunic, my lower garments, & my outer cloak. A white sunshade was held over me day & night to protect me from cold, heat, dust, dirt, & dew.
"I had three palaces: one for the cold season, one for the hot season, one for the rainy season. During the four months of the rainy season I was entertained in the rainy-season palace by minstrels without a single man among them, and I did not once come down from the palace. Whereas the servants, workers, & retainers in other people's homes are fed meals of lentil soup & broken rice, in my father's home the servants, workers, & retainers were fed wheat, rice, and meat.
"Even though I was endowed with such fortune, such total refinement, the thought occurred to me: 'When an untaught, run-of-the-mill person, himself subject to aging, not beyond aging, sees another who is aged, he is horrified, humiliated, & disgusted, oblivious to himself that he too is subject to aging, not beyond aging. If I — who am subject to aging, not beyond aging — were to be horrified, humiliated, & disgusted on seeing another person who is aged, that would not be fitting for me.' As I noticed this, the [typical] young person's intoxication with youth entirely dropped away.
Now about the cave Prabodhi
It has no large dimensions :depth meters -5 ,-3.2 meter width ,height of 2.9 meters.
Height of door is about 1.2 meters.But before the passage was not more than 70 centimeters.
Inside the cave the wall is the figure of the Buddha Gautama in attenuated form.The cave is located on territory the Tibetan monastery .
On the upper platform on the left is a Tibetan stupa and a small room for prayers. Inside the temple the statue of Buddha.
Riding the crest of a rocky ridge, are the remains of ancient Buddhist stupa and a Hindu Shrine.
The cave was identified by the founder and first leader of the Indian Archaeological service by sir Alexander Cunningham in the report descriptions of
famous Chinese pilgrims: Faxian (Fаxiаn, traveled in the 5th century) and Xuan Zang (Xuan Zang, traveled to the 7th century), who visited this place during his travels.
a Tibetan stupa and a small room for prayers. Inside the temple the statue of Buddha.
Riding the crest of a rocky ridge, are the remains of ancient Buddhist stupa and a Hindu Shrine.
The cave was identified by the founder and first leader of the Indian Archaeological service by sir Alexander Cunningham in the report descriptions of famous Chinese pilgrims: Faxian (Fаxiаn, traveled in the 5th century) and Xuan Zang (Xuan Zang, traveled to the 7th century), who visited this place during his travels.