The Buddha was then residing in the
Mango-grove situated along the bank of Aciravati River north of Manasakata
village, in the kingdom of Kosala. Manasakata was then the seat of the renowned
Brahmanas such as, Canki, Tarukkha, Pokkharasati, Janussoni, Todeyya, and
others.
One day, a very controversial discussion
took place between two young Brahmana students, Vasettha and Bharadvaja,
concerning the way to reach the spiritual realm of Brahma-loka. Neither of them
could convince the other. In the end, both of them decided to go to the Buddha
for the final word and approached him with their problem.
This was the problem : “There are many
and different paths, but the destination, which the various paths lead to, is
one and the same.” With this belief and in order to reach the unified realm of
Brahma, the Vedic Brahmanas such as Addhvariya, Tittiriya, etc had perhaps
taught these different ways. But the Buddha wanted to examine the veracity of
such an assertion with the two young controversialists.
The Buddha, by his usual critical method
of dialogues, showed plainly that belief was far from the truth. “Those of the
Vedic Brahmanas who advocate such an assertion have neither seen the Brahma
directly, nor have they ever claimed that they have done so. Not even the later
Brahmanas, who know all three Vedas including their accessories, have seen the
Brahma directly, nor have they ever claimed to. None of the teachers, nor any
of the their teachers had done so. Not even the teachers '7' seven generations
before have seen him or claimed to have seen him. So, no one has ever seen
Brahma nor known with whom is he living, nor his whereabouts.” read more
The Buddha then contended the position
that all these paths lead to the same spiritual realm called Brahma-loka. He
further questioned their ability to determine the path to Brahma-loka. Even if
they could have done so, it would be entirely without any grounds for proof. He
likened it to the story of the blind men, standing in a line in which neither
the first, nor the middle, nor the last have seen the path. He also compared
this attempt to that of the lover of the most beautiful women in the world whom
the lover had never seen. He continued by comparing the attempts to reach
Brahma-loka to the simile of the carpenter making a stair-case without knowing
the measurement of the place it is to be installed, It is like on he said, a
man standing on this side of the Aciravati river and calling to the other bank
to come to him. Thus Buddha said that mere prayer to Vedic deities, such as,
Indra, Soma, Varuna, Isana, Prajapati, Brahma, and Yama would never lead one to
the destination.
Therefore the man, who intends to cross
the Aciravati river, but does not attempt to cross the river and only fastens
himself firmly with a chain and resorts to prayer will not be able to cross the
river. He explained that the chain is like the five impediments which have
strongly bound the Vedic Brahmanas. As long as these Vedic Brahmanas reject
those laws which make one a real Brahmana and adopt the laws which make one an
un-Brahmana, they will never find it possible to be united with Brahma after
death.
One who has been born and brought up in
the township of Manasakata, would be able, without the least difficulty, to
tell any one directions in Manasakata. The Buddha concluded this discourse by
saying that similarly, it would not be the least troublesome for the Tatthagata
to disclose the straight way to Brahma-loka.
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