The Smile of Buddha: (English); Short Story; Author: Deepak Budki; Translator: Jawahar Lal Bhat

 The Smile of Buddha: (English)

 Short Story; Author: Deepak Budki

 Translator: Jawahar Lal Bhat

Yesterday I watched Siddhartha breathing his last once again. Though his death was not of any significance yet disturbed conditions of the valley made the death of an ordinary person hit the headlines of leading newspapers. His name was Siddhartha Kak but he was generally known by its shorter version Sedh Kak. He was a Brahmin by caste and of late was forced to live a solitary life. Of late Sedh Kak suffered from severe asthma attacks which made his life agonizing and miserable. He had preferred to bear such sufferings during this very life in order not to leave anything to remain unpaid for another life.

This Siddhartha was neither the prince of Kapil Vastu nor the loving son of Suddhodhana and Maya Devi both of whom had tried their best to keep their son insulated from the vicissitudes of ordinary mortal life. Still, however, things that were destined happened and he became a witness to human misery. As a result, in the deep darkness of night, Siddhartha abandoned his palace and all its comforts besides his wife Yashodhara and infant son Rahul to seek the truth about existence and life here as well as hereafter. During the moments of bidding adieu, he looked with deep intensity at them and then swiftly turned his face towards Channa, the coachman and Kanthaka, the horse, whereafter he never looked back.

Achieving salvation was not easy. He tried many well-trodden paths to achieve his goal and elevate himself from Siddhartha to Gautama but for a long time, he was unable to reconcile with the means adopted since the end looked unattainable. At last, he discovered a rationalist way of thought and action which did not bank upon the torture of self in order to attain ultimate bliss. And thus he succeeded in becoming an enlightened Gautama. He bypassed all the traditional practices of religion and stressed adopting a monotheistic concept of God who is worthy of human worship. It was his realization of the truest thought and deed in life. Gautama thought about human life as a journey without any barriers, only an illusion, a fantasy. He wanted to get rid of the cycle of recurrent birth and death because to him it was the root of eternal bondage in this illusory world. Ultimately, after a long struggle with his own self, he succeeded in realizing the truth of life by being one with the Supreme Lord. He got himself unchained from the never-ending cycle of life and death besides worldly cares and anxieties and the imprints of his existence got eternally inscribed on the tablet of time.

His devotees worshipped him. Sculptors carved his images out of stone some of them more than life-size. Gautam Buddha, also known as Shakyamuni Buddha, appeared in images, idols and narratives -- mysterious, calm and tranquil.

People worship God and his messengers but surprisingly do not follow their sayings. What a tragedy! How could Buddha, the messenger of peace, who had reformed Angulimala, the murderer, and Alavaka, the cannibal, and brought them back to civilized ways of life, smile on the atomic explosion conducted at Pokhran, Rajasthan? Isn't it an irony that we named the atomic explosion 'The Smile of Buddha'.  Couldn't we understand the immense suffering ingrained in this smile! What an anguish and what a misconceived idea!  We perhaps forgot that Buddha had since achieved Nirvana, the enlightenment, and he could not take rebirth on earth again and be part of our nefarious plan and then smile?

Up there in heaven, Gautama started conversing with Channa, “These mortals have injured my soul. They say I am smiling when my heart bleeds.”

“My Lord, I am a stupid fellow. How do you expect me to understand these intricate matters? These are beyond my comprehension.” replied humble Channa with his eyes glued to Buddha's radiant feet.

Long ago in the valley of Bamiyan in Central Afghanistan, a sculptor's mind was illuminated by the teachings of this great soul. He made his life’s mission to sculpt a number of more than life-sized idols of Gautam Buddha about 35 to 53 meters high. Drenched in sweat, he continued day in and day out cutting huge rocks with his chisel and hammer and converting them into the stupendous images of Buddha that finally turned out to be his way to his exaltation and subsequent enlightenment.

Buddha, during his struggle to seek the truth, was also confronted by Devdatta who tried to kill him by shooting numerous arrows at him as also Ajatashatru who tried to stomp him under the hooves of inebriated elephants but none of them could kill the divine soul and ultimately had to bow before the smile of Buddha.

Man possesses strange attributes. At times he does not yield under the most trying circumstances while at other times just a smile does the job. The vicious man could not overpower the peace-loving Buddha during his lifetime so he tried to take revenge from his lifeless idols standing in the wilderness. Bullets and bombs were showered on the Buddha idols in Bamiyan in order to extirpate them totally.

Buddha had taken shelter in these towering idols at Bamiyan far from the madding crowd. These sculptures were witness to the imaginativeness, hard work, and dedication of the great sculptor who had carved them by dint of his devotion and adoration of his Lord. For many long years, lots of tourists came there to pay tribute to the great artist. These images neither meddled in anybody’s faith nor tried to change anybody’s religious beliefs. For centuries they kept standing there silently and gracefully braving the cold winds of high altitude and also reminding the world about the exertions of that immortal sculptor who had sculpted them.

Notwithstanding the artist's dedication, there have always been forces of destruction growing alongside the forces of construction. The iconoclast's obsession to destroy art has been there at different stages of the evolution of human civilization and such militants do not honour creative ideas and noble deeds. Conquering hordes didn’t spare the Pyramids and Sphinx of Egypt in ancient times. They probably visualized their way to salvation by demolishing these idols which they thought were the product of the Devil’s distraction. Silent and harmless though the idols stood, the militants considered them as symbols of Satanic manifestation. Sharp came the diktat to destroy them and action followed immediately. In no time these idols turned into a pile of dust. Instantly high pitch cachinnations rent the air and kept echoing for a long in the valley of Banyan. These mixed voices of rejoicing and pain journeyed through seven skies and merged with the laughter of the Gods in the Swarga Loka of Lord Indra. 

Gautam Buddha too was astounded and forced to think in his heavenly abode. He talked to himself, “I was quite unaware of this novel way of attaining salvation and reserving a berth for oneself in Paradise.” A brief smile appeared on his face and then vanished instantly.

It seems the doors of Heaven above open frequently for people to be admitted, be it peace-loving people or those who disturb the peace, be it those who create and construct or those who destroy and deconstruct, be it a sculptor or an iconoclast. Apparently, the doors of heaven never close to anyone.

Yesterday a death occurred. It was not of Gautama but of Siddhartha Kak. He was all alone. His wife passed away last year. His near and dear relatives were also not around because all of them had fled from the valley at the onset of terrorism. In order to inform his relatives, his Muslim neighbours got a notice published in a widely circulated Jammu newspaper the next day but nobody came forward nor was a phone call received from any quarter. But then who would call? He did not have a son or a daughter. Why would others bother? Sedh Kak did not possess any property. Had he some mobile or immobile property worth the name, even his distant relatives would have lined up.  There was nothing to attract anyone’s attention in this selfish world. Sedh Kak had lived a simple truthful life. He was a Brahmin, a Purohit to be exact, and had earned his living by performing formal religious rituals in the houses of Hindus in the town. Whatever little people gave him in return for his services, satisfied him and he spent his days in perfect contentment. Siddhartha Kak was well-versed in the Vedas and other Hindu scriptures. He had also acquired mastery over Astrology subject but he never used his knowledge for any monetary gain. For the last several years his condition had impoverished further because all Hindus in the area had moved out of the valley to plains across the Pirpanchal range where security was assured, so his source of living had further depleted.

More than a dozen people from the neighbourhood gathered at the house of Sedh Kak once they heard about his death. None of them was a Hindu, so they were all confused as to how to dispose of the dead body. They were ignorant about Hindu rites performed to cremate a dead body. Everybody was, however, of the opinion that the dead body should not be kept too long and should be taken for cremation as soon as possible. Still, the funeral ceremony had to be performed before carrying the dead body to the cremation ground as had been witnessed in the case of many Hindus earlier.

Surprisingly human beings show a lot of concern as regards performing the last rites of the dead without which they believe the departed soul will be in trouble. How conveniently they forget that thousands of people die in wars and natural calamities such as floods and earthquakes and there is no one to perform any religious rites for them, neither a Pundit nor a priest! Does it mean they do not attain salvation?

The confusion about the last rites of the dead body of Siddhartha prevailed for quite some time outside his house. A good number of people who had gathered there were thinking about what to do. One of the neighbours asked another, “Rehman Bhai, what should be done about the dead body now?”

“Something has to be done. Let someone fetch the bier from the cremation ground. After giving the body a formal bath, we will carry it to the ground and hand it over to the cremator. He will do the rest. We’ll pay him the cost of wood and other materials required for the purpose. I think that’s the only available option for us.”

Everybody agreed to it. Within an hour or so the body was decently given a bath and neatly covered in a shroud and thereafter it was placed on the bier. Four young Muslims lifted the bier on their shoulders and carried it slowly and silently to the cremation ground followed by other neighbours. Muslims carrying a Hindu dead body on their shoulders for cremation --- Was it allowed by the canons of their religion? Nobody had an answer.

While the dead body was being embalmed, people talked about Sedh Kak and how he had attained spiritual awakening. He had liberated himself from all the material bondage of this world and lived a life free from ego, lust, greed, anger and pride. He was always absorbed in the devotion of his Lord, the Almighty. Besides, he lived a life of absolute contentment; whatever little he got he lived happily with it. I am sure Lord Indra himself must have come to receive such a noble soul in heaven. Ordinary rites and ceremonies do not matter for such awakened and exalted souls.

Up above in heaven, the Prince of Kapilvastu, Gautam Buddha was watching and he again addressed his coachman, “Channa, why are these people in such a state of mourning?”

“My Lord, the man called Sedh Kak has died and these people are carrying his dead body for cremation.”

“But they are not his kith or kin, then why are they mourning?”

“My Lord, they are his neighbours.”

“Channa, I find the human being an enigma. These people are neither related by blood to the deceased nor are his co-religionists, yet they grieve for him and pray for peace to his soul.”

“My Lord, I am a simple soul. I do not understand these complicated things. You are omniscient and know everything. That is why this wonderful smile is floating on your lips."

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