Epics of India

The Buddha was convinced by Brahma to find disciples and spread his knowledge to the world, so the Buddha began looking for a worthy disciple who could grasp the complex nature of the Law and who would not keep the knowledge to himself. The Buddha's first thought was of Rudraka, the son of Rama, who he had encountered earlier in his travels. Rudraka was a good man who the Buddha believed would understand his teachings and spread them liberally throughout the land. Rudraka, however, had died 7 days earlier. The Buddha then thought of Arata Kalama, the master he briefly followed after leaving his father's kingdom. Arata Kalama was an intelligent and virtuous man who the Buddha trusted would teach others how to find Nirvana. Arata Kalama, however, had died 3 days earlier. The Buddha finally came to the decision to find his five former disciples. The disciples had left the Buddha after he gave up his practices of sever austerities. When the men were following the Buddha, ...

Siddhartha seated himself beneath the tree of knowledge and began meditating to gain the knowledge to become a Buddha. The brilliance of his focus and devotion was so intense that  it caused the demon, Mara, to see very unpleasant omens about his future. As the demon slept he dreamed about the destruction of his kingdom because of the enlightenment of the hero, Siddhartha. The hero would learn how to overcome suffering, old age, and death and would then teach his realizations to the people of the world. Once everyone in the world knew how to overcome suffering and death and reach Nirvana, Mara would lose all his followers as they ascended to the realm of the gods, and Mara's kingdom would crumble when he was left alone in his dominion. In despair, Mara explained all this to his son, Sarthavaha. Srthavaha tried to encourage his father not to act rashly and storm into a battle he could not win, but his father believed that with his vast army he could destroy the hero and prev...