DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49379#0071
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no avail : for it “had not brought him nearer the
truth.” There was another and a more peaceful
road leading to Nirvana. Hence forward, he de-
cided to take some food, but not of a luxurious
kind. He now fully realized, that the time-old
religious axiom, ‘that mental conquest lay
through bodily suppression,’ was utterly wrong
and deceitful. Consequently, he abhorred all
kinds of penance and denounced them in the
strongest language. His word should have the
force of law on this point, for it was no ordinary
mortification that he underwent. Nobody can
justly say that perseverance in his penances
would have brought him satisfaction; six years of
torture, the like he inflicted upon himself, would
have sent a hundred men to their gods.
Both Pali and' Sanskrit works contain a des-
cription of the second struggle, which Gautuma
had with his old friend, Mara, who had, on a
former occasion, promised him a mastery over
the seven worlds. This conflict in Gautuma’s
no avail : for it “had not brought him nearer the
truth.” There was another and a more peaceful
road leading to Nirvana. Hence forward, he de-
cided to take some food, but not of a luxurious
kind. He now fully realized, that the time-old
religious axiom, ‘that mental conquest lay
through bodily suppression,’ was utterly wrong
and deceitful. Consequently, he abhorred all
kinds of penance and denounced them in the
strongest language. His word should have the
force of law on this point, for it was no ordinary
mortification that he underwent. Nobody can
justly say that perseverance in his penances
would have brought him satisfaction; six years of
torture, the like he inflicted upon himself, would
have sent a hundred men to their gods.
Both Pali and' Sanskrit works contain a des-
cription of the second struggle, which Gautuma
had with his old friend, Mara, who had, on a
former occasion, promised him a mastery over
the seven worlds. This conflict in Gautuma’s