Alok Acharja, Pabna, OnusondhanNews:
Bangladesh is the name of the centuries-old tradition of living together with all religions and castes. Two Eid’s, Durga Puja, Buddha Purnima, Christmas, and many other religious festivals come in this country one after another.
The teachings and principles of religion lead people to the path of truth, the path of beauty. Every religion points out humanity. In the mood of these festivals one after another, a joyful atmosphere prevails in the country throughout the year. Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-Ul-Azah, the biggest religious festival of Muslims, passed a few days ago.
Buddha Purnima, one of the biggest religious festivals of Buddhism, is next. In other countries of the world, this day is also celebrated by different names. Buddha Purnima is also mostly known as Baisakhi Purnima. This day is very sacred for Buddhists. Because on this day Lord Buddha was born, attained Bodhisattva, and attained Mahanirvana. It was on the day of Baisakhi Purnima that he left his home and took a vow to sacrifice his life for mankind. He pioneered a new religion. This festival is also celebrated with great joy and devotion in Bangladesh, India, and other countries in South Asia. Educational institutions are also being closed on this day.
What is more special about this day is that the day is also important for people of the Hindu religion because Gautama Buddha is considered the ninth incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Buddhists observe this day with various religious activities. On this day they pray in the pagoda at the pagoda, the temple of Lord Buddha. Fairs are held in different parts of the country. In addition to worship, they spend time in Panchsheel, Ashtsheel, Sutrapatha, and congregational prayers.
Buddhists hold this day very sacred in a religious sense. It is known that the country’s biggest fair is held in Vaidyapara village of Chittagong on this day. Children-teenagers-youth of different religions flocked to the fair. Spend the whole day happily. In the first conference of the ‘World Fellowship of Buddhists’ held in Sri Lanka in 1950, it was decided to celebrate the birthday of Buddha on this full moon of the month of Baisakh. Gautama Buddha, the soul of Buddhism, was born on the Baishakhi Purnima in the Lumbini Gardens of Kapilavastu in the Terai region of Nepal to a Shakya royal family. His father’s name was Shuddhodhana and his mother’s name was Mayadevi. There is some disagreement about the birth date of Gautama Buddha. But according to most, he was born in 566 BC. Even though he was born into a royal family, the riches, wealth, and prosperity of the royal family did not attract him.
Once he began to realize the extreme truths of human life. One day he went out to visit the city and saw a sick person and a dead body in the street and his mind became agitated. After that, he started thinking about the real truth of life. Human life is plagued with suffering in many ways. The opposite of happiness is sadness for the most part. He was concerned about human destiny, suffering, pain, and disease, in contrast to happiness. And the ultimate end of man is thought of as death. Does he think that if the ultimate end of man is death, then what peace does man have in this wealth? He went out in the guise of a monk, renouncing all these things like a prince, happiness, and royal power. His wife, son, heir, etc. are behind him. He believed that happiness does not last forever.
People will be non-violent. Compassion towards living beings means not doing any violence. His father married him in this indifferent state of mind. His wife’s name was Yashodhara. In Buddhism, the three states of human life are called Tritap Dukha. These three sorrows are sorrow, disease, and death. He pondered over the threefold suffering which is the necessary consequence of human life and was engrossed in the thought of how to remove the human mind from this suffering. When this is his mental state he decides to leave home. However, before this, a son was born. Leaving home, he searched for truth in different places. He met many saints.
He meditated under a banyan tree at Buddha Gaya for 49 consecutive days. Then he attained bodhi. It is said that on the day of attaining Buddhahood, he attained the knowledge of previous births in the first yam of the night, in the second yam his divine eye was purified, in the last yam he saw the twelfth pratitasamutpada, and in Arunodaya the omniscient. After attaining Bodhi, he was named Gautama Buddha. He preached his religion’s motto of non-violence, kindness, and love. In these three he wanted to free the human from suffering. After attaining Buddhahood, he concentrated on evangelism.
People started to come to his preached religion. Many great kings were also initiated into Buddhism. In this case, the name of Ashoka is significant. This event of evangelism is known as ‘Dharmachakrapravarthan in Buddhism. Buddhists regard him as an enlightened teacher who has achieved complete friendship and helped bring about the rebirth of sentient beings and the end of suffering by imparting his insights to all. Gautama Buddha passed away at the age of eighty on the Baisakhi Purnima Tithi in 486 BC at Kushinagar in the Gorakhpur district of Uttar Pradesh.