What the Buddha Preached in his first Sermon at Sarnath?

Sarnath, a small town near Varanasi is the place where Lord Buddha delivered his first sermon. It was after attaining enlightenment at Bodh Gaya(in Bihar) that the Buddha travelled to Sarnath. At Sarnath, in the pristine surroundings of the deer park, the Buddha preached his first set of teachings to the five ascetics who had known him earlier. The Buddha explained to them the Four Noble Truths and The Eight-fold Path.According to Buddha, the four noble truth's are : 1. There is suffering; 2. Suffering has a cause; 3. The cause is removable, and 4. There are ways to remove the causes.

He prescribed the eight-fold path to remove the causes which included:Right speech, Right action, Right livelihood, Right effort, Right mindfulness, Right concentration, Right attitude and Right view.
Eventually, Sarnath evolved and developed as a center of the Sammatiya school of buddhist learning.Several other 'suttas' were preached by Gautama Buddha over the next few years.These are:
the Anattalakkhana Sutta,
the Saccavibhanga Sutta,
the Pañca Sutta (S.iii.66f),
the Rathakāra or Pacetana Sutta (A.i.110f),
the two Pāsa Suttas (S.i.105f),
the Samaya Sutta (A.iii.320ff),
the Katuviya Sutta (A.i.279f.),
a discourse on the Metteyyapañha of the Parāyana (A.iii.399f), and
the Dhammadinna Sutta (S.v.406f), preached to the distinguished layman Dhammadinna, who came to see the Buddha.

Later though, towards the end of the 12th century, Sarnath was destroyed by the invading Turkish Muslims. The site was discovered by Alexander Cunningham during the British rule in India.

The Monasteries at Sarnath Where History Comes Alive

The main heritage site at Sarnath houses the monasteries and the famous Dhamek Stupa and the Ashoka Pillar which was originally surmounted by the Lion Capital of Ashoka, the national emblem of our country India.

Centuries ago, Sarnath was a prominent center of learning and there were Buddhisht monasteries where buddhist monks spent their lives researching and documenting the teachings of Lord Buddha.Lying here are the excavated remains of the monasteries where centuries ago scholars from the Sammatiya and Vajrayana school of buddhism lived and studied and taught.The site was attacked by turkish muslims at the end of the 12th century and plundered and destroyed.

A little further is the four small fragments of the original column of Emperor Ashoka which was surmounted by the Lion Capital which miraculously remained unbroken after the fall and was rightly chosen as the national emblem of India. The column was destroyed during the plunderings attacks of Qutb-ud-din in 1194. The lion capital is now kept in the musuem at Sarnath. The original column was built around 3rd century BC and was made of chunar sanstone that bear the typical shiny Mauryan polish. The lion capital of Ashoka lies preserved in the nearby Sarnath archaelogical museum.The place is adored by the kids and teenagers as they get a chance to witness the icons that lie embedded on the pages of their history books.

Anagarika Dharmapala - Founder of Mahabodhi Society at Sarnath

Mahabodhi Society at Sarnath was founded by Anagarika Dharmapala who was born in Colombo, Srilanka and is acknowledged as the pioneer in the revival of buddhism in India. As per the inscriptions on his statue at Mahabodhi society, he was born in 1864 at Colombo and died at Sarnath in 1933. According to our friend and guide Pankaj, Dharmapal was born in a family of rich merchants in Colombo, Srilanka(then Ceylon). Dharmapala was the first anagarika - that is, a celibate, full-time worker for Buddhism - in modern times. It seems that he took a vow of celibacy at the age of eight and remained faithful to it all his life. Although he wore a yellow robe, it was not of the traditional bhikkhu pattern, and he did not shave his head. He felt that the observance of all the vinaya rules would get in the way of his work, especially as he traveled around the world to spread the tenets of Buddhism.

The Buddhist Monasteries of Sarnath near Varanasi

The main heritage site at Sarnath houses the monasteries and the famous Dhamek Stupa and the Ashoka Pillar which was originally surmounted by the Lion Capital of Ashoka, the national emblem of our country India.
The site has the excavated remains of the monasteries where centuries ago scholars from the Sammatiya and Vajrayana school of buddhism lived and studied and taught. The sight is awe-inspiring to say the least.The site was attacked by turkish muslims at the end of the 12th century and plundered and destroyed.

A little further is the four small fragments of the original column of Emperor Ashoka which was surmounted by the Lion Capital which miraculously remained unbroken after the fall and was rightly chosen as the national emblem of India. The column was destroyed during the plunderings attacks of Qutb-ud-din in 1194. The lion capital is now kept in the musuem at Sarnath. The original column was build around 3rd century BC and was made of chunar sanstone that bear the typical shiny Mauryan polish.

The Lion Capital is now safe at the archaelogical musueum next door.The entire area is dotted with huge trees and it's a pleasure to simply lie down under the shade of one of the trees and wonder about the lives of the men who lived here!!