z:\ ambedkar\vol 011\vol11 03.indd MK SJ+YS 5 10 2013/YS 18 11 2013 120
120 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
§ 2. The Buddha’s First Sermon
II
After exchange of greetings the five Parivrajakas asked the Buddha whether he still believed in asceticism. The Buddha replied in the negative.
He said there were two extremes, a life of pleasure and a life of self-mortification.
One says let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. The other says, kill all vasanas (desires) because they bring rebirth. He rejected both as unbecoming to man.
He was a believer in the Madhyama Marga (Majjhima Patipada), the middle path, which is neither the path of pleasure nor the path of self-mortification.
“Answer me this,” he said to the Parivrajakas, “So long as your self remains active and continues to lust after either worldly or heavenly pleasures, is not all mortification vain ?” And they answered, “It is as thou sayest.”
“How can ye be free from self by leading a wretched life of self-mortification if ye do not thereby succeed in quenching the fires of lust ?” And they replied, “It is as thou sayest.”
“Only when the self in ye has been conquered that ye are free from lust ; ye will then not desire worldly pleasures, and the satisfaction of your natural wants will not defile ye. Let ye eat and drink according to the needs of your body.
“Sensuality of all kinds is enervating. The sensual man is a slave of his passion. All pleasure-seeking is degrading and vulgar. But I say unto you that to satisfy the needs of life is not an evil ; to keep the body in good health is a duty, or otherwise you shall not be able to keep your mind strong and clear and have the lamp of wisdom burning.
“Know ye, O Parivrajakas, that there are these two extremes which man ought not to follow—the habitual indulgence on the one hand, of those things whose attraction depends upon the passions, and especially of sensuality—a low and pagan way of seeking