Buddha Shakyamuni is said to have started his final journey to his Parinirvana at Kushinagar from the town of Kesariya. Having spent many years in Vaishali, the people followed him to their borders. To persuade them to go back, at Kesariya, Buddha is said to have gifted them his begging bowl and delivered one of his last sermons. After inviting the Buddha to sit with them, the Kalamas of Kesariya said that there were many Samanas (monks) who come to them to extoll their own doctrine and disparage other’s. They said that they were having difficulty in understanding who to believe. This is an excerpt his response to the Kalamas.
Etha tumhe, kālāmā, mā anussavena,
mā param·parāya,
mā iti·kirāya,
mā piṭaka·sampadānena,
mā takka·hetu,
mā naya·hetu,
mā ākāra·parivitakkena,
mā diṭṭhi·nijjhāna·kkhantiyā,
mā bhabba·rūpatāya,
mā ‘samaṇo no garū’ti.
Yadā tumhe, kālāmā, attanā·va jāneyyātha
ime dhammā kusalā, ime dhammā anavajjā, ime dhammā viññu·ppasatthā,
ime dhammā samattā samādinnā hitāya sukhāya saṃvattantī’ti,
atha tumhe, kālāmā, upasampajja vihareyyātha.
Do not go, Kalamas, based only on hearsay,
nor upon tradition,
nor what others believe,
nor what has been handed down in a collection of books,
nor based on argumentation,
nor inference,
nor appearances,
nor agreement after speculation,
nor on what you think is probable,
and not because you feel that this monk is revered.
Whenever, Kalamas, you yourself know that
this path is virtuous, this path is blameless, this path is praised by the wise,
this path is just, and when taken up and brought to conclusion brings benefit and well-being,
then Kalamas, having reached the path, abide by it.
- Translation by Alambayana
The Kalama Sutta is contained in the Aṅguttara Nikaya of the Tipiṭaka. It is cited by both the Theravada and Mahayana traditions of Buddhism. It is sometimes considered to be Buddha’s “Charter of free inquiry”. I suspect it may be more subtle than that. It certainly urges us to decide for ourselves but it is not free inquiry in the sense of critical reasoning, for not only does it warn against blind faith, it warns against unsubstantiated inference. There is a difference between knowledge and understanding. It asks us to seek a higher bar. It must be what we know, what we know is right, what we know is good.
Buddhism in its time was considered by some to be heterodox because it was a break from that which preceded it. As a religion, it did not believe in God. Instead it urged its followers to find the Middle Path and perhaps this Sutta/Sutra articulates how different it must have been in its day. “Buddha” in Sanskrit/Pali means “Awake”. This sutta is asking us to open our eyes.
Kesariya Stupa
Source: Bpilgrim/Wikipedia
Many years later, Emperor Ashoka would erect a Stupa at Kesariya as he did for many other sites where Buddha preached including where he achieved Nirvana under the Bodhi tree at Gaya and his first sermon at Sarnath.
In the first century AD, Kanishka would defeat the king at Pataliputra and take this begging bowl back with him to Purushapura (Peshawar) in Gandhara.
