Short Time in Sarnath

We did a short trip to Sarnath today, which is about 15 km away. Sarnath is where the Buddha gave his first sermon. There are ruins of quite a few temples and stupas, and one stupa that is still in good condition. Sarnath was mostly abandoned in the 12th century AD with the decline of Buddhism in India. Most of the structures were destroyed for their building materials. But some things remain, and some date back to the 3rd century BC. Right next to the ruins was a deer sanctuary, which may seem weird but is actually very appropriate. The Pali Canon usually refers to Sarnath as the "Deer Park near Varanasi." Apparently, it was a deer sanctuary back when the Buddha was around and teaching.

When I was there, I was thinking about the parallels and differences between the Buddha and Jesus. Both started from the tradition of an earlier religion and then challenged that religion, thereby creating a new one. But while both were highly critical of the earlier religion, the Buddha did so in a way that was more conducive to staying alive. While Jesus preached in Jerusalem, the Buddha avoided Varanasi and preached outside of town where it was safer. And the Buddha did not directly challenge the authority of the Bhramins, while Jesus certainly challenged the authority of the Jewish hierarchy. And it certainly didn't help Jesus that the hierarchy was allied with the Roman Empire. The result of the different approaches is that Jesus was killed rather quickly, while the Buddha lived for decades, eventually dying of somewhat natural causes. I say 'somewhat' because he died from eating a meal of diseased pork, but he was pretty old, anyway.

There was also a museum, which was much better than the one in Varanasi, with artifacts ranging from the 2nd century BC to the 12th century AD. Most were Buddhist, but there were some Jainist and Hindu artifacts as well. On our way home, our driver wanted to take us to a Muslim silk weaving shop. Tamding has no ability whatsoever to trust Muslims, which is somewhat sad. After we got to our hotel, the driver came up to me and asked if I wanted to go to the shop, and I agreed to it. I got the best deals on silk that I've seen in Varanasi so far. Muslims may not always be the most honest businessmen in the world, but they are better than the Hindus.