Sarnath
Sarnath (also known as Deer Park, Sarangnath, Isipatana Deer Park, Rishipattana, Migadaya, or Mrigadava) is a town northeast of Varanasi, in Uttar Pradesh, India. As the Lalitavistara sutra states, the Gautama Buddha chose "Deer Park by the Hill of the Fallen Sages, outside of Varanasi" for his first teaching after he attained enlightenment in Bodh Gaya. The teaching is entitled Dhammacakkappavattana sutra. Sarnath is one of the eight most important pilgrimage sites for Buddhists, and has been nominated to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Sarnath is where Gautama Buddha's sangha first convened, when he gave the first teaching to his original five disciples Kaundinya, Assaji, Bhaddiya, Vappa and Mahanama, known as The First Turning of the Wheel of Dharma. This teaching occurred circa 528 BCE when the Buddha was approximately 35 years of age.
The hagiographic Buddhavamsa says that a previous Buddha called Kassapa Buddha was born in Sarnath. There, like his successor Gautama, he joined a sangha of men and women in order to give his first teaching.
Several sources state that the name Sarnath is derived from Saranganath, which translates to 'Lord of the Deer'. According to one history, during the local king's hunting trip, a male deer (buck) offered to sacrifice himself to save the life of a female deer (doe) that the king was aiming to kill. Impressed, the king then declared his park would thereafter be a deer sanctuary.
According to Sutra 16 of the Mahaparinibbana sutra within the Digha Nikaya, the Buddha named Sarnath as one of four Buddhist pilgrimage sites that devout followers should visit and look upon with samvega or feelings of reverence. The other three sites named by the Buddha are Lumbini, his birthplace; Bodh Gaya, where he achieved enlightenment; and, Kushinagar, where he attained parinirvana.
Sarnath is located eight kilometres (five miles) northeast of Varanasi near the confluence of the Ganges and the Varuna rivers.
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- 2022-07-18T00:00:00.000000Z
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