Page:History of India Vol 1.djvu/349

Rh of suffering, and the way which leads to such destruction of suffering.

It is needless to say that the five former disciples were soon converted, and became the first members of the Order, and within five months after his arrival at Benares Gautama had sixty followers. He now called them together and sent them out in different directions to preach the truth for the salvation of mankind. "Go ye now, O Bhikkhus, and wander, for the gain of the many, for the welfare of the many, out of compassion for the world, for the good, for the gain, for the welfare of gods and men. Let not two of you go the same way. Preach, Bhikkhus, the doctrine which is glorious in the beginning, glorious in the middle, glorious in the end, in the spirit, and in the letter; proclaim a consummate, perfect, and pure life of holiness."

Gautama himself went to Uruvela, where he achieved distinguished success by converting three brothers named Kasyapa, who worshipped fire in the Vedic form, and had high reputation as hermits and philosophers. This event created a sensation, and Gautama, with his new disciples and a thousand followers, walked towards Rajagriha, the capital of Magadha. Tidings of the new prophet soon reached the king, and Seniya Bimbisara, surrounded by numbers of Brahmans and Vaisyas, went to visit Gautama, only to declare himself an adherent of Gautama and invite him to take his meal with him the next day.

The saintly wanderer accordingly went, an