46a. Q. _Thence whither did he go?_

A. To Uruvela, near the present Mah[=a]b[=o]dhi Temple at Buddha
Gay[=a].

47. Q. _Why did he go there?_

A. In the forests were hermits--very wise men, whose pupil he
afterwards became, in the hope of finding the knowledge of which he was
in search.

48. Q. _Of what religion were they?_

A. The Hindu religion: they were Br[=a]hmanas.[4]

49. Q. _What did they teach?_

A. That by severe penances and torture of the body a man may acquire
perfect wisdom.

50. Q. _Did the Prince find this to be so?_

A. No; he learned their systems and practised all their penances, but
he could not thus discover the cause of human sorrow and the way to
absolute emancipation.

51. Q. _What did he then do?_

A. He went away into the forest near Uruvela, and spent six years in
deep meditation, undergoing the severest discipline in mortifying his
body.

52. Q. _Was he alone?_

A. No; five Br[=a]hman companions attended him.

53. Q. _What were their names?_

A. Kondanna, Bhaddiya, Vappa, Mah[=a]n[=a]ma, and Assaji.

54. Q. _What plan of discipline did he adopt to open his mind to know
the whole truth?_

A. He sat and meditated, concentrating his mind upon the higher
problems of life, and shutting out from his sight and hearing all that
was likely to interrupt his inward reflections.

55. Q. _Did he fast?_

A. Yes, through the whole period. He took less and less food and
water until, it is said, he ate scarcely more than one grain of rice or
of sesamum seed each day.

56. Q. _Did this give him the wisdom he longed for?_

A. No. He grew thinner and thinner in body and fainter in strength
until, one day, as he was slowly walking about and meditating, his
vital force suddenly left him and he fell to the ground unconscious.

57. Q. _What did his companions think of that?_

A. They fancied he was dead; but after a time he revived.

58. Q. _What then?_

A. The thought came to him that knowledge could never be reached by
mere fasting or bodily suffering, but must be gained by the opening of
the mind. He had just barely escaped death from self-starvation, yet
had not obtained the Perfect Wisdom. So he decided to eat, that he
might live at least long enough to become wise.

59. Q. _Who gave him food?_

A. He received food from Sujat[=a], a nobleman's daughter, who saw him
sitting at the foot of a nyagrodha (banyan) tree. He arose, too