The First Sermon at Sarnath: The Middle Path and the Four Noble Truths

When Siddhartha Gautama attained samyak sambodhi (supreme enlightenment) beneath the Bodhi tree at Uruvela (Bodh Gaya) in Gaya, he came to be known as the ‘Tathagata’ and the ‘Buddha’.

Where did he go first after attaining enlightenment?

He arrived at the Mrigadava (deer park) of Rishipattana (present-day Sarnath) near Kashi.

There, he met his five former companions (Kaundinya, Vashpa, Bhadrika, Mahanama, and Ashvajit), who had once abandoned him because the Buddha had given up severe fasting and eaten Sujata’s kheer (sweet rice pudding), leading those companions to believe that “Gautama has become corrupt!”

On that sacred evening of Ashadha Purnima, from the soil of Sarnath, the Tathagata delivered the world’s first historic sermon, which in Buddhist tradition is known as the ‘Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta’ (Dharmachakra Pravartana—Setting the Wheel of Dhamma [cosmic law and righteousness] in Motion).

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Two Extremes and the Middle Path

In his book ‘Buddha Dhamma and India’ (Buddha Dhamma Aur Bharat), author Nathuni Singh explains the philosophical depth of this historic sermon.

The Buddha said to those five bhikkhus (monks): “O Bhikkhus! A seeker must avoid two extremes—

1. The first extreme: remaining immersed neck-deep in the sensual pleasures and desires of the senses, which is ignoble, vulgar, and destructive.
2. The second extreme: tormenting the body, parching it with fasts, lying on thorns, and inflicting mortification of the flesh, which is painful and futile.“

The Buddha said that forsaking both these extremes, the Tathagata has discovered the ‘Middle Path’ (Majjhima Patipada), which opens the eyes, bestows wisdom, grants peace, and leads to nirvana (liberation).

And what is that Middle Path? The ‘Noble Eightfold Path’ (Arya Ashtangika Marga):

1. Samyak Drishti (Right View)
2. Samyak Sankalpa (Right Resolve)
3. Samyak Vak (Right Speech)
4. Samyak Karma (Right Action)
5. Samyak Aajiv (Right Livelihood)
6. Samyak Vyayama / Prayatna (Right Effort)
7. Samyak Smriti / Hosh (Right Mindfulness)
8. Samyak Samadhi (Right Concentration)

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The Bitter Truth from the Book

“Before the Buddha, religion in India meant either making offerings in yajnas (sacrificial rituals) and performing animal sacrifices, or retreating into the forests to torment the body with hunger and thirst. For the first time, the Buddha brought religion down to the firm ground of ‘ethical conduct’ and ‘mental balance’. He proclaimed that liberation is not attained through the grace of any deity, but by making one’s own thoughts and actions samyak (balanced and wholesome). That resonance from Sarnath was not merely India’s awakening, but the beginning of an ethical awakening for the entire world.”
— ‘Buddha Dhamma and India’ (Part 1, pp. 18–21)

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What is the Real Solution?

1. Balance in modern life: Neither lose your health and family in the blind lust for earning wealth, nor become an escapist by renouncing everything. Maintain a balance between work and rest.
2. Right livelihood (Samyak Aajivika): Earn money only through work that causes no harm to any other living being, society, or the environment.
3. Right mindfulness (Samyak Hosh): Whatever you do—whether you eat, walk, or speak—do it with complete awareness and presence, not like a mechanical robot.

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A Question Worth Pondering (The Book’s Message)

Today, when the entire world is in the grip of stress, depression, unchecked consumerism, and mental illness, is not this 2,500-year-old ‘Middle Path’ of the Buddha our greatest life-giving elixir?

To understand this historic philosophy of Sarnath in simple language, one must read this excerpt from the book ‘Buddha Dhamma and India’.