Themes Renunciation The key event in the life of the Buddha is his leaving home. This event dramatizes the conflict between the “worldly” values of sex, family, career, and prosperity and the “spiritual” values of renunciation and dispassion (virāga). This tension is a defining characteristic of Buddhist myth. Numerous Buddhist stories each tell the event in different ways, sometimes evoking the bodhisattva's pain in leaving his wife and child, as well as his father's efforts to entice him to stay and the sadness experienced by his wife Yashodhara and his charioteer Channa. The renunciation is also dealt with repeatedly in the Jātakas, with further variations. In some cases, the bodhisattva leaves home with his wife, or with both wife and children, or even with the whole city. In one case, the wife leaves the bodhisattva to raise the children. Awakening and final Nirvana Following on from renunciation is the event of the Buddha's awakening (bodhi) or liberation (vimutti, nirvana). In Buddhism this refers to an insight into the truth that leads to the end of suffering. In the doctrinal texts this is presented in psychological and existential terms, which the myths translate into narrative and imagery. Thus the armies of the demon of Death, Māra, the forces of darkness and desire, are no longer simply psychological impulses, but literal armies of demonic forces, depicted in lavish detail. And they are not overcome simply by insight, but by evoking the Earth Goddess (dhārinī). She, as an elder deity, has borne witness to the bodhisattva's heroic deeds in the countless past lives as depicted in the Jātakas, and testifies to this fact, dispelling the forces of darkness. Each detail of the awakening experience become imbued with mythic significance. The place where the Buddha sat, described in the early texts simply as a pleasant place suitable for meditation, becomes the “navel of the world”. It is the only place on earth strong enough to bear the weight of the awakening, and is used by all Buddhas, past, present, and future. The event of his death and final release (paranirvana) from the realm of rebirth (samsara) are also important themes which are taken up in numerous Buddhist myths. For Buddhists, it was important to explain the death of the Buddha as a monumental event. Some Buddhists such as the Lokuttaravada developed a docetic myth, which said that the Buddha did not really die, only