Companions Left

Siddhartha practiced severe austerities and tortured his body by starving himself. He became a mere skeleton. But he failed to attain the Ultimate in spite of all the severe austerities. He abandoned this path of extremes and adopted the middle path. He started partaking of food. His five companions were disappointed. They thought that he had gone astray from the path, and would not become a Sambuddha. So they left him alone and went away.