The episode describing the six years of austerity undergone by Śākyamuni has often been seen as the historical break with the rigorist asceticism of the śramaṇa by the Buddha himself. This paper looks once more at the construction of this episode, which is very well known in India and inspired a number of artists, and which touches on the problem of the rejection of the second extreme in favour of a middle way, as defined in the sūtra and vinaya of the sthaviravāda schools. In fact, it seems that the criticism, or condemnation, of austere practices is instead rooted in a historic transformation of the Buddhist saṃgha, for whom progressive sedenterisation within monastic structures resulted in giving up life in the forest and in giving priority to practices aimed at obtaining discerning knowledge over corporal practices.