A generic name, an appellative - but not a proper name - given to one
who has attained Enlightenment (na mātarā katam, na pitarā katam –
vimokkhantikam etam buddhānam bhagavantānam bodhiyā mūle ... paññatti, MNid.458;
Ps.i.174) a man superior to all other beings, human and divine, by his knowledge
of the Truth (Dhamma).
The texts mention two kinds of Buddha: viz.,
- Pacceka Buddhas - i.e., Buddhas who
also attain to complete Enlightenment but do not preach the way of deliverance
to the world; and
- Sammāsambuddhas, who are
omniscient and are teachers of Nibbāna
(Satthāro).
The Commentaries, however (e.g., SA.i.20; AA.i.65) make mention of four
classes of Buddha:
- Sabaññu-Buddhā
- Pacceka Buddhā
- Catusacca Buddhā
- Suta Buddhā
All arahants (khīnāsavā) are called Catusacca Buddhā and all learned men
Bahussuta Buddhā. A Pacceka Buddha practises the ten perfections (pāramitā) for
two asankheyyas and one hundred thousand kappas, a Sabbañu Buddha practises it
for one hundred thousand kappas and four or eight or sixteen asankheyyas, as the
case may be (see below).
Seven Sabbaññu Buddhas are mentioned in the earlier books; these are
E.g., D.ii.5f.; S. ii.5f.; cp. Thag.491; J. ii.147; they are also mentioned at
Vin.ii.110, in an old formula against snake bites. Beal. (Catena, p. 159) says
these are given in the Chinese Pātimokkha. They are also found in the Sayambhū
Purāna (Mitra, Skt. Buddhist Lit. of Nepal, p. 249).
This number is increased in the later books. The
Buddhavamsa contains detailed particulars of twenty five Buddhas, including
the last, Gotama, the first twenty four being
those who prophesied Gotama's appearance in the world. They are the predecessors
of Vipassī, etc., and are the following:
- Dīpankara, Kondañña, Mangala, Sumana, Revata, Sobhita, Anomadassī, Paduma,
Nārada, Padumuttara, Sumedha, Sujāta, Piyadassī, Atthadassī, Dhammadassī,
Siddhattha, Tissa and Phussa.
The same poem, in its twenty seventh chapter, mentions three other Buddhas -
Tanhankara, Medhankara and Saranankara - who appeared in the world before
Dīpankara.
The Lalitavistara has a list of fifty four Buddhas and the Mahāvastu of more
than a hundred. The Cakkavatti Sīhanāda
Sutta (D.iii.75ff ) gives particulars of
Metteyya Buddha who will be born in the world during the present kappa. The
Anāgatavamsa gives a detailed account of
him. Some MSS. of that poem (J.P.T.S. 1886, p. 37) mention the names of ten
future Buddhas, all of whom met Gotama who prophesied about them. These are
Metteyya, Uttama, Rāma, Pasenadi Kosala, Abhibhū, Dīghasonī, Sankacca, Subha,
Todeyya, Nālāgiripalaleyya (sic).
The Mahāpadāna Sutta (D.ii.5f ) which
mentions the seven Buddhas gives particulars of each under eleven heads (paricchedā) -
- the kappa in which he is born,
- his social rank (jāti),
- his family (gotta),
- length of life at that epoch (āyu),
- the tree under which he attains Enlightenment (bodhi),
- the names of his two chief disciples (sāvakayuga),
- the numbers present at the assemblies of arahants held by him (sāvakasannipāta),
- the name of his personal attendant (upatthākabhikkhu),
- the names of his father and mother and of his birthplace.
The Commentary (DA.ii.422ff) adds to these other particulars -
- the names of his son and his wife before his Renunciation,
- the conveyance (yāna) in which he leaves the world,
- the monastery in which his Gandhakuti was placed,
- the amount of money paid for its purchase,
- the site of the monastery, and the name of his chief lay patron.
In the case of Gotama, the further fact is stated that on the day of his
birth there appeared also in the world Rāhulamātā,
Ananda, Kanthaka,
Nidhikumbhi (Treasure Trove), the Mahābodhi
and Kāludāyī.
Gotama was conceived under the asterism (nakkhatta) of Uttarāsālha, under
which asterism he also made his Renunciation (DA.ii425), preached his first
sermon and performed the Twin Miracle. Under the asterism of
Visākha he was born, attained Enlightenment and
died; under that of Māgha he held his first
assembly of arahants and decided to die; under Assayuja he descended from
Tāvatimsa.
The Buddhavamsa Commentary says (BuA.2f) that in the Buddhavamsa particulars
of each Buddha are given under twenty two heads, the additional heads being the
details of the first sermon, the numbers of those attaining realization of truth
(abhisamaya) at each assembly, the names of the two chief women disciples, the
aura of the Buddha's body (ramsi), the height of his body, the name of the
Bodhisatta (who was to become Gotama Buddha), the prophecy concerning him, his
exertions (padhāna) and the details of each Buddha's death. The Commentary also
says that mention must be made of the time each Buddha lived as a householder,
the names of the palaces he occupied, the number of his dancing women, the names
of his chief wife, and his son, his conveyance, his renunciation, his practice
of austerities, his patrons and his monastery.
There are eight particulars in which the Buddhas differ from each other (atthavemattāni).
These are length of life in the epoch in which each is born, the height of his
body, his social rank (some are born as khattiyas, others as brahmins), the
length of his austerities, the aura of his body (thus, in the case of Mangala,
his aura spread throughout the ten thousand world systems, while that of Gotama
extended only one fathom; - but when he wishes, a Buddha can spread his aura at
will, BuA.106); the conveyance in which he makes his renunciation, the tree
under which he attains Enlightenment, and the size of the seat (pallanka) under
the Bodhi tree.
Only the first five are mentioned in DA.ii.424; also at BuA.105; all eight
are given at BuA.246f., which also gives details under each of the eight heads,
regarding all the twenty five Buddhas.
In the case of all Buddhas, there are four fixed spots (avijahitatthānāni).
These are:
- the site of the seat under the Bodhi tree (bodhipallanka),
- the Deer Park at Isipatana where the
first sermon is preached,
- the spot where the Buddha first steps on the ground at Sankassa on his
descent from Tusita (Tāvatimsa?)
- the spots marked by the four posts of the bed in the Buddha's
Gandhakuti in Jetavana.
The monastery may vary in size; the site of the city in which it stands may
also vary, but not the site of the bed. Sometimes it is to the east of the
vihāra, sometimes to the north (DA.ii.424; BuA.247).
Thirty facts are mentioned as being true of all Buddhas (samatimsavidhā
dhammatā).
- In his last life every Bodhisatta is conscious at the moment of his
conception;
- in his mother's womb he remains cross legged with his face turned
outwards;
- his mother gives birth to him in a standing posture;
- the birth takes place in a forest grove (araññe);
- immediately after birth he takes seven steps to the north and roars the
"lion's roar";
- he makes his renunciation after seeing the four omens and after a son is
born to him;
- he has to practise austerities for at least seven days after donning the
yellow robe;
- he has a meal of milk rice on the day of his Enlightenment;
- he attains to omniscience seated on a carpet of grass;
- he practises concentration in breathing;
- he defeats Māra's forces;
- he attains to supreme perfection in all knowledge and virtue at the foot
of the Bodhi tree;
- Mahā Brahmā requests him to preach the Dhamma;
- he preaches his first sermon in the Deer Park at
Isipatana;
- he recites the Pātimokkha to the
fourfold assembly on the full moon day of Māgha;
- he resides chiefly in Jetavana, he
performs the Twin Miracle in Sāvatthi;
- he preaches the Abhidhamma in Tāvatimsa;
- he descends from there at the gate of Sankassa;
- he constantly lives in the bliss of phalasamāpatti;
- he investigates the possibility of converting others during two jhānas;
- he lays down the precepts only when occasion arises for them;
- he relates Jātakas when suitable occasions occur;
- he recites the Buddhavamsa in the assembly
of his kinsmen;
- he always greets courteously monks who visit him;
- he never leaves the place where he has spent the rainy season without
bidding farewell to his hosts;
- each day he has prescribed duties before and after his meal and during the
three watches of the night;
- he eats a meal containing flesh (mamsarajabhojana) immediately before his
death;
- and just before his death he enters into the twenty four crores and one
hundred thousand samāpattī.
There are also mentioned four dangers from which all Buddhas are immune:
- no misfortune can befall the four requisites intended for a Buddha;
- no one can encompass his death;
- no injury can befall any of his thirty two
Mahāpurisalakkhanā or eighty anubyañjanā;
- nothing can obstruct his aura (BuA.248).
A Buddha is born only in this Cakkavāla out
of the ten thousand Cakkavālas which constitute the jātikkhetta (AA.i.251;
DA.iii.897). There can appear only one Buddha in the world at a time (D.ii.225;
D.iii.114; the reasons for this are given in detail inMil. 236, and quoted in
DA.iii.900f). No Buddha can arise until the sāsana of the previous Buddha has
completely disappeared from the world. This happens only with the
dhātuparinibbāna (see below). When a Bodhisatta takes conception in his mother's
womb in his last life, after leaving Tusita, there is manifested throughout the
world a wonderful radiance, and the ten thousand world systems tremble.
Similar earthquakes appear when he is born, when he attains Enlightenment,
when he preaches the first sermon, when he decides to die, when he finally does
so (D.ii.108f.; cp. DA.iii.897).
The Mahāpādāna Sutta (D.ii.12-15) and
the Acchariya-bbhuta-dhamma Sutta
(M.iii.119-124) contain accounts of other miracles, which attend the conception
and birth of a Buddha. Later books (e.g., J. i.) have greatly enlarged these
accounts. They describe how the Bodhisatta, having practised the thirty Pāramī,
and made the five great gifts (pañcamahāpariccāgā), and thus reached the
pinnacle of the threefold cariyā - ñātattha-cariyā, lokattha-cariyā and
buddhi-cariyā - gives the seven mahādānā, as in the case of
Vessantara, making the earth tremble seven
times, and is born after death in Tusita.
The Bodhisatta, who later became Vipassī Buddha, remained in Tusita during
the whole permissible period - fifty seven crores and sixty seven thousand
years. But most Bodhisattas leave Tusita before completing the full span of life
there. Five signs appear to warn the devaputta that his end is near (see
Deva); the gods of the ten thousand worlds gather
round him, beseeching him to be born on earth that he may become the Buddha. The
Bodhisatta thereupon makes the five investigations (pañcamahāvilokanāni).
Sometimes only one Buddha is born in a
kappa, such a kappa being called Sārakappa; sometimes two, Mandakappa;
sometimes three, Varakappa; sometimes four, Sāramandakappa; rarely five,
Bhaddakappa (BuA.158f). No Buddha is born in the early period of a kappa, when
men live longer than one hundred thousand years and are thus not able to
recognize the nature of old age and death, and therefore not able to benefit by
his preaching. When the life of man is too short, there is no time for
exhortation and men are full of kilesa.
The suitable age for a Buddha is, therefore, when men live not less than one
hundred years and not more than ten thousand. The Bodhisatta must first consider
the continent and the country of birth. Buddhas are born only in
Jambudīpa, and there, too, only in the
Majjhimadesa. He must then consider the
family; Buddhas are born only in brahmin or khattiya families, whichever is more
esteemed during that particular age. Then he must think of the mother: she must
be wise and virtuous; and her life must be destined to end seven days after the
Buddha's birth.
Having made these decisions, the Bodhisatta goes to
Nandanavana in Tusita, and while wandering
about there "falls away" from Tusita and takes conception. He is aware of his
death but unaware of his cuti-citta or dying thought. The Commentators seem to
have differed as to whether there is awareness of conception. When the
Bodhisatta is conceived, his mother has no further wish for indulgence in sexual
pleasure. For seven days previously she observes the uposatha vows, but there is
no mention of a virgin birth; the birth might be called parthenogenetic (see
Mil.123).
On the day of the actual conception, the mother, having bathed in scented
water after the celebration of the Asālha festival, and having eaten choice
food, takes upon herself the uposatha
vows and retires to the adorned state bedchamber. As she sleeps, she dreams that
the Four Regent Gods raise her with
her bed, and, having taken her to the Himālaya, bathe her in Lake
Anotatta, robe her in divine clothes, anoint
her with perfumes and deck her with heavenly flowers (according to the
Nidānakathā, J. i.50, it is their queens who do these things, re the Bodhisatta
assuming the form of an elephant, see Dial.ii.116n). Not far away is a silver
mountain and on it a golden mansion. There they lay her with her head to the
east. The Bodhisatta, assuming the form of a white elephant, enters her room,
and after circling right wise three times round her bed, smites her right side
with his trunk and enters her womb. She awakes and tells her husband of her
dream. Soothsayers are consulted, and they prophesy the birth of a
Cakka-vatti or of a Buddha.
The two Suttas mentioned above speak of the circumstances obtaining during
the time spent by the child in his mother's womb. It is said (DA.ii.437) that
the Bodhisatta is born when his mother is in the last third of her middle age.
This is in order that the birth may be easy for both mother and child. Various
miracles attend the birth of the Bodhisatta. The Commentaries expound, at great
length, the accounts of these miracles given in the Suttas. Immediately after
birth the Bodhisatta stands firmly on his feet, and having taken seven strides
to the north, while a white canopy, is held over his head, looks round and
utters in fearless voice the lion's roar: "Aggo 'ham asmi lokassa, jettho 'ham
asmi lokassa, settho 'ham asmi lokassa, ayam antimā jāti, natthi dāni punabbhavo”
(D.ii.15).
To the later Buddhists, not only these acts of the Bodhisatta, but every item
of the miracles accompanying his birth, have their symbolical meaning. See,
e.g., DA.ii.439; thus, standing on the earth means the attaining of the four
iddhi-pādas; facing north implies the spiritual conquest of multitudes; the
seven strides are the seven bojjhangas; the canopy is the umbrella of
emancipation; looking round means unveiled knowledge; fearlessness denotes the
irrevocable turning of the Wheel of the Law; the mention of the last birth, the
arahantship he will attain in this life, etc.
There seems to have been a difference of opinion among the Elders of the
Sangha as to what happened when the Bodhisatta took his seven strides
northwards. Did he walk on the earth or travel through the air? Did people see
him go? Was he clothed? Did he look an infant or an adult? Tipitaka Culābhaya,
preaching on the first floor of the Lohapāsāda, settled the question by
suggesting a compromise: the Bodhisatta walked on earth, but the onlookers felt
he was travelling through the air; he was naked, but the onlookers felt he was
gaily adorned; he was an infant, but looked sixteen years old; and after his
roar he reverted to infancy! (DA.ii.442)
After birth, the Bodhisatta is presented to the soothsayers for their
prognostications and they reassert that two courses alone are open to him
either to be a Cakka-vatti or a Buddha. They also discover on his body the
thirty two marks of the Great Man (Mahāpurisa)
(These are given at D.ii.17 19; also M.ii.136f). The Bodhisatta has also the
eighty secondary signs (asīti anubyañjana) such as copper coloured nails glossy
and prominent, sinews which are hidden and without knots, etc. (The list is
found in Lal. 121 [106]). The Brahmāyu Sutta (for details see M.ii.137f) gives
other particulars about Gotama, which are evidently characteristic of all
Buddhas. Thus, in walking he always starts with the right foot, his steps are
neither too long nor too short, only his lower limbs move; when he gazes on
anything, he turns right round to do so (nāgavilokana). When entering a house he
never bends his body (Cp. DhA.ii.136); when sitting down, accepting water to
wash his bowl, eating, washing his hands after eating, or returning thanks, he
sits with the greatest propriety, dignity and thoroughness. When preaching, he
neither flatters nor denounces his hearers but merely instructs them, rousing,
enlightening and heartening them (M.ii.139). His voice possesses eight
qualities: it is frank, clear, melodious, pleasant, full, carrying, deep and
resonant; it does not travel beyond his audience (for details concerning his
voice see DA.ii.452f.; and MA.ii.771f). A passage in the Anguttara (A.iv.308)
says that a Buddha preaches in the eight assemblies - of nobles, brahmins,
householders, recluses, devas of the
Cātummahārājika world, and of Tāvatimsa,
of Māras and of Brahmās. In these assemblies he becomes one of them and their
language becomes his.
The typical career of a Buddha is illustrated in the life of
Gotama. He renounces the world only after the
birth of a son. This, the Commentary explains (DA.ii.422), is to prevent him
from being taken for other than a human being. He sees the four omens before his
Renunciation: an old man, a sick man, a dead man, and a recluse. Some Buddhas
see all four on the same day, others, like Vipassī,
at long intervals (DA.ii.457). On the night before the Enlightenment, the
Bodhisatta dreams five dreams (A.iii.240). After the Enlightenment the Buddha
does not preach till asked to do so by Mahā Brahmā.
This is on order that the world may pay greater attention to the Buddha and his
teaching (DA.ii.467). A Buddha generally travels from the Bodhi tree to
Isipatana for his first sermon, through the
air, but Gotama went on foot because he wished to meet
Upaka on the way (DA.ii.471).
The Buddha's day is divided into periods, each of which has its distinct
duties (DA.i.45f; SnA.i.131f, etc.). He rises early, and having attended to his
bodily functions, sits in solitude till the time arrives for the alms round. He
then puts on his outer robe and goes for alms, sometimes alone, sometimes with a
large following of monks. When he wishes to go alone he keeps the door of his
cell shut, which sign is understood by the monks (Ibid., 271). Occasionally he
goes long distances for alms, travelling through the air, and then only
khīnāsavā are allowed to accompany him (ThagA.ii.65). Sometimes he goes in the
ordinary way (pakatiyā), sometimes accompanied by many miracles. After the meal
he returns to his cell; this is the pure bhattakicca.
Having washed his feet, he would emerge from his cell, talk to the monks and
admonish them. To those who ask for subjects of meditation, he would give them
according to their temperament. He would then retire to his cell and, if he so
desire, sleep for a while. After that, he looks around the world with his divine
eye, seeking whom he may serve, and would then preach to those who come to him
for instruction. In the evening he would bathe, and then, during the first
watch, attend to monks seeking his advice. The middle watch is spent with devas
and others who visit him to question him. The last watch is divided into three
parts: the first part is spent in walking about for exercise and meditation; the
second is devoted to sleep; and the third to contemplation, during which those
who are capable of benefiting by the Buddha's teaching, through good deeds done
by them in the past, come into his vision. Only beings that are veneyyā (capable
of benefiting by instruction) and who possess upanissaya, appear before the
Buddha's divine eye (DA.ii.470).
The Buddha gives his visitors permission to ask what they will. This is
called Sabbaññupavārana, and only a Buddha is capable of holding to this promise
to answer any question (SnA..i.229). Except during the rains, the Buddha spends
his time in wandering from place to place, gladdening men and inciting them to
lead the good life. This wandering is called cārikā and is of two kinds -
turita and aturita. The first is used for a long journey accomplished by him in
a very short time, for the benefit of some particular person. Thus Gotama
travelled three gāvutas to meet Mahā
Kassapa, thirty yojanas to see Alavaka and
Angulimāla, forty five yojanas to see
Pukusāti, etc. In the case of aturita cārikā
progress is slow. The range of a Buddha's cārikā varies from year to year.
Sometimes he would tour the Mahāmandala of nine hundred yojanas, sometimes the
Majjhimamandala of nine hundred yojanas, sometimes only the Antomandala of six
hundred yojanas. A tour of the Mahāmandala occupies nine months, that of the
Majjhimamandala eight, and that of the Antomandala from one to four months.
Details of the cārikā and the reasons for them are given at length in DA.i.240
3. When the Buddha cannot go on a journey himself, he sends his chief disciples
(SnA..ii.474). The Buddha announces his intention of undertaking a journey two
weeks before he starts, so that the monks may get ready (DhA.ii.167).
The Buddha is omniscient, not in the sense that he knows everything, but that
he could know anything should he so desire (see MNid.178,179; see also
MNidA.223; SnA.i.18.). His ñāña is one of the four illimitables (neither can the
Buddha's body be measured for purposes of comparison with other bodies,
MA.ii.790). He converts people in one of three ways:
- by exhibition of miraculous powers (iddhipātihāriya),
- by reading their thoughts (ādesanāpātihāriya),
- or teaching them what is beneficial to them according to their character
and temperament (anusāsanīpātihāriya).
It is the last method, which the Buddha most often uses (BuA.81) The Buddha's
rivals say that he possesses the power of fascination (āvattanīmāyā); but this
is untrue, as sometimes (e.g., in the case of the
Kosambi monks) he cannot make even his own disciples obey him. Some beings,
however, can be converted only by a Buddha. They are called buddha veneyyā
(SnA..i.331). Some are pleased by the Buddha's looks, others by his voice and
words, yet others by his austerities, such as the wearing of simple robes, etc.;
and finally, those whose standard of judgment is goodness, reflect that he is
without a peer (DhA.iii.113f.).
Though the Buddha's teaching is never really lost on the listener, he
sometimes preaches knowing that it will be of no immediate benefit (see, e.g.,
Udumbarikasīhanāda Sutta, D.iii.57). It is
said that wherever a monk dwells during the Buddha's time, in the vicinity of
the Buddha, he would always have ready a special seat for the Buddha because it
is possible that the Buddha would pay him a special visit (DA.i.48). Sometimes
the Buddha will send a ray of light from his
Gandhakuti to encourage a monk engaged in meditation and, appearing before
him in this ray of light, preach to him. Stanzas so preached are called
obhāsagāthā (SnA..i.16, 265).
Every Buddha founds an Order; the first pātimokkhuddesagāthā of every Buddha
is the same (DA.ii.479). The attainment of arahantship is always the aim of the
Buddha's instruction (DA.iii.732). Beings can obtain the four abhiññā only
during the lifetime of a Buddha (AA.i.204). A Buddha has ten powers (balāni)
which consist of his perfect comprehension in ten fields of knowledge,
A.v.32f.; M.i.69, etc. At S. ii.27f., ten similar powers are given as
consisting of his knowledge of the
Paticasamuppāda. The powers
of a disciple are distinct from those of a Buddha (Kvu.228); they are seven
(see, e.g., D.iii.283) and physical strength equal to that of one hundred
thousand crores of elephants (BuA.37). He alone can digest the food of the devas
or food which contains the ojā put into it by the devas. No one else can eat
with impunity the food which has been set apart for the Buddha (SnA..i.154).
Besides these excellences, a Buddha possesses the four assurances (vesārajjāni,
given at M.i.71f)), the eighteen Āvenikadhammā*, and the sixteen anuttariyas**.
*Described at Lal. 183, 343, Buddhaghosa also gives (at DA.iii.994) a list
of eighteen buddhadhammā, but they are all concerned with the absence of
duccarita in the case of the Buddha.
**Given by Sāriputta in the
Sampasādāniya Sutta (D.iii.102ff.).
The remembrance of former births a Buddha shares with six classes of purified
beings, only in a higher degree. This ability is possessed in ascending scale by
titthiyā, pakatisāvakā, mahāsāvakā, aggasāvakā, pacceka buddhā and buddhā
(E.g.,Vsm.411).
Every Buddha holds a Mahāsamaya, and
only a Buddha is capable of preaching a series of suttas to suit the different
temperaments of the mighty assembly gathered there (D.ii.255; DA.ii.682f).
A Buddha is not completely immune from disease (e.g.,
Gotama). Every Buddha has the power of living for
one whole kappa," but no Buddha does so, his term of life being shortened by
reason of climate and the food he takes (DA.ii.413).
The Commentary explains (DA.ii.554f.) that kappa here means Āyukappa, the
full span of a man's life during that particular age. Some, like Mahāsīva Thera,
maintained that if the Buddha could live for ten months, overcoming the pains of
death, he could as well continue to live to the end of this Bhaddakappa. But a
Buddha does not do so because he wishes to die before his body is overcome by
the infirmities of old age.
No Buddha, however, dies till the sāsana
is firmly established (D.iii.122). There are three parinibbānā in the case
of a Buddha: kilesa parinibbāna, khandha parinibbāna and dhātu parinibbāna. The
first takes place under the Bodhi tree, the second at the moment of the Buddha's
death, the third long after (DA.iii.899f.; for the history of Gotama's relics
see Gotama). Some Buddhas live longer than others;
those that are dighāyuka have only sammukhasāvakā (disciples who hear the
Doctrine from the Buddha himself), and at their death their relics are not
scattered, only a single thūpa being erected over them (SnA.. 194, 195). Short
lived Buddhas hold the uposatha once a
fortnight; others (e.g. Kassapa Buddha) may have
it once in six months; yet others (e.g. Vipassī)
only once in six years (ThagA.ii.62).
After the Buddha's death, his Doctrine is gradually forgotten. The first
Pitaka to be lost is the Abhidhamma, beginning with the Patthāna and ending with
the Dhammasangani. Then, the Anguttara Nikāya of the Sutta Pitaka, from the
eleventh to the first Nipāta; next the Samyutta Nikāya from the Cakkapeyyāla to
the Oghatarana; then the Majjhima, from the Indriyabhāvanā Sutta to the
Mūlapariyāya Sutta, and then the Dīgha, from the Dasuttara to the Brahmajāla.
Scattered gāthā like the Sabhiyapucchā, and the Ālavakapucchā, last much longer,
but they cannot maintain the sāsana. The last Pitaka to disappear is the Vinaya,
the last portion being the mātikā of the Ubhatovibhanga (VibhA.432).
When a Buddha dies, his body receives the honours due to a monarch (these are
detailed at D.ii.141f). It is said that on the night on which a Buddha attains
Enlightenment, and on the night during which he dies, the colour of his skin
becomes exceedingly bright (D.ii.134). Here we have the beginning of a legend
which later grew into an account of an actual "transfiguration" of the Buddha.
At all times, where a Buddha is present, no other light can shine
(SnA..ii.525).
No Buddha is born during the samvattamānakappa, but only during the
vivattamānakappa (SnA..i.51). A Bodhisatta who excels in paññā can attain
Buddhahood in four asankheyyas; one who exels in saddhā, in eight, and one whose
viriya is the chief factor, in sixteen (SnA..i.47f). When once a being has become
a Bodhisatta there are eighteen conditions from which he is immune (SnA..i.50).
The Buddha is referred to under various epithets. The Anguttara Nikāya gives one
such list. There he is called Samana, Brāhmana, Vedagū, Bhisaka, Nimmala, Vimala,
ñānī and Vimutta (C.iv. 340). Buddhaghosa gives seven others: Cakkkumā,
Sabbabhūtanukampī, Vihātaka, Mārasenappamaddī, Vusitavā, Vimutto and Angirasa
(DA.iii.962f).
The Buddha generally speaks of himself as Tathāgata. This term is explained
at great length in the Commentaries - e.g., DA.i.59f. His followers
usually address him as Bhagavā, while others call him by his name (Gotama). In
the case of Gotama Buddha, we find him also addressed as Sakka (Sn. vs. 345;
perhaps the equivalent of Sākya), Brahma (Sn. p.91; SnA.ii.418), Mahāmuni
(BuA.38) and Yakkha (M.i.386; also KS.i.262). Countless other epithets occur in
the books, especially in the later ones. One very famous formula, used by
Buddhists in their ritual, contains nine epithets, the formula being: Bhagavā
araham sammāsambuddho, vijjācaranasampanno, sugato, lokavidū, anuttaro,
purisadammasārathi, satthā devamanussānam, Buddho Bhagavā (these words are
analysed and discussed in Vsm. 198 ff). It is maintained (e.g., DA.i.288) that
the Buddha's praises are limitless (aparimāna). One of his most striking
characteristics, mentioned over and over again, is his love of quiet.
E.g., D.i.178f.; he is also fond of solitude (patissallāna), (D.ii.70;
A.iv.438f.; S. v.320f., etc.). When he is in retirement it is usually akāla for
visiting him (D.ii.270). There are also certain accusations, which are brought
against a Buddha by his rivals, for this very love of solitude. "It is said that
his insight is ruined by this habit of seclusion. By intercourse with whom does
he attain lucidity in wisdom? He is not at his ease in conducting an assembly,
not ready in conversation, he is occupied only with the fringe of things. He is
like a one eyed cow, walking in a circle" (D.iii.38).
In this his disciples followed his example (D.iii.37). The dwelling place of
a Buddha is called Gandhakuti. His footprint
is called Padacetiya, and this can be seen only when he so desires it. When once
he wishes it to be visible, no one can erase it. He can also so will that only
one particular person shall see it (DhA.iii.194). It is also said that his power
of love is so great that no evil action can show its results in his presence
(SnA..ii.475). A Buddha never asks for praise, but if his praises are uttered in
his presence he takes no offence (ThagA.iii.42). When the Buddha is seated in
some spot, none has the power of going through the air above him (SnA..i.222). He
prefers to accept the invitations of poor men to a meal (DhA.ii.135).
See also Gotama and
Bodhisatta. Also the article on Buddha in the N.P.D.
2. Buddha. A king of forty one kappas ago, a previous birth of
Vacchapāla (Pāyāsadāyaka) Thera. ThagA.i.160; Ap.i.157.
3. Buddha. A minister of Mahinda V. He was a native of Māragallaka
and, in association with Kitti, another minister, vanquished the Cola army at
Palutthagiri. He received as reward his native village. Cv.lv.26 31.
4. Buddha. A Kesadhātu, general of Parakkamabāhu I. He inflicted a
severe defeat on Mānābharana at Pūnagāmatittha. Cv.lxxii.7.
5. Buddha. See Buddhanāyaka.

|