The last of the twenty-five Buddhas.

No comprehensive account of Gotama
Buddha is as yet possible. The details given in this article are those generally
accepted by orthodox Theravādins and contained in their books, chiefly the Pāli
Commentaries, more especially the Nidānakathā of the Jātaka and the Buddhavamsa
Commentary.
Biographical details are also found in
the Mahā Vagga and the Culla Vagga of the Vinaya Pitaka, the Buddhavamsa and in
various scattered passages of the Nikayas of the Sutta Pitaka. References to
these are given where considered useful. Controversy exists with regard to many
of the matters mentioned; for discussion of the varying views regarding these,
reference should be made to the works of Oldenberg, Rhys Davids (both Professor
and Mrs. Rhys Davids), Kern, E. J. Thomas and other scholars. Further
particulars of persons and places mentioned can be obtained by reference to the
articles under the respective names.

He was a Sākiyan (the Sākiyans were
evidently subjects of the Kosala king; the Buddha calls himself a Kosalan,
M.ii.124), son of Suddhodana (all Pāli Commentaries and Sanskrit works represent
the Buddha as the son of a king, descendant of a long line of famous ancestors),
chief ruler of Kapilavatthu, and of Mahā Māyā, Suddhodana's chief consort, and
he belonged to the Gotama-gotta. Before his conception he was in the Tusita
heaven, waiting for the due time for his birth in his last existence. Then,
having made the "five investigations" (pañcavilolcanāni) (see Buddha), he took
leave of his companions and descended to earth. (According to the Lalitavistara
he appointed the Bodhisatta Maitreya as king of Tusita in his place). Many
wondrous and marvellous events attended his conception and birth. (Given in the
Acchariyabbhutadhamma Sutta, M.iii.118f; also D.ii.12f. A more detailed account
is found in J. i.47ff; both the Lai. and the Mtu.ii.14ff differ as to the details
given here of the conception and the birth).
The conception takes place on the
full-moon day of Āsālha, with the moon in Uttarāsālha, and Maya has no relations
with her husband. She has a marvellous dream in which the Bodhisatta, as a white
elephant, enters her womb through her side. When the dream is mentioned to the
brahmins, they foretell the birth of a son who will be either a universal
monarch or a Buddha. An earthquake takes place and thirty-two signs appear,
presaging the birth of a great being. The first of these signs is a boundless,
great light, flooding every corner of the ten thousand worlds; everyone beholds
its glory, even the fires in all hells being extinguished. Ten months after the
conception, in the month of Visākha, Māyā wishes to visit her parents in
Devadaha. On the way thither from Kapilavatthu she passes the beautiful Lumbini
grove, in which she desires to wander; she goes to a great sāla-tree and seizes
a branch in her hand; labour pains start immediately, and, when the courtiers
retire, having drawn a curtain round her, even while standing, she is delivered
of the child. It is the day of the full moon of Visākha; four Mahābrahmas
receive the babe in a golden net, and streams of water descend from the sky to
wash him. The boy stands on the earth, takes seven steps north-wards and utters
his lion-roar, "I am the chief in the world." On the same day seven other beings
were born: the Bodhi-tree, Rāhula's mother (Rāhulamātā, his future wife), the
four Treasure-Troves (described at DA.i.284), his elephant, his horse Kanthaka,
his charioteer Channa, and Kāludāyī. The babe is escorted back to Kapilavatthu
on the day of his birth and his mother dies seven days later.
The isi Asita (or Kāladevala),
meditating in the Himālaya, learns from the Tāvatimsa gods of the birth of the
Buddha, visits Suddhodana the same day and sees the boy, whom they both worship.
Asita weeps for sorrow that he will not live to see the boy's Buddhahood, but he
instructs his nephew Nālaka (v.l. Naradatta) to prepare himself for that great
day. On the fifth day after the birth is the ceremony of name-giving. One
hundred and eight brahmins are invited to the festival at the palace; eight of
them - Rāma, Dhaja, Lakkhana, Manti, Kondañña, Bhoja, Suyāma and Sudatta - are
interpreters of bodily marks, and all except Kondañña prophesy two possibilities
for the boy; but Kondañña, the youngest, says, quite decisively, that he will be
a Buddha. The name given to the boy at this ceremony is not actually mentioned,
but from other passages it is inferred that it was Siddhattha (q.v.).
Among other incidents recounted of the
Buddha's boyhood is that of his attaining the first jhāna under a jambu-tree.
One day he is taken to the state ploughing of the king where Suddhodana himself,
with his golden plough, ploughs with the farmers. The nurses, attracted by the
festivities, leave the child under a jambu-tree. They return to find him seated,
cross-legged, in a trance, the shadow of the tree remaining still, in order to
protect him. The king is informed and, for the second time, does reverence to
his son. J. i.57f; MA.i.466f; the incident is alluded to in the Mahā Saccaka
Sutta (M.i.246); the corresponding incident recounted in Mtu. (ii.45f.) takes
place in a park, and the, details differ completely. The Lai. has two versions,
one in prose and one in verse and both resemble the Mtu.; but in these the
Buddha is represented as being much older. The Divy (391) and the Tibetan
versions (e.g., Rockhill, p.22) put the incident very much later in the Buddha's
life. Other incidents are given in Lai. and Mtu.
The Bodhisatta is reported to have lived
in the household for twenty-nine years a life of great luxury and excessive
ease, surrounded by all imaginable comforts. He owns three palaces - Ramma,
Suramma and Subha - for the three seasons. Mention is made of his luxurious life
in A.i.145; also in M.i.504; further details are given in AA.i.378f.; J. i.58.
See also Mtu.ii.115; cf. Vin.i.15; D.ii.21.
When the Bodhisatta is sixteen years
old, Suddhodana sends messengers to the Sākyans asking that his son be allowed
to seek a wife from among their daughters; but the Sākyans are reluctant to send
them, for, they say, though the young man is hand-some, he knows no art; how,
then, can he support a wife? When this is reported to the prince, he summons an
assembly of the Sākyans and performs various feats, chief of these being twelve
feats with a bow which needs the strength of one thousand men. (The feats with
the bow are described in the Sarabhanga Jātaka, J. v.129f ). The Sākyans are so
impressed that each sends him a daughter, the total number so sent being forty
thousand. The Bodhisatta appoints as his chief wife the daughter of Suppabuddha,
who, later, comes to be called Rāhulamātā. She is known under various names:
Bhaddakaccā (or Kaccānā), Yasodharā. Bimbā, Bimbasundarī and Gopā. For a
discussion see Rāhulamātā.
According to the generally accepted
account, Gotama is twenty-nine when the incidents occur which lead to final
renunciation. Following the prophecy of the eight brahmins, his father had taken
every precaution that his son should see no sign of old age, sickness or death.
But the gods decide that the time is come for the Enlightenment, and instil into
Gotama's heart a desire to go into the park. On the way, the gods put before him
a man showing signs of extreme age, and the Bodhisatta returns, filled with
desire for renunciation. The king, learning this, surrounds him with even
greater attractions, but on two other days Gotama goes to the park and the gods
put before him a sick man and a corpse. (According to some accounts, e.g. that
of the Dīghabhānakas, the four omens were all seen on the same day, J. i.59)
On the full-moon day of Āsālha, the day
appointed for the Great Renunciation, Gotama sees a monk and hears from his
charioteer praise of the ascetic life. Feeling very happy, he goes to the park
to enjoy himself. Sakka sends Vissakamma himself to bathe and adorn him, and as
Gotama returns to the city in all his majesty, he receives news of the birth of
his son. Foreseeing in this news a bond, he decides to call the babe Rāhula
(q.v.). Kisā Gotamī (q.v.) sees Gotama on the way to the palace and, filled with
longing for him, sings to him a song containing the word nibbuta. The
significance of the word (=extinguished, at peace) thrills him, and he sends to
Kisā his priceless gold necklace which she, however, accepts as a token of love.
Gotama enters the palace and sleeps. He wakes in the middle of the night to find
his female musicians sleeping in attitudes which fill him with disgust and with
loathing for the worldly life, and he decides to leave it. (In some versions the
Renunciation takes place seven days after the birth of Rāhula, J. i.62). He
orders Channa to saddle Kanthaka, and enters his wife's room for a last look at
her and their son.
He leaves the city on his horse Kanthaka,
with Channa clinging to its tail. The devas muffle the sound of the horse's
hoofs and of his neighing and open the city gates for Gotama to pass. Māra
appears before Gotama and seeks to stay him with a promise that he shall be
universal monarch within seven days. On his offer being refused, Māra threatens
to shadow him always. Outside the city, at the spot where later was erected the
Kanthakanivattana-cetiya, Gotama turns his horse round to take a last look at
Kapilavatthu. It is said that the earth actually turned, to make it easy for him
to do so. Then, accompanied by the gods, he rides thirty leagues through three
kingdoms - those of the Sākyans, the Koliyans and the Mallas - and his horse
crosses the river Anomā in one leap. On the other side, he gives all his
ornaments to Channa, and with his sword cuts off hair and beard, throwing them
up into the air, where Sakka takes them and enshrines them in the
Cūlāmani-cetiya in Tāvatimsa. The Brahmā Ghatikāra offers Gotama the eight
requisites of a monk, which he accepts and adopts. He then sends Channa and
Kanthaka back to his father, but Kanthaka, broken-hearted, dies on the spot and
is reborn as Kanthaka-devaputta.
The account given here is taken mainly
from the Nidānakathā (J.i.59ff) and evidently embodies later tradition; cp.
D.ii.21ff. From passages found in the Pitakas (e.g., A.i.145; M.i.163, 240;
M.ii.212f.) it would appear that the events leading up to the Renunciation were
not so dramatic as given here, the process being more gradual. I do not,
however, agree with Thomas (op. cit., 58) that, according to these accounts, the
Bodhisatta left the world when "quite a boy." I think the word dahara is used
merely to indicate "the prime of youth," and not necessarily "boyhood." The
description of the Renunciation in the Lal. is very much more elaborate and adds
numerous incidents, no account of which is found in the Pāli.
From Anomā the Bodhisatta goes to the
mango-grove of Anupiya, and after spending seven days there walks to Rājagaha (a
distance of thirty leagues) in one day, and there starts his alms rounds.
Bimbisāra's men, noticing him, report the matter to the king, who sends
messengers to enquire who this ascetic is. The men follow Gotama to the foot of
the Pandavapabbata, where he eats his meal, and they then go and report to the
king. Bimbisāra visits Gotama, and, pleased with his hearing, offers him the
sovereignty. On learning the nature of Gotama's quest, he wins from him a
promise to visit Rājagaha first after the Enlightenment.
This incident is also mentioned in the
Pabbajjā Sutta (Sn.vv.405-24), but there it is the king who first sees Gotama.
It is significant that, when asked his identity, Gotama does not say he is a
king's son. The Pali version of tile sutta contains nothing of Gotama's promise
to visit Rājagaha, but the Mtu. version (ii.198-200), which places the visit
later, has two verses, one of which contains the request and the other the
acceptance; and the SnA. (ii.385f.), too, mentions the promise and tells that
Bimbisāra was informed of the prophecy concerning Gotama. There is another
version of the Mtu. (ii.117-20) which says that Gotama went straight to Vaisāli
after leaving home, joining Ālāra, and later visited Uddaka at Rājagaha. Here no
mention is made of Bimbisāra. We are told in the Mhv. (ii.25ff) that Bimbisāra
and Gotama (Siddhattha) had been playmates, Bimbisāra being the younger by five
years. Bimbisāra's father (Bhātī) and Suddhodana were friends.
Journeying from Rājagaha, Gotama in due
course becomes a disciple of Ālāra-Kālāma. Having learnt and practised all that
ālāra has to teach, he finds it unsatisfying and joins Uddaka-Rāmaputta; but
Uddaka's doctrine leaves him still unconvinced and he abandons it. He then goes
to Senānīgāma in Uruvelā and there, during six years, practises all manner of
severe austerities, such as no man had previously undertaken. Once he falls
fainting and a deva informs Suddhodana that Gotama is dead. But Suddhodana,
relying on the prophecy of Kāladevala, refuses to believe the news. Gotama's
mother, now born as a devaputta in Tāvatimsa, comes to him to encourage him. At
Uruvelā, the Pañcavaggiya monks are his companions, but now, having realised the
folly of extreme asceticism, he decides to abandon it, and starts again to take
normal food; thereupon the Pañcavaggiyas, disappointed, leave him and go to
Isipatana.
J.i.66f. The Therīgāthā Commentary
(p.2) mentions another teacher of Gotama, named Bhaggava, whom Gotama visited
before Ālāra. Lal. (330 [264]) contains a very elaborate account of Gotama's
visits to teachers; he goes first to two brahmin women, Sākī and Padmā, then
to Raivata and Rajaka, son of Trimandika, and finally (as far as this chapter
is concerned) to Ālāra at Vaisāli. A poem containing an account of the meeting
of Gotama with Bimbisāra is inserted into this account. The next chapter tells
of Uddaka. An account of Gotama's visits to teachers and of the details of his
austerities is also given in the Mahā Saccaka Sutta, already referred to
(M.i.240ff); the Mahā Sīhanāda Sutta (M.i.77ff) contains a long and detailed
account of his extreme asceticisms. See also M.i.163ff; ii.93f.
Gotama's desire for normal food is
satisfied by an offering brought by Sujātā to the Ajapāla banyan tree under
which he is seated. She had made a vow to the tree, and her wish having been
granted, she takes her slave-girl, Punnā, and goes to the tree prepared to
fulfil her promise. They take Gotama to be the Tree-god, come in person to
accept her offering of milk-rice; the offering is made in a golden bowl and he
takes it joyfully. Five dreams he had the night before convince Gotama that he
will that day become the Buddha. (The dreams are, recounted in A.iii.240 and in
Mtu.ii.136f). It is the full-moon day of Visākha; he bathes at Suppatittha in
the Nerañjarā, eats the food and launches the bowl up stream, where it sinks to
the abode of the Nāga king, Kāla (Mahākāla).
Gotama spends the rest of the day in a
sāla-grove and, in the evening, goes to the foot of the Bodhi-tree, accompanied
by various divinities; there the grass-cutter Sotthiya gives him eight handfuls
of grass; these, after investigation, Gotama spreads on the eastern side of the
tree, where it becomes a seat fourteen hands long, on which he sits
cross-legged, determined not to rise before attaining Enlightenment.
J.i.69. The Pitakas know nothing of
Sujātā's offering or of Sotthiya's gift. Lal. (334-7 [267-70]) mentions ten
girls in all who provide him with food during his austerities. Divy (392)
mentions two, Nandā and Nandabalā.
Māra, lord of the world of passion, is
determined to prevent this fulfilment, and attacks Gotama with all the strength
at his command. His army extends twelve leagues to the front, right, and left of
him, to the end of the Cakkavāla behind him, and nine leagues into the sky above
him. Māra himself carries numerous weapons and rides the elephant Girimekhala,
one hundred and fifty leagues in height. At the sight of him all the divinities
gathered at the Bodhi-tree to do honour to Gotama - the great Brahmā, Sakka, the
Nāga-king Mahākāla - disappear in a flash, and Gotama is left alone with the ten
pāramī, long practised by him, as his sole protection. All Māra's attempts to
frighten him by means of storms and terrifying apparitions fail, and, in the
end, Māra hurls at him the Cakkāvudha. It remains as a canopy poised over
Gotama. The very earth bears witness to Gotama's fitness to be the Enlightened
One, and Girimekhala kneels before him. Māra is vanquished and flees headlong
with his vast army. The various divinities who had fled at the approach of Māra
now return to Gotama and exult in his triumph.
The whole story of the contest with Māra
is, obviously, a mythological development. It is significant that in the
Majjhima passages referred to earlier there is no mention of Māra, of a
temptation, or even of a Bodhi-tree; but see D.ii.4 and Thomas (op. cit., n.1).
According to the Kālingabodhi Jātaka, which, very probably, embodies an old
tradition, the bodhi-tree was worshipped even in the Buddha's life-time. The
Māra legend is, however, to be found in the Canonical Padhāna Sutta of the Sutta
Nipāta. This perhaps contains the first suggestion of the legend. For a
discussion see Māra.
Gotama spends that night in deep
meditation. In the first watch he gains remembrance of his former existences; in
the middle watch he attains the divine eye (dibbacakkhu); in the last watch he
revolves in his mind the Chain of Causation (paticcasamuppāda). As he masters
this, the earth trembles and, with the dawn, comes Enlightenment. He is now the
supreme Buddha, and he breaks forth into a paean of joy (udāna).
There is great doubt as to which were
these Udāna verses. The Nidānakathā and the Commentaries generally quote two
verses (153, 154) included in the Dhammapada collection (anekajāti samsāram,
etc.). The Vinaya (i.2) quotes three different verses (as does also DhsA.17),
and says that one verse was repeated at the end of each watch, all the watches
being occupied with meditation on the paticcasamuppāda. Mtu. (ii.286) gives a
completely different Udāna, and in another place (ii.416) mentions a different
verse as the first Udāna. The Tibetan Vinaya is, again, quite different (Rockhill,
p.33). For a discussion see Thomas, op. cit., 75ff.
For the first week the Buddha remains
under the Bodhi-tree, meditating on the Paticcasamuppāda; the second week he
spends at the Ajapālanigrodha, where the "Huhuhka" Brahmin accosts him (Mara now
comes again and asks the Buddha to die at once; D.ii.112) and where Mara's
daughters, Tanhā, Aratī and Rāgā, appear before the Buddha and make a last
attempt to shake his resolution (J.i.78; S. i.124; Lal.490 (378)); the third week
he spends under the hood of the nāga-king Mucalinda (Vin.i.3); the fourth week
is spent in meditation under the Rājāyatana tree*; at the end of this period
takes place the conversion of Tapussa and Bhallika. They take refuge in the
Buddha and the Dhamma, though the Buddha does not give them any instruction.
*This is the Vinaya account
(Vin.i.1ff); but the Jātaka (i.77ff, extends this period to seven weeks, the
additional weeks being inserted between the first and second. The Buddha
spends one week each at the Animisa-cetiya, the Ratanacankama and the
Ratanaghara, and this last is where he thinks out the Abhidhamma Pitaka.
Doubts now assail the Buddha as to
whether he shall proclaim to the world his doctrine, so recondite, so hard to
understand. The Brahma Sahampati (according to J. i.81, with the gods of the
thousand worlds, including Sakka, Suyāma, Santusita, Sunimmita, Vasavatti, etc.)
appears before him and assures him there are many prepared to listen to him and
to profit by his teaching, and so entreats him to teach the Dhamma. The Buddha
accedes to his request and, after consideration, decides to teach the Dhamma
first to the Pañcavaggiyas at Isipatana. On the way to
Benares he meets the
ājīvaka Upaka and tells him that he (the Buddha) is Jina. On his arrival at
Isipatana the Pañcavaggiyas are, at first, reluctant to acknowledge his claim to
be the Tathāgata, but they let themselves be won over and, on the full-moon day
of Āsālha, the Buddha preaches to them the sermon which came to be known as the
Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta. (Vin.i.4ff; M.i.118ff; cp. D.ii.36ff. Regarding the
claim of this sutta to be the Buddha's first sermon, see Thomas, op. cit., p.86;
see also Pañcavaggiyā). At the end of the sermon Kondañña becomes a sotāpanna
and they all become monks.
This sermon is followed five days later
by the Anattalakkhana Sutta, at the conclusion of which all five become
arahants. The following day the Buddha meets Yasa, whom he converts. Yasa's
father, who comes seeking him, is the first to take the threefold formula of
Refuge.
Yasa becomes an arahant and is ordained.
The Buddha accepts a meal at his house, and Yasa's mother and one of his former
wives are the first two lay-women to become the Buddha's disciples. Then four
friends of Yasa and, afterwards, fifty more, enter the Order and become
arahants. There are now sixty arahants besides the Buddha, and they are sent in
different directions to preach the Dhamma. They return with many candidates for
admission to the Order, and the Buddha, who up till now had ordained men with
the "ehi bhikkhu" formula, now allows the monks themselves to perform the
ceremony of ordination (Vin.i.15ff; J. i.81f).
After spending the rainy season at
Benares (about this time Māra twice tries to tempt the Buddha, once after he had
sent the disciples out to preach and once after the Retreat, S. i.105, 111;
Vin.i.21, 22), the Buddha returns to Senānigāma in Uruvela, on the way
converting and ordaining the thirty Bhaddavaggiyā. At Uruvela, after a long and
protracted exercise of magical powers, consisting in all of three thousand five
hundred miracles, the Buddha wins over the three Kassapa brothers, the Tebhātika
Jatilā, with their thousand followers, and ordains them. They become arahants
after listening to the Ādittapariyāya Sutta preached at Gayāsīsa; with these
followers he visits Rājagaha, where King Seniya Bimbisāra comes to see him at
the Latthivanuyyāna. The following day the Buddha and the monks visit the
palace, preceded by Sakka disguised as a youth and singing the praises of the
Buddha. After the meal, the king gifts Veluvana to the Buddha and the Order. The
Buddha stays for two months at Rājagaha (BuA.4), and it is during this time that
Sāriputta and Moggallāna join the Order, through the instrumentality of Assaji
(Vin.i.23ff). It was probably during this year, at the beginning of the rainy
season, that the Buddha visited Vesāli at the request of the Licchavis, conveyed
through Mahāli. The city was suffering from pestilence and famine. The Buddha
went, preached the Ratana Sutta and dispelled all dangers (DhA.iii.436ff).
The number of converts now rapidly
increases and the people of Magadha, alarmed by the prospect of childlessness,
widow-hood, etc., blame the Buddha and his monks. The Buddha, however, refutes
their charges (Vin.i.42f).
The account of the first twenty years of
the Buddha's ministry is summarised from various sources, chiefly from Thomas's
admirable account in his Life and Legend of the Buddha (pp.97ff). The necessary
references are to be found under the names mentioned.
On the full-moon day of Phagguna
(February-March) the Buddha, accompanied by twenty thousand monks, sets out for
Kapilavatthu at the express request of his father, conveyed through Kāludāyī.
(This visit is not mentioned in the Canon; but see Thag.527-36; AA.i.107, 167;
J.i.87; DhA.i.96f; ThagA.i.997ff).
By slow stages he arrives at the city,
where he stays at the Nigrodhārāma, and, in order to convince his proud kinsmen
of his power, performs the Yamakapātihārjya and then relates the Vessantara
Jātaka. The next day, receiving no invitation to a meal, the Buddha begs in the
streets of the city; this deeply grieves Suddhodana, but later, learning that it
is the custom of all Buddhas, he becomes a sotāpanna and conducts the Buddha and
his monks to meal at the palace. There all the women of the palace, excepting
only Rāhulamātā, come and do reverence to the Buddha. Mahā Pajāpatī becomes a
sotāpanna and Suddhodana a sakadāgāmi. The Buddha visits Rāhulamātā in her own
apartments and utters her praises in the Candakinnara Jātaka. The following day
the Buddha persuades his half-brother, Nanda, to come to the monastery, where he
ordains him and, on the seventh day, he does the same with Rāhula. This is too
great a blow for Suddhodana, and at his request the Buddha rules that no person
shall be ordained without the consent of his parents. The next day the Buddha
preaches to Suddhodana, who becomes an anāgāmī. During the Buddha's visit to
Kapilavatthu, eighty thousand Sākyans join the Order, one from each family. With
these he returns to Rājagaha, stopping on the way at Anupiya, where Anuruddha,
Bhaddiya, Ananda, Bhagu, Kimbila and Devadatta, together with their barber,
Upāli, visit him and seek ordination.
On his return to Rājagaha the Buddha
resides in the Sītavana. (J.i.92, the story is also told in the Vinaya ii.154,
but no date is indicated). There Sudatta, later known as Anāthapindika, visits
him, is converted, and invites him to Sāvatthi. The Buddha accepts the
invitation and journeys through Vesāli to Sāvatthi, there to pass the rainy
season. (Vin.ii.158; but see BuA.3, where the Buddha is mentioned as having
spent the vassa in Rājagaha). Anāthapindika gifts Jetavana, provided with every
necessity, for the residence of the Buddha and his monks. Probably to this
period belongs the conversion of Migāra, father-in-law of Visākhā, and the
construction, by Visākhā, of the Pubbārāma at Sāvatthi. The vassa of the fourth
year the Buddha spends at Veluvana, where he converts Uggasena. (DhA.iv.59f). In
the fifth year Suddhodana dies, having realised arahant-ship, and the Buddha
flies through the air, from the Kūtāgārasālā in Vesāli where he was staying, to
preach to his father on his death-bed. According to one account it is at this
time that the quarrel breaks out between the Sākyans and the Koliyans regarding
the irrigation of the river Rohinī. (AA.i.186; SnA.i.357; ThigA.141; details of
the quarrel are given in J. v.412ff). The Buddha persuades them to make peace,
and takes up his abode in the Nigrodhārāma. Mahā Pajāpatī Gotamī, with other
Sākiyan women, visits him there and asks that women may be allowed to join the
Order. Three times the request is made, three times refused, the Buddha then
returning to Vesāli. The women cut off their hair, don yellow robes and follow
him thither. Ananda intercedes on their behalf and their request is granted.
(Vin.ii.253ff; A.iv.274f.; for details see Mahā Pajāpati).
In the sixth year the Buddha again
performs the Yamakapātihāriya, this time at the foot of the Gandamba tree in
Sāvatthi. Prior to this, the Buddha had forbidden any display of magic powers,
but makes an exception in his own case (DhA.iii.199f.; J. iv.265, etc.).
He spends the vassa at Mankulapabbata.
After the performance of the miracle he follows the custom of all Buddhas and
ascends to Tāvatimsa in three strides to preach the Abhidhamma to his mother who
is born there as a deva, and there he keeps the seventh vassa. The multitude,
gathered at Sāvatthi at the Yamakapātihāriya, refuse to go away until they have
seen him. For three months, therefore, Moggallāna expounds to them the Dhamma,
while Culla Anāthapindika provides them with food. During the preaching of the
Abhidhamma, Sāriputta visits the Buddha daily and learns from him all that has
been recited the previous day. At the end of the vassa, the Buddha descends a
jewelled staircase and comes to earth at Sankassa, thirty leagues from Sāvatthi.
(For details see Devorohana). It was about this time, when the Buddha's fame was
at its height, that the notorious Ciñcā-mānavikā was persuaded by members of
some hostile sect to bring a vile accusation against the Buddha. A similar
story, told in connection with a paribbājikā named Sundarī, probably refers to a
later date.
The eighth year the Buddha spends in the
country of the Bhaggas and there, while residing in Bhesakalāvana near
Sumsumāragiri, he meets Nakulapitā and his wife, who had been his parents in
five hundred former births (A.A.i.217).
The same is told of another old couple
in Sāketa. See the Sāketa Jātaka. The Buddha evidently stayed again at
Sumsumāragiri many years later. It was during his second visit that
Bodhirājakumāra (q.v.) invited him to a meal at his new palace in order that the
Buddha might consecrate the building by his presence.
In the ninth year the Buddha is at
Kosambī. While on a visit to the Kuru country he is offered in marriage
Māgandiyā, the beautiful daughter of the brahmin Māgandiyā. The refusal of the
offer, accompanied by insulting remarks about physical beauty, arouses the
enmity of Māgandiyā who, thenceforward, cherishes hatred against the Buddha.
Sn., pp.163ff; SnA.ii.542ff; DhA.i.199ff
Thomas (op. cit., 109) assigns the Māgandiyā incident to the ninth year. I am
not sure if this is correct, for the Commentaries say the Buddha was then living
at Sāvatthi.
In the tenth year there arises among the
monks at Kosambī a schism which threatens the very existence of the Order. The
Buddha, failing in his attempts to reconcile the disputants, retires in disgust
to the Pārileyyaka forest, passing on his way through Bālakalonakāragāma and
Pācīnavamsadāya. In the forest he is protected and waited upon by a friendly
elephant who has left the herd. The Buddha spends the rainy season there and
returns to Sāvatthi. By this time the Kosambī monks have recovered their senses
and ask the Buddha's pardon. This is granted and the dispute settled.
(Vin.i.337ff; J. iii.486f; DhA.i.44ff; but see Ud.iv.5; s.v. Pārileyyaka).
In the eleventh year the Buddha resides
at the brahmin village of Ekanālā and converts Kasi-Bhāradvāja (Sn., p.12f.;
S.i.172f). The twelfth year he spends at Verañjā, keeping the vassa there at the
request of the brahmin Verañja. But Verañja forgets his obligations; there is a
famine, and five hundred horse-merchants supply the monks with food.
Moggallāna's offer to obtain food by means of magic power is discouraged
(Vin.iii.1ff; J. iii.494f; DhA.ii.153). The thirteenth Retreat is kept at
Cālikapabbata, where Meghiya is the Buddha's personal attendant (A.iv.354;
Ud.iv.1). The fourteenth year is spent at Sāvatthi, and there Rāhula receives
the upasampadā ordination.
In the fifteenth year the Buddha
revisits Kapilavatthu, and there his father-in-law, Suppabuddha, in a drunken
fit, refuses to let the Buddha pass through the streets. Seven days later he is
swallowed up by the earth at the foot of his palace (DhA.iii.44).
The chief event of the sixteenth year,
which the Buddha spent at Ālavī, is the conversion of the yakkha Ālavaka. In the
seventeenth year the Buddha is back at Sāvatthi, but he visits Ālavī again out
of compassion for a poor farmer who becomes a sotāpanna after hearing him preach
(DhA.iii.262ff). He spends the rainy season at Rājagaha. In the next year he
again comes to Ālavī from Jetavana for the sake of a poor weaver's daughter. She
had heard him preach, three years earlier, on the desirability of meditating
upon death. She alone gave heed to his admonition and, when the Buddha knows of
her imminent death, he journeys thirty leagues to preach to her and establish
her in the sotāpattiphala (DhA.iii.170ff).
The Retreat of this year and also that
of the nineteenth are spent at Cālikapabbata. In the twentieth year takes place
the miraculous conversion of the robber Angulimāla. He becomes an arahant and
dies shortly after. It is in the same year that Ananda is appointed permanent
attendant on the Buddha, a position which he holds to the end of the Buddha's
life, twenty-five years later (For details see Ananda). The twentieth Retreat is
spent at Rājagaha.
With our present knowledge it is
impossible to evolve any kind of chronology for the remaining twenty-five years
of the Buddha's life. The Commentaries state that they were spent at Sāvatthi in
the monasteries of Jetavana and Pubbārāma. (E.g., BuA.3; SnA. p.336f, says that
when the Buddha was at Sāvatthi, he spent the day at the Migāramātupāsāda in the
Pubbārāma, and the night at Jetavana or vice versa).
This, probably, only implies that the
Retreats were kept there and that they were made the head quarters of the
Buddha. From there, during the dry season, he went every year on tour in various
districts. Among the places visited by him during these tours are the following:
-
Aggālavacetiya, Anotatta, Andhakavinda,
Ambapālivana, Ambalatthikā, Ambasandā, Assapura, Āpana, Icchānangala, Ukkatthā
(Subhagavana), Ukkācelā, Ugganagara, Ujuññā (Kannakatthaka deer-park), Uttara
in Koliya, Uttarakā, Uttarakuru, Uruvelakappa, Ulumpa, Ekanālā, Opasāda,
Kakkarapatta, Kajangalā (Mukheluvana), Kammāssadhamma, Kalandakanivāpa (near
Benares), Kimbilā, Kītāgiri, Kundadhānavana (near Kundakoli), Kesaputta,
Kotigāma, Kosambī (Ghositārāma and Badarikārāma), Khānumata, Khomadussa,
Gosingasālavana, Candalakappa, Campā (Gaggarā), Cātuma, Cetiyagiri in Vesāli,
Jīvakambavana (in Rājagaha), Tapodārāma, Tindukkhānu (paribbājakārāma),
Todeyya, Thullakotthita, Dakkhināgiri, Dandakappa, Devadaha, Desaka in the
Sumbha country, Nagaraka, Nagaravinda, Nādikā (Giñjakāvasatha), Nālandā (Pāvārika
mango-grove), Nālakapāna (Palāsavana), Pankadhā, Pañcasalā, Pātikārāma, Beluva,
the Brahma world, Bhaddavatī, Bhaddiya (Jātiyāvana), Bhaganagara (Anandacetiya),
Maninālakacetiya, Mana-sākata, Mātulā, Mithilā (Makhādeva mango-grove),
Medatalumpa, Moranivāpa, Rammaka's hermitage, Latthivana, Videha,
Vedhañña-ambavana, Venāgapura, Verañjā, Veludvāra, Vesāli (also various
shrines there, Udenacetiya, Gotamacetiya, Cāpalacetiya, Bahuputta-kacetiya,
Sattambacetiya, Sārandadacetiya), Sakkara, Sajjanela, Salalāgāraka in
Sāvatthi, Sāketa (Añjanavana), Sāmagāma, Sālavatikā, Sālā, Simsapāvana,
Silāvatī, Sītavana, Sūkarakhatalena, Setavyā, Hatthigāma, Halidavassana and
the region of the Himālaya.
There is a more or less continuous
account of the last year of the Buddha's life. This is contained in three suttas:
the Mahā Parinibbāna, the Mahā Sudassana and the Janavasabha. These are not
separate discourses but are intimately connected with each other. The only event
prior to the incidents recounted in these suttas, which can be fixed with any
certainty, is the death of the Buddha's pious patron and supporter, Bimbisāra,
which took place eight years before the Buddha's Parinibbāna (Mhv.ii.32). It was
at this time that Devadatta tried to obtain for himself a post of supremacy in
the Order, and, failing in this effort, became the open enemy of the Buddha.
Devadatta's desire to deprive the Buddha of the leadership of the Sangha seems
to have been conceived by him, according to the Vinaya account (Vin.ii.184),
almost immediately after he joined the Order, and the Buddha was warned of this
by the devaputta Kakudha. This account lends point to the statement contained
especially in the Northern books, that even in their lay life Devadatta had
always been Gotama's rival.
Enlisting the support of Ajātasattu, he
tried in many ways to kill the Buddha. Royal archers were bribed to shoot the
Buddha, but they were won over by his personality and confessed their
intentions. Then Devadatta hurled a great rock down Gijjhakūta on to the Buddha
as he was walking in the shade of the hill; the hurtling rock was stopped by two
peaks, but splinters struck the Buddha's foot and caused blood to flow; he
suffered great pain and had to be taken to the Maddakucchi garden, where his
injuries were dressed by the physician Jīvaka (S.i.27). The monks wished to
provide a guard, but the Buddha reminded them that no man had the power to
deprive a Tathāgata of his life.
Devadatta next bribed the royal elephant
keepers to let loose a fierce elephant, Nālāgiri, intoxicated with toddy, on the
road along which the Buddha would go, begging for alms. The Buddha was warned of
this but disregarded the warning, and when the elephant appeared, Ananda,
against the strict orders of the Buddha, threw himself in its path, and only by
an exercise of iddhi-power, including the folding up of the earth, could the
Buddha come ahead of him. As the elephant approached, the Buddha addressed it,
pervading it with his boundless love, until it became quite gentle. (This
incident, with great wealth of detail, is related in several places - e.g., in
J.v.333ff).
These attempts to encompass the Buddha's
death having failed, Devadatta, with three others, decides to create a schism in
the Order and asks the Buddha that five rules should be laid down, whereby the
monks would be compelled to lead a far more austere life than hitherto. When
this request is refused, Devadatta persuades five hundred recently ordained
monks to leave Vesāli with him and take up their residence at Gayāsīsa, where he
would set up an organisation similar to that of the Buddha. But, at the Buddha's
request, Sāriputta and Moggallāna visit the renegade monks; Sāriputta preaches
to them and they are persuaded to return. When Devadatta discovers this, he
vomits hot blood and lies ill for nine months. When his end approaches, he
wishes to see the Buddha, but he dies on the way to Jetavana - whither he is
being conveyed in a litter - and is born in Avīci.
From Gijjhakūta, near Rājagaha, the
Buddha starts on his last journey. Just before his departure he is visited by
Vassākāra, and the talk is of the Vajjians; the Buddha preaches to Vassākāra and
the monks on the conditions that lead to prosperity. The Buddha proceeds with a
large concourse of monks to Ambalatthikā and thence to Nālandā, where Sāriputta
utters his lion-roar (sīhanāda) regarding his faith in the Buddha. The Buddha
then goes to Pātaligāma, where he talks to the villagers on the evil
consequences of immorality and the advantages of morality. He utters a prophecy
regarding the future greatness of Pātaliputta and then, leaving by the
Gotamadvāra, he crosses the river Ganges at Gotamatittha. He proceeds to
Kotigāma and thence to ñātika, where he gives to Ananda the formula of the
Dhammādāsa, whereby the rebirth of disciples could be ascertained. From ñātika
he goes to Vesāli, staying in the park of the courtesan Ambapāli. The following
day he accepts a meal from Ambapāli, refusing a similar offer from the
Licchavis; Ambapāli makes a gift of her park to the Buddha and his monks. The
Buddha journeys on to Beluva, where he spends the rainy season, his monks
remaining in Vesāli. At Beluva he falls dangerously ill but, with great
determination, fights against his sickness. He tells Ananda that his mission is
finished, that when he is dead the Order must maintain itself, taking the Dhamma
alone as its refuge, and he concludes by propounding the four subjects of
mindfulness (D.ii.100). The next day he begs in Vesāli and, with Ananda, visits
the Cāpāla-cetiya. There he gives to Ananda the opportunity of asking him to
live until the end of the kappa, but Ananda fails to take the hint. Soon
afterwards Māra visits the Buddha and obtains the assurance that the Buddha's
nibbāna will take place in three months. There is an earthquake, and, in answer
to Ananda's questions, the Buddha explains to him the eight causes of
earthquakes. This is followed by lists of the eight assemblies, the eight stages
of mastery and the eight stages of release. The Buddha then repeats to Ananda
his conversation with Māra, and Ananda now makes his request to the Buddha to
prolong his life, but is told that it is now too late; several opportunities he
has had, of which he has failed to avail himself. The monks are assembled in
Vesāli, in the Service Hall, and the Buddha exhorts them to practise the
doctrines he has taught, in order that the religious life may last long. He then
announces his impending death.
According to the Commentaries (e.g.,
DA.ii.549), after the rainy season spent at Beluva, the Buddha goes back to
Jetavana, where he is visited by Sāriputta, who is preparing for his own
Parinibbāna at Nālakagāma. From Jetavana the Buddha went to Rājagaha, where
Mahā-Moggallāna died. Thence he proceeded to Ukkācelā, where he spoke in praise
of the two chief disciples. From Ukkācelā he proceeded to Vesāli and thence to
Bhandagāma. Rāhula, too, predeceased the Buddha (DA.ii.549).
The next day, returning from Vesāli, he
looks round at the city for the last time and goes on to Bhandagāma; there he
preaches on the four things the comprehension of which destroys rebirth-noble
conduct, earnestness in meditation, wisdom and freedom.
He then passes through the villages of
Hatthigāma, Ambagāma and Jambugama, and stays at Bhoganagara at the Ananda-cetiya.
There he addresses the monks on the Four Great Authorities (Mahāpadesā), by
reference to which the true doctrine may be determined (Cf. A.ii.167ff). From
Bhoganagara the Buddha goes to Pāvā and stays in the mango-grove of Cunda, the
smith. Cunda serves him with a meal which includes sūkaramaddava. (There is much
dispute concerning this word. See Thomas, op. cit., 149, n.3). The Buddha alone
partakes of the sūkaramaddava, the remains being buried. This is the Buddha's
last meal; sharp sickness arises in him, with flow of blood and violent, deadly
pains, but the Buddha controls them and sets out for Kusinārā. On the way he has
to sit down at the foot of a tree. Ananda fetches him water to drink from the
stream Kakutthā, over which five hundred carts had just passed; but, through the
power of the Buddha, the water is quite clear. Here the Buddha is visited by
Pukkusa, the Mallan, who is converted and presents the Buddha with a pair of
gold-coloured robes. The Buddha puts them on and Ananda notices the marvellous
brightness and clearness of the Buddha's body. The Buddha tells him that the
body of a Buddha takes on this hue on the night before his Enlightenment and on
the night of his passing away, and that he will die that night at Kusinārā. He
goes to the Kākutthā, bathes and drinks there and rests in a mango-grove. There
he instructs Ananda that steps must be taken to dispel any remorse that Cunda
may feel regarding the meal he gave to the Buddha.
From Kakutthā the Buddha crosses the
Hiraññavatī to the Upavattana sāla-grove in Kusinārā. There Ananda prepares for
him a bed with the head to the north. All the trees break forth into blossom and
flowers cover the body of the Buddha. Divine mandārava-flowers and sandalwood
powder fall from the sky, and divine music and singing sound through the air.
But the Buddha says that the greater honour to him would be to follow his
teachings.
The gods of the ten thousand world
systems assemble to pay their last homage to the Buddha, and Upavāna, who stands
fanning him, is asked to move away as he obstructs their view.
Ananda asks for instruction on several
points, including how the funeral rites should be performed; he then goes out
and abandons himself to a fit of weeping; the Buddha sends for him, consoles him
and speaks his praises. Ananda tries to persuade the Buddha not to die in a
mud-and-wattle village, such as is Kusinārā, but the Buddha tells him how it was
once the mighty Kusāvatī, capital of Mahāsudassana.
The Mallas of Kusināra are informed that
the Buddha will pass away in the third watch of the night, and they come with
their families to pay their respects. The ascetic Subhadda comes to see the
Buddha and is refused admission by Ananda, but the Buddha, overhearing, calls
him in and converts him. Several minor rules of discipline are delivered,
including the order for the excommunication of Channa. The Buddha finally asks
the assembled monks to speak out any doubts they may have. All are silent and
Ananda expresses his astonishment, but the Buddha tells him it is natural that
the monks should have no doubts. Then, addressing the monks for the last time,
he admonishes them in these words: "Decay is inherent in all component things;
work out your salvation with diligence." These were the Buddha's last words.
Passing backwards and forwards through various stages of trance, he attains
Parinibbāna. There is a great earthquake and terrifying thunder, and the Brahmā
Sahampati, Sakka king of the gods, Anuruddha and Ananda utter stanzas, each
proclaiming the feeling uppermost in his mind. It is the full-moon day of the
month of Visākha and the Buddha is in his eightieth year.
The next day Ananda informs the Mallas
of Kusinārā of the Buddha's death, and for seven days they hold a great
celebration. On the seventh day, following Ananda's instructions, they prepare
the body for cremation, taking it in procession by the eastern gate to the
Makutabandhana shrine, thus altering their proposed route, in order to satisfy
the wishes of the gods, as communicated to them by Anuruddha. The whole town is
covered knee-deep with mandārava-flowers, which fall from the sky. When,
however, four of the chief Mallas try to light the pyre, their attempt is
unsuccessful and they must wait until Mahā Kassapa, coming with a company of
five hundred monks, has saluted it. The Commentaries (e.g., DA.ii.603) add that
Mahā Kassapa greatly desired that the Buddha's feet should rest on his head when
he worshipped the pyre. The wish was granted: the feet appeared through the
pyre, and when Kassapa had worshipped them, the pyre closed together. The pyre
burns completely away, leaving no cinders nor soot. Streams of water fall from
the sky to extinguish it and the Mallas pour on it scented water. They then
place a fence of spears around it and continue their celebrations for seven
days. At the end of that period there appear several claimants for the Buddha's
relics: Ajātasattu, the Licchavis of Vesāli, the Sākiyans of Kapilavatthu, the
Bulis of Allakappa, the Koliyas of Rāmagāma, a brahmin of Vethadīpa and the
Mallas of Pāvā. But the Mallas of Kusinārā refusing to share the relics with the
others, there is danger of war. Then the brahmin Dona counsels concord and
divides the relics into eight equal parts for the eight claimants. Dona takes
for himself the measuring vessel and the Moriyas of Pipphalivana, who arrive
late, carry off the ashes. Thūpas were built over these remains and feasts held
in honour of the Buddha.
S
The complete passing away.

The concluding passage of the
Mahā-Parinibbāna Sutta (D.ii.167) states that the Buddha's relics were eight
measures, seven of which were honoured in Jambudīpa and the remaining one in the
Nāga realm in Rāmagāma. One tooth was in heaven, one in Gandhāra, a third in
Kālinga (later taken to Ceylon), and a fourth in the Nāga world. Ajātasattu's
share was deposited in a thūpa and forgotten. It was later discovered by Asoka
(with the help of Sakka) and distributed among his eighty-four thousand
monasteries. Asoka also recorded the finding of all the other relics except
those deposited in Rāmagāma. These were later deposited in the Mahācetiya at
Anurādhapura (Mhv.Xxxi.17ff). Other relics are also mentioned, such as the
Buddha's collar-bone, his alms bowl, etc. (Mhv.Xvii.9ff; Mhv.i.37, etc.).
It is said (E.g., DA.iii.899) that just
before the Buddha's Sāsana disappears completely from the world, all the relics
will gather together at the Mahācetiya, and travelling from there to Nāgadīpa
and the Ratanacetiya, assemble at the Mahābodhi, together with the relics from
other parts. There they will reform the Buddha's golden hued body, emitting the
six-coloured aura. The body will then catch fire and completely disappear, amid
the lamentations of the ten thousand world-systems.
The Ceylon Chronicles (Mhv.i.12ff;
Dpv.i.45ff; ii.1ff etc.) record that the Buddha visited the Island on three
separate occasions.
(The Burmese claim that the Buddha
visited their land and went to the Lohitacandana Vihāra, presented by the
brothers Mahāpunna and Cūlapunna of Vānijagāma (Ind. Antiq.xxii., and
Sās.36f.).
The first was while he was dwelling at
Uruvelā, awaiting the moment for the conversion of the Tebhātika Jatilas, in the
ninth month after the Enlightenment, on the full-moon day of Phussa (Dec. Jan.).
He came to the Mahānāga garden, and stood in the air over an assembly of yakkhas
then being held. He struck terror into their hearts and, at his suggestion, they
left Ceylon and went in a body to Giridīpa, hard by. The Buddha gave a handful
of his hair to the deva Mahāsumana of the Sumanakūta mountain, who built a thūpa
which was later enlarged into the Mahiyangana Thūpa. The Buddha again visited
Ceylon in the fifth year, on the new-moon day of Citta (March-April), to check
an imminent battle between two Nāga chiefs in Nāgadīpa; the combatants were
Mahodara and Cūlodara, uncle and nephew, and the object of the quarrel was a
gem-set throne. The Buddha appeared before them, accompanied by the deva
Samiddhi-Sumana, carrying a Rājayatana tree from Jetavana, settled their quarrel
and received, as a gift, the throne, the cause of the trouble. He left behind
him both the throne and the Rājayatana tree for the worship of the Nāgās and
accepted an invitation from the Nāga king, Maniakkhika of Kalyāni, to pay
another visit to Ceylon. Three years later Maniakkhika repeated the invitation
and the Buddha came to Kalyāni with five hundred monks, on the second day of
Vesākha. Having preached to the Nāgas, he went to Sumanakūta, on the summit of
which mountain he left the imprint of his foot (Legend has it that other
footprints were left by the Buddha, on the bank of the river Nammadā, on the
Saccabaddha mountain and in Yonakapura). He then stayed at Dīghavāpī and from
there visited Mahāmeghavana, where he consecrated various spots by virtue of his
presence, and proceeded to the site of the later Silācetiya. From there he
returned to Jetavana.
Very little information as to the
personality of the Buddha is available. We are told that he was golden-hued
(E.g., Sp.iii.689), that his voice had the eight qualities of the Brahmassāra
(E.g., D.ii.211; M.ii.166f. It is said that while an ordinary person spoke one
word, Ananda could speak eight; but the Buddha could speak sixteen to the eight
of Ananda, MA.i.283) - fluency, intelligibility, sweetness, audibility,
continuity, distinctness, depth and resonance - that he had a fascinating
personality - he was described by his opponents as seductive (E.g., M.i.269,
275) - that he was handsome, perfect alike in complexion and stature and noble
of presence (E.g., M.ii.167). He had a unique reputation as a teacher and
trainer of the human heart. He was endowed with the thirty-two marks of the
Mahāpurisa. (For details of these, see Buddha). There is a legend that Mahā
Kassapa, though slightly shorter, resembled the Buddha in appearance.
Attempts made, however, to measure the
Buddha always failed; two such attempts are generally mentioned - one by a
brahmin of Rājagaha and the other by Rāhu, chief of the Asuras (DA.i.284f). The
Buddha had the physical strength of many millions of elephants (e.g.,
VibhA.397), but his strength quickly ebbed away after his last meal and he had
to stop at twenty-five places while travelling three gāvutas from Pāvā to
Kusināra (DA.ii.573).
Mention is often made of the Buddha's
love of quiet and peace, and even the heretics respected his wishes in this
matter, silencing their discussions at his approach (E.g., D.i.178f; iii.39;
even his disciples had a similar reputation, e.g., D.iii.37). Examples are given
of the Buddha refusing to allow noisy monks to live near him. (E.g., M.i.456;
see also M.ii.122, where a monk was jogged by his neighbour because he coughed
when the Buddha was speaking). He loved solitude and often spent long periods
away from the haunts of men, allowing only one monk to bring him his meals.
E.g., S. v.12, 320; but this very love of solitude was sometimes brought against
him. By intercourse with whom does he attain to lucidity in wisdom? they asked.
His insight, they said, was ruined by his habit of seclusion (D.iii.38).
According to one account (A.i.181), it
was his practice to spend part of the day in seclusion, but he was always ready
to see anyone who urgently desired his spiritual counsel (E.g., A.iv.438).
In the Mahā Govinda Sutta (D.ii.222f )
Sakka is represented as having uttered "eight true praises" of the Buddha.
Perhaps the most predominant characteristics of the Buddha were his boundless
love and his eagerness to help all who sought him. His fondness for children is
seen in such stories as those of the two Sopākas, of Kumāra-Kassapa, of Cūla
Panthaka and Dabba-Mallaputta and also of the novices Pandita and Sukha. His
kindness to animals appears, for instance, in the introductory story of the
Maccha Jātaka and his interference on behalf of Udena's aged elephant,
Bhaddavatikā (q.v.). The Buddha was extremely devoted to his disciples and
encouraged them in every way in their difficult life. The Theragāthā and the
Therīgāthā are full of stories indicating that he watched, with great care, the
spiritual growth and development of his disciples, understood their problems and
was ready with timely interference to help them to win their aims. Such
incidents as those mentioned in the Bhaddāli Sutta (M.i.445), the introduction
to the Tittha Jātaka and the Kañcakkhandha Jātaka, seem to indicate that he took
a personal and abiding interest in all who came under him. It was his unvarying
custom to greet with a smile all those who visited him, inquiring after their
welfare and thus putting them at their ease (Vin.i.313). When anyone sought
permission to question him, he made no conditions as to the topic of discussion.
This is called sabbaññupavārana. E.g., M.i.230. When the Buddha himself asked a
question of any of his interrogators, they could not remain silent, but were
bound to answer; a yakkha called Vajirapāni was always present to frighten those
who did not wish to do so (e.g., M.i.231).
The Buddha was not over-anxious to get
converts, and when his visitors declared themselves his followers he would urge
them to take time to consider the matter - e.g., in the case of Acela Kassapa
and Upāligahapati.
When he was staying in a monastery, he
paid daily visits to the sick ward to talk to the inmates and to comfort them
(See, e.g., Kutāgārasālā). The charming story of Pūtigata-Tissa shows that he
sometimes attended on the sick himself, thus setting an example to his
followers. In return for his devotion, his disciples adored him, but even among
those who immediately surrounded him there were a few who refused to obey him
implicitly - e.g., Lāludāyī, the companions of Assaji and Punabbasuka, the
Chabbaggiyas, the Sattarasavaggiyas and others, not to mention Devadatta and his
associates.
The Buddha seems to have shown a special
regard for Sāriputta, Ananda and Mahā Kassapa among the monks, and for
Anāthapindika, Mallikā, Visakhā, Bimbisāra and Pasenadi among the laity. He
seems to have been secretly amused by the very human qualities of Pasenadi and
by his failure to appreciate the real superiority of Mallikā, his wife.
The Buddha always declared that he was
among the happy ones of this earth, that he was far happier, for instance, than
Bimbisāra (E.g., M.i.94), and he remained unmoved by opposition or abuse. E.g.,
in the case of the organised conspiracy of Māgandiyā (DhA.iv.1f.).
The Milindapañha (p.134) mentions
several illnesses of the Buddha: the injury to his foot has already been
referred to; once when the humours of his body were disturbed Jīvaka
administered a purge (Vin.i.279); on another occasion he suffered from some
stomach trouble which was cured by hot water, or, according to some, by hot
gruel (Vin.i.210f.; Thag.185). The Dhammapada Commentary (DhA.iv.232;
ThagA.i.311f) mentions another disorder of the humours cured by hot water
obtained from the brahmin Devahita, through Upavāna. The Commentaries mention
that he suffered, in his old age, from constant backache, owing to the severe
austerities practised by him during the six years preceding his Enlightenment,
and the unsuitable meals taken during that period were responsible for a
dyspepsia which persisted throughout the rest of his life (SA.i.200),
culminating in his last serious illness of dysentery. MA.i.465; DA.iii.974; see
also D.iii.209, when he was preaching to the Mallas of Pāvā.
The Apadāna (Ap.i.299f) contains a set
of verses called Pubbakammapiloti; these verses mention certain acts done by the
Buddha in the past, which resulted in his having to suffer in various ways in
his last birth. He was once a drunkard named Munāli and he abused the Pacceka
Buddha Surabhi. On another occasion he was a learned brahmin, teacher of five
hundred pupils. One day, seeing the Pacceka Buddha Isigana, he spoke ill of him
to his pupils, calling him "sensualist." The result of this act was the calumny
against him by Sundarikā in this life.
In another life he reviled a disciple of
a Buddha, named Nanda; for this he suffered in hell for twelve thousand years
and, in his last life, was disgraced by Ciñcā. Once, greedy for wealth, he
killed his step-brothers, hurling them down a precipice; as a result, Devadatta
attempted to kill him by hurling down a rock. Once, as a boy, while playing on
the highway, he saw a Pacceka Buddha and threw a stone at him, and as a result,
was shot at by Devadatta's hired archers. In another life he was a mahout, and
seeing a Pacceka Buddha on the road, drove his elephant against him; hence the
attack by Nālāgiri. Once, as a king, he sentenced seventy persons to death, the
reward for which he reaped when a splinter pierced his foot. Because once, as a
fisherman's son, he took delight in watching fish being caught, he suffered from
a grievous headache when Vidūdabha slaughtered the Sākiyans. In the time of
Phussa Buddha he asked the monks to eat barley instead of rice and, as a result,
had to eat barley for three months at Verañja. (According to the Dhammapada
Commentary [iii.257], the Buddha actually had to starve one day at Pañcasālā,
because none of the inhabitants were willing to give him alms.) Because he once
killed a wrestler, he suffered from cramp in the back. Once, when a physician,
he caused discomfort to a merchant by purging him, hence his last illness of
dysentery. As Jotipāla, he spoke disparagingly of the Enlightenment of Kassapa
Buddha, and in consequence had to spend six years following various paths before
becoming the Buddha. He was one of the most short-lived Buddhas, but because of
those six years his Sāsana will last longer (Sp.i.190f).
The Buddha was generally addressed by
his own disciples as Bhagavā. He spoke of himself as Tathāgata, while
non-Buddhists referred to him as Gotama or Mahāsamana. Other names used are
Mahāmuni, Sākyamuni, Jina, Sakka (e.g., Sn.vs.345) and Brahma (Sn.vs.91;
SnA.ii.418), also Yakkha (q.v.).
The Anguttara Nikāya (A.i.23ff) gives a
list of the Buddha's most eminent disciples, both among members of the Order and
among the laity. Each one in the list is mentioned as having possessed
pre-eminence in some particular respect.
Among those who visited the Buddha for
discussion or had interviews with him or received instruction and guidance
direct from him, the following may be included in addition to those already
mentioned (this list does not pretend to be complete; some of the names have
already been mentioned in this monograph in various connections):
-
Ankura, Aggidatta, Acela-Kassapa,
Ajātasattu, Ajita the Paribbājaka, Ajita the Licchavi general, Attadattha,
Anitthigandhakumāra, Anurāddha, Anuruddha, Annabhāra, Abhaya-rājakumāra,
Abhayā, Abhiñjaka, Abhibhūta, Abhirūpa-Nandā, Ambattha, the monk Arittha,
Ariya the fisherman, Asama, Asibandhaputta, Assaji, Assalāyana, Ākotaka,
Āmagandha, the yakkhas Ālavaka and Indaka, Ugga of Vesāli, Ugga the minister,
Uggata-Sarīra, Uggaha, Ujjaya, Unnābha, Uttara-devaputta, Uttara the Nāga
king, Uttara, pupil of Pārasariya, Uttiya, Udaya and Udāyi the brahmins,
Uttara, pupil of Brahmāyu, Uttarā, daughter of Punna, Uttarā the aged nun,
Upavāna, Upasālha, Upasena, Upāligahapati, Ubbirī, Eraka, Esakārī, Kakudha,
Kandaraka, Kapila the fisherman, Kappa, Kappatakura, Kalārakkhattiya, Kassapa
the deva, Kāna, Kānamātā, Kātiyāna, Kāpathika, Kāmada, Kāranapāli, the Kālāmas,
Kāligodhā, Kimbila, Kisāgotami, Kukkutamitta the hunter, Kundadhāna, Kundaliya,
Kulla, Kūtadanta, Keniya the Jatila, Kevaddha, Kesi the horse trainer,
Kokanadā, the two daughters of Pajjuna, Kokālika, Khadiravaniya-Revata, Khānu-Kondañña,
Khema the deva, Khemā, Ganaka-Moggallāna, Gavampati, Guttā, Gotama Thera,
Cankī, Candana, Candābha, Candimā (Candimasa), Citta-Hatthasārīputta, Cunda,
Cunda-Samanuddesa, Cundī, Culla-Dhanuggaha, Culla-Subhaddhā, Chattapānī,
Janapada-Kalyāni-Nandā, Janavasabha, Jantu, Jambuka, Jambukhādaka, Jānussoni,
Jāliya, Jīvaka-Komārabhacca, Jenta, Jotikagahapati, Tāyana, Tālaputa, Tikanna,
Timbaruka, Tissa, cousin of the Buddha, Tissa, friend of Metteyya, Tissa of
Roruva, Tudu-brahmā, Thulla-Tissa, Dandapanī, Dāmalī, Dāsaka, Dīgha the deva,
Dīghajānu, Dīghata-passī, Dīghanakha, Dīghalatthi, Dīghāvu, Dummukha, Dona,
Dhammadinna, Dhammārāma, the Dhammika-upāsaka, Dhammika the brahmin, Nanda
Thera, Nanda the herdsman, Nandana, Nandiya-paribbājaka, Nandiya the Sākiyan,
Nandivisāla, Nāgita, Nālakatāpasa, Nālijangha, Nigamavāsi-Tissa, Nigrodha,
Ninka, Nīta, Nhātakamunī, Paccanīkasāta, Pañcasikha, Pañcālacanda, Patācārā,
Pasenadi, king of Kosala, Pahārāda the asura, Pātaliya, Pārāpariya,
Pingala-Kaccha, Pingiyānī, Pilinda-Vaccha, Pilotika, Punna, Punna-Koliyaputta,
Punna-Mantānīputta, Punnā, Punniya, Pessa the elephant trainer, Pokkharasāti,
Potthapāda, Pothila, Potaliya, Phagguna, Baka-brahmā, Bahuputtikā, Bāvarī and
his sixteen disciples, Bāhiya-Dārucīriya, Bāhuna, Bilālapādaka, Belatthakāni,
Bojjhā, Brahmāyu, Bhagu, Bhaggava, Bhadda, Bhaddā-Kundakakesī, Bhaddāli,
Bhaddiya the Licchavi, several Bhāra-dvājas (Akkosaka*, Aggika*, Asurinda*,
Ahimsaka*, Kāsi*, Jatā*, Navakammika*, Bilangika*, Suddhika*, Sundarika*),
Bhāradvāja, husband of Dhanañjāni, Bhāradvāja, friend of Vāsettha, Bhuñjati,
Bhumiya, Bhesika the barber, Macchari-Kosiya, Manibhadda, Mandissa, Mahā-kappina,
Mahā-Kassapa, Mahā-kotthita, Mahā-Cunda, Mahā-dhana, Mahā-nāma,
Mahā-Moggallāna, Mahāli (Otthaddha), the two Māgandiyas - one the brahmin and
one the paribbājaka, Māgha, Mānava-Gāmiya, Mānatthaddha, Mātuposaka,
Mālunkyaputta, Miga-jāla, Migasira, Mendaka of Bhaddiya, Moliya-Phagguna,
Moliya-Sīvaka, Yasoja, Ratthapāla, Rādha, Rāhula, Rāsiya, Rūpānandā, Roja the
Malla, Rohinī, Rohitassa, Lakuntaka-Bhaddiya, the goddess Lājā, Lomasakangiya,
Lohicca, Vakkali, Vangisa, Vajjiyamāhita, Vaddha the Licchavi, Vaddhamāna,
Vappa, Varadhara, Vassakāra, Vārana, Vāsettha-upāsaka, Vāsettha, friend of
Bhāradvāja, Visākha Pañcalaputta, Visākhā, Vīrā, Vekhanasa, Vendu, Vatambari,
Sakuludāyi, Sakka, Sankicca, the two Sangāravas, Sangharakkhita (Bhāgineyya°),
Saccaka, Sajjha, Satullapa-devas, Sanankumāra, Santati, Sandha, Sandhāna,
Samiddhi, Sarabha, Sarabhanga, Sātāgira, Sātāli, Sāti, Sānu, Sikhā-Moggallāna,
Sigāla, Sirimā, Siva, Sīvali, Sīha the general, Sukhā, Suciloma, Sujātā,
daughter-in-law of Anāthapindika, Sudatta, Sunakkhatta, Sunīta,
Sundara-Samudda, Sundarī-Nandā, the leper Suppabuddha, Suppa-vāsā, Subha
Todeyyaputta, the two nuns named Subhā, Subhūti, the novice Sumana, Sumanā,
sister of Pasenadi, Subrahmā, Surādha, Suriya, Susima, Seniya, Seri, Sela,
Sona-Kutikanna, Sona-Kolivisa, Sonadanda, Sonā, the two Sopākas, Hatthaka
Ālavaka, Hatthaka-devaputta and Hemavata.
See also
Buddha and Bodhisatta.
Other Gotamas

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