King Ajātasattu of Magadha wishes to attack the Vajjian country and sends his minister Vassakāra to Vulture Peak at Rājagaha to consult the Buddha. The Buddha asks his attendant Ānanda whether the Vajjians observe seven conditions, and explains that a country which observes these seven conditions will not decline. Vassakāra concludes from this that the Vajjians cannot be taken by force, and takes his leave (see also the Vassakāra Sutta of the Southern tradition and the Yushi jing in the Chinese Madhyama Āgama). Taishō Canon
More sources (1)
Pali Canon
More sources (1)
Different Accounts
Origin of the seven conditions: the Pali canon of the Southern tradition says the Buddha had once taught them to the Vajjians at the Sārandada shrine in Vesālī; the Chinese Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya says he taught them while keeping a three-month there in the past. The Sanskrit Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra has the Cāpāla shrine, but this place name was supplied by modern editors from the Tibetan and Chinese versions; in the original manuscript only the word “shrine” is legible.
More differences between accounts (3)
The envoy: most accounts have Vassakāra; the Chinese Ekottarika Āgama has the brahmin Polijia, and sets the scene in the Bamboo Grove rather than on Vulture Peak. Taishō Canon
The content and order of the seven conditions differ between sources; the Chinese Fo bannihuan jing and Bannihuan jing, for example, include “modelling oneself on heaven and earth, revering the state, and acting in accordance with the four seasons”. Taishō Canon
The later commentaries of the Southern tradition add the cause of the war: at a port on the Ganges each country controlled half, and every year the Licchavis (the main people of Vesālī, belonging to the Vajjian country) were first to carry off the goods from the hills.
Dating
Year 45 after the Awakening, the Buddha aged seventy-nine to eighty, before the rains retreat (probably in the hot season); inferred from the sequence of events, only the year is known.
Related Entries
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Research Notes: Reliability, Dating and Sources
- How Reliability Is Assessed
Recorded by four schools: the Pali canon of the Southern tradition, the Chinese Dīrgha Āgama, the Sanskrit Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra and the Chinese Fo bannihuan jing and Bannihuan jing. Attested across multiple schools.
- Dating Evidence and Precision
Inferred from the sequence of events (neither the canonical texts nor the commentaries give the time; the year is worked out from the order of this event and those around it). Time precision: year only.
Sources
- 藏譯（德格版）德格版 D6 da 228a2–231a7
- 梵文原典梵文《大般涅槃經》（Waldschmidt）§1.2–1.43
- 梵文原典梵文《大般涅槃經》（Waldschmidt）§2.1–2.36
- Pali Canon巴利 DN 16:1.5.2
- 轉引自現代整理本轉引自現代整理本
- 梵文原典梵文《大般涅槃經》（Waldschmidt）§1.14
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.5 p.160b
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.6 p.176a
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1451 p.382c
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Sv，§131，PTS 2.516
- 藏譯（德格版）德格版 D6 da 228b7–229a1
- 梵文原典梵文《大般涅槃經》§1.14
- Pali Canon巴利 DN 16:1.1.2–1.5.11
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.1 p.11a–b
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.5 p.160b–c
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1451 p.382b–383b
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.26 p.648a
- 大正藏大正藏 T02 no.125 p.738a
- 轉引自現代整理本轉引自現代整理本：GRETIL「rājagṛhe viharati gṛdhrakūṭe parvate」
- 梵文原典梵文《大般涅槃經》（Waldschmidt）§1.2–1.43、2.1–2.36