The courtesan Ambapālī comes by carriage to see the Buddha, hears the Dhamma and invites him to accept her offering the next day; the Buddha consents by silence. The Licchavis arrive soon after and offer a large sum to take over the meal, but she refuses; when the Licchavis invite the Buddha, he says he has already accepted Ambapālī's invitation. Several Chinese texts also record a young brahmin who praised the Buddha in verse and passed on to the Buddha the upper garment the Licchavis had given him. Taishō Canon
More sources (8)
Pali Canon
More sources (2)
Different Accounts
Order: the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra translated by Faxian places this event after the Buddha's announcement that he would pass away in three months, on the road out of Vesālī. Taishō Canon
More differences between accounts (3)
The Pali Vinaya says Ambapālī and the Licchavis went out of the city to see the Buddha while he was still at Koṭigāma.
The Licchavis' offer differs between sources: a hundred thousand pieces of gold, the whole of Vesālī, half the wealth of the country, and so on. The Sanskrit Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra records the Licchavis giving the young brahmin five hundred upper garments, and the passage in which they are passed on to the Buddha is damaged; the passage in which the Licchavis offer a large sum for the meal is not found in the legible portion.
The Chinese Youxing jing says that after hearing the Dhamma on this occasion Ambapālī asked to become a female and took the five precepts.
Dating
Year 45 after the Awakening, the Buddha aged seventy-nine to eighty, before the , on the day Ambapālī came to see the Buddha; the “meal the next day” is stated in the canonical text; known only to be a certain day in this year.
Related Entries
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Research Notes: Reliability, Dating and Sources
- How Reliability Is Assessed
Recorded by six schools: the Pali canon of the Southern tradition, the Chinese Dīrgha Āgama, the Sanskrit Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, the Chinese Mahīśāsaka Vinaya (Wufen lü), the Chinese Fo bannihuan jing and Bannihuan jing and the Chinese three-fascicle Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra. Attested across multiple schools.
- Dating Evidence and Precision
Stated in the canonical text (the text itself gives the time); 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: fixed to the day.
Sources
- 藏譯（德格版）德格版 D6 da 242a5–245a3
- 梵文原典梵文《大般涅槃經》（Waldschmidt）§10.4–10.20
- 梵文原典梵文《大般涅槃經》（Waldschmidt）§11.1–11.27
- Pali Canon巴利律 Kd 6:30.1.1–30.5.11
- Pali Canon巴利律 Kd 6:30.6.1–30.6.4
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.7 p.193b–195a
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1421 p.135c
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.5 p.163c
- 藏譯（德格版）德格版 D6 da 243a7
- 梵文原典梵文《大般涅槃經》§11.20
- Pali Canon巴利 DN 16:2.14.1–2.18.6
- SuttaCentral 對應表SuttaCentral 對應表 sf245#wal11.12–11.20
- 梵文原典梵文《大般涅槃經》（Waldschmidt）§11.12–11.20
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.1 p.13b–14b
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.1 p.14a
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.5 p.163b–164b
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.5 p.164a
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.6 p.178c–179c
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.6 p.179b
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.6 p.179c
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1451 p.385c–386c
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1451 p.386b
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1451 p.386c
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1421 p.135b–136a
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1428 p.855c–856a
- 大正藏大正藏 T04 no.192 p.41c–42b
- 大正藏大正藏 T04 no.192 p.42b–43c
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.7 p.194c
- 梵文原典梵文《大般涅槃經》（Waldschmidt）§10.4–10.20、11.1–11.27
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1421 p.135a–136a
- Pali Canon巴利律 Kd 6:30.1.0–30.6.10
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.1 p.13b