During the retreat the Buddha falls gravely ill, with pains so severe they nearly kill him. Reflecting that it would not be right to pass away without telling his disciples, he holds on to life by force of will, and the illness gradually subsides. Ānanda says he was bewildered at seeing the Buddha ill; the Buddha says he has taught the Dhamma in full without holding anything back, that he is now old, “eighty years of age, kept going like an old cart held together by repairs”. He tells his disciples to be islands and refuges to themselves, to make the Dhamma their island and refuge, and to practise the . Pali Canon
More sources (2)
Different Accounts
Age: the Pali canon of the Southern tradition has eighty; the Chinese Youxing jing and Bannihuan jing have “nearly eighty”, the Chinese Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya “approaching eighty”; the Chinese Fo bannihuan jing and Bannihuan jing later each record seventy-nine. Taishō Canon
More differences between accounts (3)
The Chinese Bannihuan jing says the Buddha fell ill when he came with Ānanda to “Weisha village”, a different place from where he dismissed the disciples. Taishō Canon
The later commentaries of the Southern tradition say this illness left the Buddha “unable to rise again for ten months”.
The means of holding on to life: the Pali canon of the Southern tradition says he sustained life by force of will; the Sanskrit Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra says the Buddha suppressed the pain by force of will and dwelt in a concentration that grasps at no sign, but this sentence was supplied by modern editors from the Tibetan and Chinese versions.
Dating
Year 45 after the Awakening, the Buddha aged seventy-nine to eighty, during the ; the canonical text states that it was within the retreat; known only to fall within these three months.
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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
Stated in the canonical text (the text itself gives the time); commentarial dating (the canonical texts give no date; later commentaries record it). Time precision: month only.
Sources
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Sv，§164
- 藏譯（德格版）德格版 D6 da 246a1–247b2
- 梵文原典梵文《大般涅槃經》（Waldschmidt）§14.1–14.26
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.5 p.172c
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.6 p.188b
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.6 p.180a
- 藏譯（德格版）德格版 D6 da 246a1
- 藏譯（德格版）德格版 D6 da 246b7–247a1
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1451 p.387b
- 藏譯（德格版）德格版 D6 da 247a2–247b2
- 梵文原典梵文《大般涅槃經》§14.5–14.6
- Pali Canon巴利 DN 16:2.23.1–2.26.8
- Pali Canon巴利 DN 16Entire text
- Pali Canon巴利 SN 47.9Entire text
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.1 p.15a–b
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.1 p.15b
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.5 p.164c
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.6 p.180a–b
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1451 p.387a–b
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- 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）§14