Ānanda asks why the earth quaked, and the Buddha gives eight causes, the seventh of which is a Buddha's relinquishing of the life force. The Pali canon of the Southern tradition and the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra translated by Faxian go on to the eight assemblies, the eight bases of mastery and the eight liberations, meditative subjects, and recount Māra's request that he pass away. Only then does Ānanda ask three times that the Buddha remain in the world; the Buddha says it is too late, lists the occasions in Rājagaha, Vesālī and elsewhere when he had hinted and Ānanda had not asked, and reproaches him. Pali Canon
Different Accounts
The content of the eight causes: the last four in the Chinese Ekottarika Āgama differ from the other accounts, for example “the merit of beings is exhausted, kings attack one another”.
More differences between accounts (3)
Order: the Chinese Youxing jing places Ānanda's request that the Buddha remain after the Buddha assembles the community at the Fragrance shrine; in the Pali canon of the Southern tradition everything happens at the Cāpāla shrine.
The Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra translated by Faxian says Ānanda's “heart was so stricken with grief that blood showed through his whole body”, that is, he grieved until his whole body seemed to seep blood. Taishō Canon
The Sanskrit Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra has no eight assemblies, eight bases of mastery or eight liberations here; the passage on the eight assemblies comes later, after the second earthquake at Bhoganagara (see the entry “The earth quakes again”).
Dating
Year 45 after the Awakening, the Buddha aged seventy-nine to eighty, after the , on the same day as the relinquishing of the life force; the later commentaries say the full moon of Māgha, so on the commentaries' account it can be fixed to the day.
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Research Notes: Reliability, Dating and Sources
- How Reliability Is Assessed
The episode of “the causes of the earthquake” is recorded by five schools: the Pali canon of the Southern tradition, the Chinese Dīrgha Āgama, the Sanskrit Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, the Chinese Fo bannihuan jing and Bannihuan jing and the Chinese three-fascicle Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra. Attested across multiple schools. The “eight assemblies” within it are recorded by three schools; “Ānanda's request to remain and the reproach” by five 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: fixed to the day, month only.
Sources
- 藏譯（德格版）德格版 D6 da 249b1–250a7
- 梵文原典梵文《大般涅槃經》（Waldschmidt）§17.1–17.22
- 梵文原典梵文《大般涅槃經》（Waldschmidt）§18.1–18.9
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.1 p.16b
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.1 p.17a
- 藏譯（德格版）德格版 D6 da 249b1–250a6
- Pali Canon巴利 DN 16:3.11.1–3.48.7
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.1 p.15c–17b
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.1 p.15c
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.5 p.165a–b
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.6 p.180c–181a
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.7 p.192a–c
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.7 p.192a
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1451 p.388a–b
- 大正藏大正藏 T02 no.125 p.754c