The Buddha comes to Pāvā and stays in the mango grove of Cunda the smith's son. Hearing that the Buddha has arrived, Cunda comes to hear the Dhamma and invites the Buddha to accept a meal the next day; the Buddha consents by silence. Pali Canon
More sources (1)
Different Accounts
Cunda's identity: the Southern tradition has the smith's son; the Chinese versions have the son of an artisan, of a craftsman, of a metalworker, or of a householder. The Sanskrit Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra also has the smith's son.
More differences between accounts (3)
The Chinese Fo bannihuan jing and Bannihuan jing say the Buddha first taught the local people, and Cunda stayed behind alone to invite him. The Sanskrit Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra has the same.
The Chinese Dharmaguptaka Vinaya also records the Buddha converting Ānanda's old friend Roja the Malla at Pāvā, but whether this belongs to the last journey is not settled.
Lodging: the Sanskrit Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra has a grove called Zhelujia, close to the Chinese Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya and the Tibetan Vinaya, and does not say it was a mango grove.
Dating
Year 45 after the Awakening, the Buddha aged seventy-nine to eighty, after the , on the day before Cunda's meal; the “next day” is stated in the canonical text, and the later commentaries of the Southern tradition reckon it as the fourteenth day of the bright fortnight of ; on the commentaries' account it can be fixed to the day.
Related Entries
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Research Notes: Reliability, Dating and Sources
- How Reliability Is Assessed
Recorded by five schools: the Pali canon of the Southern tradition, the Chinese Dharmaguptaka Vinaya (Sifen lü), the Sanskrit Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, 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). Time precision: fixed to the day.
Sources
- 藏譯（德格版）德格版 D6 da 256a7–256b7
- 梵文原典梵文《大般涅槃經》（Waldschmidt）§26.1–26.11
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1428 p.873c–874a
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1428 p.874a
- 梵文原典梵文《大般涅槃經》§26.3
- Pali Canon巴利 DN 16:4.13.1–4.16.1
- 大正藏大正藏 T02 no.99 p.271b
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.1 p.18a–b
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.5 p.167c
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.6 p.183a–b
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.7 p.197a
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1451 p.390b
- Pali Canon巴利 DN 16:4.13.2–4.13.5
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.1 p.18a
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.6 p.183a
- 大正藏大正藏 T04 no.192 p.46b