On the way the Buddha is thirsty and asks Ānanda to fetch water. Ānanda says five hundred carts have just forded the stream and the water is muddy; the Buddha still asks for water. The Pali canon of the Southern tradition says that when Ānanda went to fetch it the water had already cleared; some accounts say the Buddha washed his face and feet in the muddy water. Pali Canon
Different Accounts
The Pali canon of the Southern tradition and the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra translated by Faxian say the water had cleared; the Chinese Fo bannihuan jing, Bannihuan jing and Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya, the Tibetan Vinaya and the Sanskrit Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra say he washed his face and feet in the muddy water.
More differences between accounts (1)
The Chinese Youxing jing says a spirit of the Himalayas presented water of eight excellent qualities (pure water with eight virtues) in a bowl, and places the fetching of water after Pukkusa's visit. The Sanskrit Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, like the Pali canon of the Southern tradition, places it before Pukkusa's visit and has no spirit presenting water.
Dating
Year 45 after the Awakening, the Buddha aged seventy-nine to eighty, after the , on the day of Cunda's meal; the day is stated in the canonical text, and by the later commentaries of the Southern tradition it is the full moon of Vesākha; it can be fixed to the day.
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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 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.
- 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 258b1–258b5
- 梵文原典梵文《大般涅槃經》（Waldschmidt）§27.10–27.16
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.1 p.19c
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.7 p.197c
- 梵文原典梵文《大般涅槃經》§27.15–27.16
- Pali Canon巴利 DN 16:4.21.1–4.25.6
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.1 p.19c–20a
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.5 p.168a
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.6 p.183c
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.7 p.197b
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1451 p.391a
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Ap-a，§82