Pukkusa, a Malla (the people of the Kusinārā region), is travelling from Kusinārā to Pāvā when he meets the Buddha on the road. He praises his own teacher Āḷāra Kālāma for having been so deep in meditation that he did not hear five hundred carts pass by. The Buddha says that he himself, while in meditation, once did not hear even thunder and lightning (the Pali canon of the Southern tradition says this was in a threshing barn at Ātumā, where the lightning killed two farmers and four oxen). Pukkusa presents two robes of cloth of gold, and the Buddha has him give one to Ānanda. Taishō Canon
More sources (6)
Pali Canon
Different Accounts
Identity: the Southern tradition has a Malla; the Chinese versions have a disciple of an , a minister, or the son of a seer. The Sanskrit Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra has a minister of the Mallas. Taishō Canon
More differences between accounts (3)
Outcome: the Pali canon of the Southern tradition and the Chinese Youxing jing say he and became a male , the Youxing jing adding that he attained the and took the five precepts; the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra translated by Faxian says he went forth and attained arahantship; the Chinese Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya and the Tibetan Vinaya have no words about taking refuge. The Sanskrit Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra likewise has no taking of refuge, saying only that he wished to make further offerings to the Buddha and the Sangha.
The place and details of the past event the Buddha recounts differ between sources; the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra translated by Faxian, for example, makes the five hundred carts and the lightning two separate events. The Sanskrit Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra says the Buddha was sitting in a house at Ātumā, and the lightning killed four oxen and two farmers who were brothers. Taishō Canon
The robes of cloth of gold: the Sanskrit Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra says the Buddha kept both himself and did not give one to Ānanda.
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
The episode of “Pukkusa's visit and gift of robes” 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. “Taking refuge as a male lay disciple” within it is recorded by two schools, the Pali canon of the Southern tradition and the Chinese Dīrgha Āgama; “going forth and attaining arahantship” only by the Chinese three-fascicle Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra.
- 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 258b6–260b5
- 梵文原典梵文《大般涅槃經》（Waldschmidt）§28.1–28.49
- 藏譯（德格版）德格版 D6 da 258b6
- 藏譯（德格版）德格版 D6 da 259b2
- 梵文原典梵文《大般涅槃經》§28
- 梵文原典梵文《大般涅槃經》§28.46–28.49
- Pali Canon巴利 DN 16:4.26.1–4.37.1
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.1 p.19a–b
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.1 p.19a
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.5 p.168a–b
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.5 p.168a
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.5 p.168b
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.6 p.183c–184a
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.6 p.183c
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.7 p.197c–198b
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.7 p.197c
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1451 p.391a–b
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1451 p.391a
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Ap-a，§82
- Pali Canon巴利 DN 16:4.34.5–4.34.6
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.1 p.19b
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.6 p.184a
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.7 p.198b