Ānanda worries that after the Buddha's passing he will no longer see the monks who come from the four quarters. The Buddha says that the four places, where the Buddha was born, where he awakened, where he first taught, and where he passed away, are places the faithful should visit and look upon with reverence and emotion, and that those who die on the way of pilgrimage will be reborn in heaven. Pali Canon
Different Accounts
Position: the Chinese Youxing jing, Bannihuan jing and Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya and the Tibetan Vinaya place this passage after the conversion of Subhadda (the last disciple, see below); the Pali canon of the Southern tradition and the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra translated by Faxian place it before.
Dating
Year 45 after the Awakening, the Buddha aged seventy-nine to eighty, after the , on the night of the passing; the night is stated in the canonical text; it can be fixed to this night.
Related Entries
- Year
- Places
- People
- Discourses
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
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Sv，§202
- 藏譯（德格版）德格版 D6 da 288a6–288b7
- 藏譯（德格版）德格版 D6 da 288b1–288b7
- 梵文原典梵文《大般涅槃經》§32.13–32.14
- Pali Canon巴利 DN 16:5.7.1–5.8.10
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.1 p.26a
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.6 p.188a
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.7 p.199b–c
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1451 p.399a
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Ap-a，§82