Ānanda says Kusinārā is a remote little town and urges the Buddha to pass away in a great city such as Campā, Rājagaha or Sāvatthī. The Buddha says that this place was once Kusāvatī, the capital of King Mahāsudassana, and tells the story of that king in detail (see also the Mahāsudassana Sutta of the Southern tradition and the Da shanjian wang jing in the Chinese Madhyama Āgama). Taishō Canon
Pali Canon
Different Accounts
The number of great cities Ānanda lists differs between sources: four, six, seven and so on.
More differences between accounts (3)
The number of times the Buddha has died here: the Chinese Youxing jing, Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya and Bannihuan jing say six times in past lives, this being the seventh; the Chinese Fo bannihuan jing says seven times in past lives, eight including this one.
The size of the city: the Pali canon of the Southern tradition has twelve yojanas from east to west and seven from north to south; the Chinese Youxing jing has four hundred and eighty li long and two hundred and eighty li wide. Taishō Canon
More sources (3)
The Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra translated by Faxian says countless gods and humans who heard this attained the .
Dating
Year 45 after the Awakening, the Buddha aged seventy-nine to eighty, after the , on the night of the passing; 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 Chinese Kṣudrakavastu of the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya, 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 264b5–274a6
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.1 p.21b
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.5 p.169c
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.6 p.185b
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1451 p.392c
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.1 p.24b
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1451 p.394b
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.5 p.171a
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.6 p.186c
- 藏譯（德格版）德格版 D6 da 264b5–264b6
- 藏譯（德格版）德格版 D6 da 265a2–274a6
- Pali Canon巴利 DN 16:5.17.1–5.18.8
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.26 p.515b
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.1 p.21b–24b
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.5 p.169c–171a
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.6 p.185b–186c
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.7 p.200c–203a
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1451 p.392c–394b
- SuttaCentral 對應表SuttaCentral 對應表 sf245#wal34
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Ap-a，§82
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.7 p.203a