The Buddha says: “The Dhamma and the Vinaya (the teaching and the discipline) that I have taught shall be your teacher.” He also lays down how elder and junior monks are to address one another, and says that the Sangha may abolish the minor rules. Finally the Buddha asks the assembly three times whether anyone has a doubt, and all are silent; the Buddha says that even the most junior monk here has attained the . Pali Canon
Different Accounts
The forms of address are found in the Pali canon of the Southern tradition, the Chinese Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya, the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra translated by Faxian and elsewhere; the abolition of the minor rules is found in the Pali canon of the Southern tradition and elsewhere, while the Chinese Mahāsāṃghika Vinaya recounts it at the .
More differences between accounts (1)
The Tibetan Vinaya says that after the Buddha's passing the Pātimokkha (the text listing the monastic rules), recited every half month, is to be the teacher, and that the minor rules are to be decided by the community in consultation.
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, and the later commentaries say the last watch; it can be fixed to this night.
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Research Notes: Reliability, Dating and Sources
- How Reliability Is Assessed
The episode of “the Dhamma and Vinaya as teacher” is 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. The “forms of address” within it are recorded by three schools; “abolishing the minor rules” by three schools; “asking three times whether there is any doubt” by five 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 288a1–288b7
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.7 p.204c
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1451 p.399a
- 藏譯（德格版）德格版 D6 da 288a5–288a6
- Pali Canon巴利 DN 16:6.1.1–6.6.6
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.1 p.26a–b
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.1 p.26a
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.1 p.26b
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.5 p.172b
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.6 p.188a–b
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.6 p.188a
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.7 p.204b–c
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.7 p.204b
- 大正藏大正藏 T02 no.125 p.752c
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1425 p.492b
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Sv，§198