After the cremation the skin and flesh are consumed and only the remain. Of the cloths wrapped around the body, the innermost and the outermost are not burnt. The fire is finally put out; the Pali canon of the Southern tradition says water fell from the sky and flowed from the sāla trees, and the Mallas also quenched it with scented water. Pali Canon
Different Accounts
Length of the burning: the Chinese Bannihuan jing has one night; the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra translated by Faxian and the later commentaries of the Southern tradition have seven days; the Pali canon of the Southern tradition and the Chinese Youxing jing and Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya do not say.
More differences between accounts (1)
How the fire was put out: the Chinese Youxing jing has a tree spirit quenching it by supernormal power; the Chinese Fo bannihuan jing has scented milk poured on it; the Chinese Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya has four trees growing out of the pyre and flowing with milk; the Chinese Sarvāstivāda Vinaya has pools of milk appearing on four sides. Taishō Canon
Dating
The Buddha has already passed away (aged eighty at his passing); this is still counted in Year 45 after the Awakening, after the ; from day 7 after the passing, with the length of the burning differing between sources (the canonical texts state one night or seven days); depending on the version followed it can be fixed to a day or to a few days.
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); commentarial dating (the canonical texts give no date; later commentaries record it). Time precision: fixed to the day.
Sources
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Sv，§235
- 藏譯（德格版）德格版 D6 da 296b5–297a2
- 藏譯（德格版）德格版 D6 da 296b7
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1451 p.401b
- Pali Canon巴利 DN 16:6.23.1–6.23.9
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.1 p.29a
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.5 p.174b
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.6 p.190a
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.7 p.207a
- 大正藏大正藏 T23 no.1435 p.446a
- 大正藏大正藏 T02 no.99 p.325c
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 DN-a，PTS 1.6–1.7