This entry collects the dates of the division of the and the building of the stūpas, setting the several accounts side by side. The later commentaries of the Southern tradition say seven days of honouring after the passing, seven days of cremation and seven days of guarding, twenty-one days in all, with the relics divided on the twenty-first day, the same day on which Mahākassapa assembled the community and decided on the Council; the Chinese Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya says the relics were already divided only seven days after the passing; the Chinese Fo bannihuan jing and Bannihuan jing say the stūpas were built ninety days after the division.
Different Accounts
Three dates side by side: twenty-one days (the later commentaries of the Southern tradition), seven days (the Chinese Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya), and stūpas built after ninety days (the Chinese Fo bannihuan jing and Bannihuan jing).
More differences between accounts (2)
The later commentaries of the Southern tradition further say that Ajātasattu brought the relics from Kusinārā back to Rājagaha with celebrations all the way, taking “seven years, seven months and seven days”, which does not agree with the text of the Southern canon.
The Tibetan Vinaya places “seven days have passed since the passing” at the point where the Mallas of Pāvā hear the news, not in the brahmin's words of persuasion.
Dating
The Buddha has already passed away (aged eighty at his passing); this is still counted in Year 45 after the Awakening, after the ; the dates are stated separately by the canonical texts and the later commentaries, giving three accounts, each fixed to a day, but with no settled answer.
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Research Notes: Reliability, Dating and Sources
- How Reliability Is Assessed
The episode of “the twenty-one-day account” is not recorded in the early sutras and Vinayas of any school; it is found only in the commentaries or later Buddha biographies. Later addition. Within it, the “ninety-day account” is recorded only in the Chinese Fo bannihuan jing and Bannihuan jing; the “seven-day account” only in the Chinese Kṣudrakavastu of the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya.
- 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
- 藏譯（德格版）德格版 D6 da 297a3
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Sv，§239
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1451 p.402b
- 藏譯（德格版）德格版 D6 da 299a4–299a7