The Bodhisatta goes to watch the ploughing in his father's fields and sits in the shade of a rose-apple tree (a large tree common in India); secluded from sensual desire and unwholesome thoughts, he enters the . Majjhima Nikāya 36 of the Southern tradition and other texts record that many years later, when his austerities had brought no result, it was by recalling this absorption that the Bodhisatta found the path to awakening. The texts of every major school record this event. Taishō Canon
More sources (6)
Pali Canon
More sources (2)
Different Accounts
His age at the time: the later commentaries of the Southern tradition say the Bodhisatta was still an infant in swaddling clothes, lying beneath the tree; the Buddha biographies Guoqu xianzai yinguo jing and Fo benxing ji jing place it after his boyhood schooling; the Taizi ruiying benqi jing places it on the night of the going forth, when the Bodhisatta, having left the palace, came to the rose-apple tree at the edge of a field. Taishō Canon
More differences between accounts (3)
The shadow that did not move: the Chinese Madhyama Āgama and the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya say that after midday the shadows of the other trees moved, but the shadow of the rose-apple tree alone stayed still and went on shading the Bodhisatta. The later commentaries of the Southern tradition say that on seeing this the king bowed to his son, the second time he did so; the first was at the visit of the seer Asita. Taishō Canon
The arising of compassion: the Chinese Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya says that in the ploughing village the Bodhisatta saw the plough turn up the soil, worms crawl out and birds peck at them, and compassion arose in him; this Vinaya calls the absorption he entered “the first samādhi resembling the taintless state” (a meditative state close to liberation). Taishō Canon
Order: the Chinese Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya places this event after the Bodhisatta's first ride out, when he saw the old man.
Dating
Before the going forth; the age cannot be reckoned from an awakening at thirty-five. The canonical texts say only that it happened in his father's fields before the going forth and give no time; the ages given in the sources range from infancy to the night of the going forth; the year is uncertain.
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Research Notes: Reliability, Dating and Sources
- How Reliability Is Assessed
Recorded by three schools: the Pali canon of the Southern tradition, the Chinese Dharmaguptaka Vinaya (Sifen lü) and the Chinese Madhyama Āgama. Attested across multiple schools.
- Dating Evidence and Precision
Commentarial dating (the canonical texts give no date; later commentaries record it). Time precision: year uncertain.
Sources
- Pali Canon巴利 MN 36:31.2
- Pali Canon巴利 MN 85:31.2
- Pali Canon巴利 MN 100:28.2
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.26 p.470c
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.26 p.608a
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1450 p.114a
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1450 p.121b
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1428 p.781a
- 大正藏大正藏 T03 no.184 p.467b
- 大正藏大正藏 T03 no.185 p.475b
- 大正藏大正藏 T03 no.186 p.499a
- 大正藏大正藏 T03 no.187 p.560b
- 大正藏大正藏 T03 no.189 p.629a
- 大正藏大正藏 T03 no.190 p.705c
- 大正藏大正藏 T03 no.191 p.944b
- 大正藏大正藏 T04 no.193 p.66a
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Ja-a
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Bv-a，§50，PTS 0.278
- Pali Canon巴利 MN 36Entire text
- Pali Canon巴利 MN 26Entire text
- Pali Canon巴利 MN 100Entire text
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Bv-a，PTS 0.278