The Bodhisatta comes to Rājagaha and goes from house to house , his bearing dignified. King Bimbisāra, watching from an upper storey, sends men to follow him; after his meal the Bodhisatta leaves the city and sits at the foot of a hill, and the king goes in person to meet him and asks about his family. The Bodhisatta replies that he is of the Sakya clan, from the region of Kosala beside the Himalayas (the Snowy Mountains). The king offers to share his kingdom with him or to abdicate in his favour; the Bodhisatta declines, saying he seeks only liberation, and the king asks him to come to him first once he has awakened. The texts of every major school record this event. Taishō Canon
Pali Canon
More sources (4)
Different Accounts
What the king offered: the Chinese Dharmaguptaka Vinaya and Saṃyukta Āgama 604 have half the kingdom, and the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya adds that he offered the whole kingdom and his crown, content to serve as a minister himself; the Chinese Mahīśāsaka Vinaya says he offered to become his subject; the Sutta Nipāta of the Southern tradition says he offered him wealth.
More differences between accounts (3)
The king's request: the Chinese Dharmaguptaka Vinaya has that after awakening he should come first to Rājagaha to meet him; the Chinese Mahīśāsaka Vinaya has that on the day of his awakening he should first convert the king and the people of his country (for the fulfilment of this promise see Year 1 after the Awakening).
Place: the Sutta Nipāta of the Southern tradition and the Chinese Dharmaguptaka Vinaya have Mount Paṇḍava; the Chinese Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya has Mount Pancha; the Chinese Mahīśāsaka Vinaya has Mount Bārāṇasī.
Order: the Chinese Dharmaguptaka and Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinayas and the later commentaries of the Southern tradition place this event before the Bodhisatta's study under the two teachers, while the Buddha biographies Guoqu xianzai yinguo jing and Buddhacarita place it after; the Chinese Mahīśāsaka Vinaya has no account of the study or the austerities, and the Bodhisatta goes to the Bodhi tree as soon as the king has left.
Dating
The Buddha aged twenty-nine, not long after the going forth; the Chinese Dharmaguptaka Vinaya states that he entered the city for alms “early the next morning” after arriving, but how long after the going forth this was can only be inferred from the sequence of events; the year is not fully certain.
Related Entries
- Year
- Places
- People
- Discourses
Research Notes: Reliability, Dating and Sources
- How Reliability Is Assessed
Recorded by four schools: the Pali canon of the Southern tradition, the Chinese Dharmaguptaka Vinaya (Sifen lü), the Chinese Mahīśāsaka Vinaya (Wufen lü) and the Chinese Saṅghabhedavastu of the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya. Attested across multiple schools.
- Dating Evidence and Precision
Stated in the canonical text (the text itself gives the time); inferred from the sequence of events (neither the canonical texts nor the commentaries give the time; the year is worked out from the order of this event and those around it). Time precision: year uncertain, fixed to the day.
Sources
- Pali Canon巴利 Snp 3.1:1.1–20.5
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1428 p.779c–780b
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1421 p.102b–c
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1450 p.118b–119a
- 大正藏大正藏 T02 no.99 p.167a
- 大正藏大正藏 T03 no.184 p.468b
- 大正藏大正藏 T03 no.185 p.476b
- 大正藏大正藏 T03 no.186 p.509c
- 大正藏大正藏 T03 no.187 p.579b
- 大正藏大正藏 T03 no.189 p.637a
- 大正藏大正藏 T04 no.193 p.70b
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Ja-a
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1428 p.780a
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1421 p.102c
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1450 p.118c
- Pali Canon巴利 Snp 3.1:17.3
- Pali Canon巴利 Snp 3.1:18.4–19.2
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1450 p.118c–119a
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1421 p.102b
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1450 p.118b
- Pali Canon巴利 Snp 3.1:4.1–4.2
- Pali Canon巴利 Snp 3.1:10.3
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1428 p.779c
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1428 p.780b
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1450 p.119b