The Bodhisatta realizes that however severe the austerities, they cannot bring the highest knowledge. He recalls the time he entered the beneath the rose-apple tree (a large tree common in India) at the edge of his father's field, and thinks, “This may be the path to awakening”; he reflects too that this happiness has nothing to do with sensual desire and need not be feared. But his body is too weak for such absorption, so he begins to take boiled rice and porridge to recover his strength. The five ascetics attending him, thinking the Bodhisatta has abandoned his striving, leave him in disappointment. The texts of every major school record this event. Taishō Canon
Pali Canon
More sources (5)
Different Accounts
The food taken: Majjhima Nikāya 36 of the has boiled rice and porridge; the Chinese Dharmaguptaka Vinaya has a little rice and roasted flour; the Pravrajyāvastu of the Chinese Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya says the Bodhisatta ate fine curds, anointed his body with ghee and bathed in scented water.
More differences between accounts (3)
Where the five went: the Chinese Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya and the later commentaries of the Southern tradition say they went to the Deer Park at Bārāṇasī, the place where the Buddha later gave his first sermon; the Chinese Dharmaguptaka Vinaya does not say.
When they left: Majjhima Nikāya 36 of the Southern tradition says the five left when the Bodhisatta began to take food; the Chinese Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya and the later commentaries of the Southern tradition say it was before the Bodhisatta accepted the offering of milk-rice from the young woman.
The later commentaries of the Southern tradition say the Bodhisatta once fainted during the austerities, and went for alms only after coming round.
Dating
The Buddha aged thirty-five, after the six years of austerities; the Chinese Dharmaguptaka Vinaya states that it was after “six years of austerities”; the exact time is inferred from the sequence of events, and 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 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.
Sources
- Pali Canon巴利 MN 36:30.1–33.6
- Pali Canon巴利 MN 36:31.2
- Pali Canon巴利 MN 36:33.3
- Pali Canon巴利 MN 36:33.6
- Pali Canon巴利 MN 85:31.2
- Pali Canon巴利 MN 100:28.2
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1428 p.781a
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1450 p.121b–c
- 大正藏大正藏 T23 no.1444 p.1026c
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.26 p.608a
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 《柔軟經》
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1450 p.121c