Before the Awakening the Bodhisatta has five great dreams foretelling that he will become a Buddha: he dreams that his body lies on the great earth with his head pillowed on the Himalayas (the Snowy Mountains), his two hands reaching into the eastern and western oceans and his feet into the southern ocean; that grass grows from his navel up to the sky; that white worms crawl up his legs from his feet to his knees; that birds of four colours fly in from the four directions and all turn white as they settle at his feet; and that he walks on a mountain of dung without being soiled. The texts of every major school record these five dreams, but they differ on when they were dreamed. Taishō Canon
Pali Canon
More sources (2)
Different Accounts
When the dreams occurred: the Aṅguttara Nikāya of the Southern tradition and the Sanskrit Mahāvastu say only before the Awakening; the Chinese Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya and the Buddha biographies Fangguang da zhuangyan jing, Fo benxing ji jing and Zhongxu mohedi jing say on the night of the going forth; the later commentaries of the Southern tradition say on the night before he accepted the offering of milk-rice.
More differences between accounts (3)
Details of the dreams: the Sanskrit Mahāvastu says that in the third dream small red worms with black heads crawled from the soles of his feet up to his knees (the Southern tradition has white worms with black heads), and that in the fourth, four birds sniffed the Bodhisatta's feet and turned white; the Buddha biography Fo benxing ji jing says that in the fourth dream four white beasts with black heads licked the Bodhisatta's feet.
Others' dreams the same night: the Chinese Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya says Yasodharā had eight dreams and the Great Lady of the World (that is, Mahāpajāpatī, the Bodhisatta's aunt) had four; the Buddha biography Xiuxing benqi jing says his wife had five dreams.
The Sanskrit Mahāvastu says this was related by the Buddha to the at Sāvatthī after the Awakening; but the heading at the end of the section reads “The five great dreams of King Suddhodana”, which does not match the text, where the dreams are the Bodhisatta's.
Dating
On the account of the later commentaries of the Southern tradition (“the night before he accepted the milk-rice”), the Buddha aged thirty-five; on the account of “the night of the going forth”, twenty-nine. The Aṅguttara Nikāya of the Southern tradition states only that it was before the Awakening; 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 Saṅghabhedavastu of the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya and the Sanskrit Mahāvastu. 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: year uncertain.
Sources
- Pali Canon巴利 AN 5.196:1.1–2.2
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1450 p.115b–c
- 大正藏大正藏 T03 no.187 p.572a
- 大正藏大正藏 T03 no.190 p.728a
- 大正藏大正藏 T03 no.191 p.945c–946a
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Ja-a
- Pali Canon巴利 AN 5.196Entire text
- 轉引自現代整理本轉引自現代整理本
- 梵文原典梵文《大事》第二冊 p.136–140
- 大正藏大正藏 T03 no.190 p.728b
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1450 p.115b
- 大正藏大正藏 T03 no.184 p.467c
- 梵文原典梵文《大事》第二冊 p.136–137
- Pali Canon巴利 AN 5.196:3.1
- Pali Canon巴利 AN 5.196:1.1