The Bodhisatta goes to bathe in the Nerañjarā and accepts milk-rice offered by a young woman of the village, and his strength returns. The bathing is found in the Chinese Dharmaguptaka Vinaya and the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya; the young woman's offering of milk-rice is found mainly in the Chinese Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya, the Buddha biographies and the later commentaries of the Southern tradition, while the Pali canon of the Southern tradition itself does not record it, and the sources differ on the name of the giver. Taishō Canon
Different Accounts
The giver: the Chinese Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya has the village headman's two daughters, Nandā and Nandabalā; Saṃyukta Āgama 604 and the Buddha biography Xiuxing benqi jing say only two young women; the Fangguang da zhuangyan jing and Fo benxing ji jing have Sujātā, as do the later commentaries of the Southern tradition; the Guoqu xianzai yinguo jing has the cowherd girl Nandabalā. Taishō Canon
More sources (1)
More differences between accounts (3)
The circumstances: the Chinese Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya says that after bathing the Bodhisatta was too weak to climb the bank, and a female tree spirit on the bank lowered a branch for him to pull himself up; the later commentaries of the Southern tradition say Sujātā had prepared milk-rice as an offering to a tree spirit in fulfilment of a vow, and seeing the Bodhisatta seated beneath the tree, offered it to him in a golden bowl.
What became of the bowl: the Chinese Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya says the Bodhisatta threw the bowl into the river after eating; a nāga king (a water spirit) took it into his palace, and Sakka, in the form of a garuḍa, snatched it back and built a shrine for it in the Heaven of the Thirty-three (the heaven where Sakka dwells); the later commentaries of the Southern tradition say the bowl floated upstream and sank into the palace of a nāga king.
Date: the Buddha biography Fo benxing ji jing has the morning of the twenty-third day of the second month; the later commentaries of the Southern tradition have the full moon of , that is, the day before the Awakening. Taishō Canon
Dating
The Buddha aged thirty-five; the later commentaries of the Southern tradition say it was on the full moon of Vesākha, the day before the Awakening, so on the commentaries' account it can be fixed to the day; the canonical texts themselves give no number of days.
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Research Notes: Reliability, Dating and Sources
- How Reliability Is Assessed
The episode of “accepting milk-rice from a young woman” is recorded only in the Chinese Saṅghabhedavastu of the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya. Recorded by one school. Within it, “bathing in the Nerañjarā” is recorded by two schools, the Chinese Dharmaguptaka Vinaya (Sifen lü) and the Chinese Saṅghabhedavastu 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
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1450 p.121c–122a
- 大正藏大正藏 T23 no.1444 p.1026c
- 大正藏大正藏 T02 no.99 p.167a
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1428 p.781a
- 大正藏大正藏 T03 no.184 p.470a
- 大正藏大正藏 T03 no.186 p.511c
- 大正藏大正藏 T03 no.187 p.583b
- 大正藏大正藏 T03 no.189 p.639b
- 大正藏大正藏 T03 no.190 p.765b
- 大正藏大正藏 T03 no.190 p.771c
- 大正藏大正藏 T03 no.191 p.949b
- 大正藏大正藏 T04 no.192 p.24c
- 大正藏大正藏 T04 no.193 p.75b
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Ja-a
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Bv-a，§50，PTS 0.286
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1450 p.122a
- 大正藏大正藏 T03 no.190 p.771b
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1450 p.121c
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Bv-a，PTS 0.286
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Bv-a，序分 §67 PTS 0.54