A group of discourses open by stating that the Buddha spoke them when he had “just attained full awakening” and was staying beneath the Ajapāla banyan tree at Uruvelā, but without saying in which week. They include: the Buddha's reflection that the Dhamma should be the object of his reverence (the Gārava Sutta); his reflection that the are the one way to the purification of beings, and on the five faculties (the five powers of practice: faith, energy, mindfulness, concentration and wisdom), with Brahmā coming to voice his approval; and Māra coming repeatedly to disrupt him, and Māra's daughters coming to tempt him.
Different Accounts
The Chinese Saṃyukta Āgama and the Bieyi za ahan jing (the other Chinese translation of the Saṃyukta Āgama) place several of the discourses concerning Māra on Mount Gijjhakūṭa (Vulture Peak) at Rājagaha, not at Uruvelā.
More differences between accounts (3)
The later commentaries of the Southern tradition explain “Māra followed him for seven years” as the six years before the Awakening plus one year after it, that is, Māra went on following the Buddha for a year after the Awakening.
The sources differ on when Māra asked the Buddha to pass away: the Pali canon of the Southern tradition and the Chinese Youxing jing place it just after the Awakening; the Chinese and Tibetan Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya place it after the merchants' offering of food; the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra translated by Faxian delays it to the conversion of the ascetic Uruvela Kassapa. Source text
The Shuijing fanzhi jing in the Chinese Madhyama Āgama says it was “when he had first attained the path” beneath this tree, but the corresponding discourse of the Southern tradition is set at Sāvatthī.
Dating
Year 1 after the Awakening, the Buddha aged thirty-five, before the , in the first weeks after the Awakening; the discourses open by stating “just attained full awakening” but do not say which week, so they are known only to fall within the weeks after the Awakening.
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 Dīrgha Āgama, the Chinese Saṃyukta Āgama and the Chinese three-fascicle Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra. Attested across multiple schools.
- Dating Evidence and Precision
Stated in the canonical text (the text itself gives the time). Time precision: approximate range.
Sources
- 巴利三藏巴利 SN 6.2:1.2
- 巴利三藏巴利 SN 47.18:1.1
- 巴利三藏巴利 SN 48.57:1.1
- 巴利三藏巴利 SN 4.1:1.2
- 巴利三藏巴利 SN 4.2
- 巴利三藏巴利 SN 4.3:1.2
- 巴利三藏巴利 SN 4.24:1.2–1.3
- 巴利三藏巴利 AN 4.22:1.1
- 巴利三藏巴利 DN 16:3.34.1–3.34.4
- 巴利三藏巴利 AN 4.21:2.1
- 大正藏大正藏 T02 no.99 p.321c
- 大正藏大正藏 T02 no.99 p.322a
- 大正藏大正藏 T02 no.99 p.287c
- 大正藏大正藏 T02 no.99 p.286b
- 大正藏大正藏 T02 no.99 p.59a
- 大正藏大正藏 T02 no.100 p.410a
- 大正藏大正藏 T02 no.100 p.410b
- 大正藏大正藏 T02 no.100 p.383a
- 大正藏大正藏 T02 no.100 p.384a
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.26 p.575a
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.1 p.15c
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.7 p.192a
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 SN-a，I 185
- 藏譯（德格版）德格版 D1 nga 37a2–37a7
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1450 p.125c
- 大正藏大正藏 T03 no.187 p.601a
- 大正藏大正藏 T03 no.191 p.952a