The Buddha wishes first to teach his former teacher Āḷāra Kālāma, but a god tells him that Āḷāra has died; he then thinks of his other teacher, Uddaka Rāmaputta, who has also died. The Buddha then thinks of the five companions who had practised austerities with him, and with the divine eye (the power to see things far away) sees them at Isipatana, the Deer Park, at Bārāṇasī. Taishō Canon
Pali Canon
More sources (2)
Different Accounts
The sources differ on how long before the two teachers had died: the Pali canon of the Southern tradition has Āḷāra dead seven days and Uddaka dead the previous night; the Luomo jing in the Chinese Madhyama Āgama has seven days for one and fourteen for the other; in the Chinese Mahīśāsaka Vinaya both the order in which the Buddha thinks of the two and the number of days since their deaths are the reverse of the Southern tradition. The Sanskrit Lalitavistara likewise thinks first of Uddaka, dead seven days, then of Āḷāra, dead three days.
More differences between accounts (2)
Some Buddha biographies split the teachers' names into separate people, or say only that both had died without giving the number of days.
The list of the five ascetics differs between sources (see the entry “Turning the Wheel of Dhamma”).
Dating
Year 1 after the Awakening, the Buddha aged thirty-five, before the , after Brahmā's entreaty; the number of days since the two teachers' deaths is stated in the canonical texts, while the position of this event itself is inferred from the sequence of events, within the weeks after the Awakening.
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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 Madhyama Āgama. 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: fixed to the day.
Sources
- Pali Canon巴利律 Kd 1:6.1.1–6.6.4
- Pali Canon巴利 MN 26:22.1–24.10
- Pali Canon巴利 MN 85:46.1–48.9
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.26 p.777a–b
- 大正藏大正藏 T02 no.125 p.618b
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1428 p.787b
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1421 p.104a
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1450 p.126c–127a
- 大正藏大正藏 T03 no.187 p.605b–c
- 大正藏大正藏 T03 no.189 p.643a–b
- 大正藏大正藏 T03 no.190 p.807a–b
- 大正藏大正藏 T03 no.191 p.953a–b
- 大正藏大正藏 T04 no.192 p.28c
- 大正藏大正藏 T04 no.196 p.147c
- 藏譯（德格版）德格版 D1 nga 40a5–40b7
- 梵文原典梵文《普曜經》第 26 品
- 藏譯（德格版）德格版 D1 nga 40a7–40b4