The Buddha tells his disciples: I am freed from all bonds, divine and human, and so are you; go and wander for the welfare of beings, teaching the Dhamma, no two of you by the same road, and teach a Dhamma that is good in the beginning, good in the middle and good in the end. The Buddha himself sets out for Senānigama at Uruvelā to teach. At this point Māra comes to disturb him with a verse; the Buddha replies in verse, and Māra withdraws. Taishō Canon
Pali Canon
More sources (1)
Different Accounts
Timing: in the order of the Pali Vinaya it comes before the end of the ; the later commentaries of the Southern tradition say after the retreat and the pavāraṇā (the ceremony at the end of the retreat in which the community invites mutual correction); the Buddha biography Fo benxing ji jing says the disciples were sent out once during the retreat and again after it ended.
More differences between accounts (3)
The Chinese Ekottarika Āgama gives the opposite instruction: all should go for alms together and never go alone.
The Buddha's destination differs between sources: a village at Uruvelā, the dwelling of Kassapa, Rājagaha, and others.
The Chinese Saṃyukta Āgama and the Bieyi za ahan jing each have a similar discourse on Māra, set in the Bamboo Grove at Rājagaha (a park outside the city).
Dating
Year 1 after the Awakening, the Buddha aged thirty-five, during or at the end of the rains retreat; in the order of the Pali Vinaya it falls within the retreat, while the later commentaries say it was on the full moon of after the retreat ended (on that view it would belong to Year 2 after the Awakening); known only to fall around the end of the first rains retreat.
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 Dharmaguptaka Vinaya (Sifen lü), the Chinese Mahīśāsaka Vinaya (Wufen lü) and the Chinese Saṃyukta Āgama. Attested across multiple schools.
- Dating Evidence and Precision
Commentarial dating (the canonical texts give no date; later commentaries record it). Time precision: fixed to the day, approximate range, month only.
Sources
- Pali Canon巴利律 Kd 1:11.1.1–11.2.20
- Pali Canon巴利律 Kd 1:13.1.1–13.2.12
- Pali Canon巴利 SN 4.5:1.1
- Pali Canon巴利 SN 4.4:1.2
- 大正藏大正藏 T02 no.99 p.288a–b
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1428 p.792c–793a
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1421 p.108a
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1450 p.130a–b
- 大正藏大正藏 T03 no.189 p.646a
- 大正藏大正藏 T03 no.190 p.835c–836a
- 大正藏大正藏 T03 no.190 p.836c
- 大正藏大正藏 T03 no.191 p.957a
- 大正藏大正藏 T04 no.192 p.31a–b
- 大正藏大正藏 T04 no.196 p.149c
- 藏譯（德格版）德格版 D1 nga 52a1–52b3
- 大正藏大正藏 T02 no.125 p.619b
- 藏譯（德格版）德格版 D1 nga 52a2
- 藏譯（德格版）德格版 D1 nga 52a2–52a7
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