The Buddha leads the thousand newly ordained to the top of Gayāsīsa. He teaches them in three ways: by displaying supernormal powers, by voicing what is in their minds, and by direct instruction. The teaching is that “all is burning”: the eye, visible forms, eye-consciousness and the feelings that arise from them are all burning with the fires of greed, hatred and delusion, and so too the ear, nose, tongue, body and mind. Having heard it, all thousand monks attain . Taishō Canon
Pali Canon
More sources (1)
Different Accounts
Place: the Pali canon of the Southern tradition, the Chinese Saṃyukta Āgama, the Chinese Mahīśāsaka Vinaya and the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya have the top of Gayāsīsa; the Chinese Dharmaguptaka Vinaya has Elephant Head Hill; the Chinese Ekottarika Āgama has beneath a banyan tree by the Nerañjarā; the Buddha biography Zhong benqi jing has beneath the great trees of the Jiayexi grove. Taishō Canon
More differences between accounts (3)
The Buddha biography Guoqu xianzai yinguo jing does not record the teaching on Gayāsīsa, but has the Buddha speak of the fire of the three poisons when converting the two brothers.
The Chinese Shi'er you jing records under the fourth year “teaching nāgas and spirits on Elephant Head Hill”, differing in both audience and year. Taishō Canon
The Chinese Ekottarika Āgama says that after this the Buddha turned towards Kapilavatthu, sending someone ahead to announce him, and went straight home without going to Rājagaha.
Dating
Year 2 after the Awakening, the Buddha aged thirty-six, before the ; the Pali Vinaya says it was after a stay of some time at Uruvelā, and the rest is inferred from the sequence of events; known only to fall after the conversion of the three Kassapa brothers and before the arrival at Rājagaha.
Related Entries
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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 Saṃyukta Āgama. Attested across multiple schools.
- Dating Evidence and Precision
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: approximate range.
Sources
- Pali Canon巴利律 Kd 1:21.1.1–21.4.11
- Pali Canon巴利 SN 35.28:1.1
- 大正藏大正藏 T02 no.99 p.50b
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1428 p.797a–b
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1421 p.109b–c
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1450 p.134b
- 大正藏大正藏 T23 no.1444 p.1027a
- 大正藏大正藏 T02 no.125 p.622b–c
- 大正藏大正藏 T03 no.185 p.483a
- 大正藏大正藏 T04 no.196 p.151c–152a
- 藏譯（德格版）德格版 D1 nga 66b3–67b3
- 藏譯（德格版）德格版 D1 ka 31a2–31a3
- 大正藏大正藏 T04 no.195 p.147a
- 大正藏大正藏 T02 no.125 p.622c