According to the later commentaries of the Southern tradition, after returning to his home town and bringing his father, King Suddhodana, to the third stage of realization, the Buddha returns to the Bamboo Grove at Rājagaha and keeps the second there. The wealthy merchant Anāthapiṇḍika of Sāvatthī also visits at this time, the beginning of his later building of the Jetavana monastery at Sāvatthī. The says that the second, third and fourth retreats were all kept in the Bamboo Grove at Rājagaha.
Different Accounts
Place of the retreat: the later commentaries have the Bamboo Grove at Rājagaha; the Chinese Sengqieluocha suoji jing has Lingjiuding Hill (that is, Vulture Peak). Taishō Canon
More differences between accounts (1)
Timing of the return home: the later commentaries of the Southern tradition say the Buddha's first return to his home town came about a year after the Awakening; the Chinese Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya, the Buddha biography Fangguang da zhuangyan jing and the Chinese Shi'er you jing place it in the sixth or the twelfth year.
Dating
Year 2 after the Awakening, the Buddha aged thirty-six, during the rains retreat; the place of the retreat is given by the later commentaries, and only the year is known.
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Research Notes: Reliability, Dating and Sources
- How Reliability Is Assessed
Not recorded in the early sutras and Vinayas of any school; found only in the commentaries or later Buddha biographies. Later addition.
- Dating Evidence and Precision
Commentarial dating (the canonical texts give no date; later commentaries record it). Time precision: year only.
Sources
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Bv-a，s0511a，PTS 頁標 0.0300：Dutiyaṃ vassaṃ rājagahaṃ upanissāya veḷuvane mahāvihāre. Tatiyacatutthānipi tattheva
- 大正藏大正藏 T04 no.194 p.144b
- 大正藏大正藏 T03 no.190 p.861a