Sāriputta asks why the teachings of some past Buddhas lasted long while others quickly disappeared. The Buddha replies that the key lies in whether the Buddha taught the Dhamma to his disciples in detail, laid down rules, and had them recited regularly. Sāriputta therefore asks the Buddha to lay down rules; the Buddha says he will do so only when faults begin to appear in the , and that the time has not yet come. The Pali Vinaya and the Chinese Dharmaguptaka and Mahīśāsaka Vinayas all record this exchange. Taishō Canon
Different Accounts
The Pali Vinaya and the Chinese Mahīśāsaka Vinaya further record the Buddha saying that of these five hundred monks even the lowest had attained the ; this passage of the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya does not have the sentence.
More differences between accounts (3)
The Chinese Mahāsāṃghika Vinaya also records Sāriputta asking the Buddha to lay down rules, but sets it in the Ploughed-Field Grove in Kosala, its content is the ten benefits of laying down rules, and it has no at Verañjā. Taishō Canon
The names of the past Buddhas are rendered differently in the sources, and the Buddhas listed in the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya do not entirely match those of the Southern tradition.
One later commentary of the Southern tradition records the view that “the Buddha laid down the rules within the eight years after the rains retreat at Verañjā in the twelfth year”, but the commentary itself does not endorse it; another commentary of the Southern tradition says that in the twelfth year at Verañjā the Sangha was still pure, so no was laid down at that time.
Dating
Year 12 after the Awakening, the Buddha aged forty-six, during the rains retreat; the year 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
The episode of “whether the holy life under past Buddhas lasted long, and Sāriputta's request for rules” is recorded by three schools, the Pali canon of the Southern tradition, the Chinese Dharmaguptaka Vinaya (Sifen lü) and the Chinese Mahīśāsaka Vinaya (Wufen lü). Attested across multiple schools. The statement that “the lowest among them was a stream-enterer” within it is recorded by two schools, the Pali canon of the Southern tradition and the Chinese Mahīśāsaka Vinaya (Wufen lü).
- Dating Evidence and Precision
Commentarial dating (the canonical texts give no date; later commentaries record it). Time precision: year only.
Sources
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1428 p.569a–c
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1421 p.1b–2a
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1425 p.228b–229a
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1462 p.709b–c
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Vin-a，§21，PTS 1.196
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 《Vajirabuddhi》，§20–21
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Sp-ṭ，§36，VRI 2.11、緬甸版 2.12
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1421 p.1b
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1428 p.569b
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Vin-ṭ〈Sāratthadīpanī〉，§36
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Vajirabuddhi
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1425 p.228b
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Vajirabuddhi，§20–21
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1425 p.229a
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1421 p.2a
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1462 p.709b