The asura king Pahārāda (the asuras are a class of divine beings who fight with the gods) comes to see the Buddha and says that the great ocean has eight wonderful qualities, for example that it deepens gradually from the shore, has always the one taste of salt, and does not keep a corpse. The Buddha says that his own Dhamma and discipline likewise have eight wonderful qualities, for example that training in it is gradual, that it has the one taste of liberation, and that it does not allow one who has broken the rules to remain in the Sangha. The Aṅguttara Nikāya of the Southern tradition and the Chinese Madhyama Āgama both record this conversation. Taishō Canon
Pali Canon
More sources (1)
Different Accounts
Place: the texts of the Southern tradition have beneath the neem tree at Verañjā; the Chinese Madhyama Āgama has the Yellow Reed Park at Verañjā; the Chinese Ekottarika Āgama has the Deer Park in the country of Sāvatthī.
More differences between accounts (2)
Those who came with him: the texts of the Southern tradition have Pahārāda alone; the Madhyama Āgama adds a son of the asuras and records that the asura king finally ; the Ekottarika Āgama adds a god, who attained the on the spot.
The later commentaries of the Southern tradition say that from the day of the Buddha's awakening the asura king said every day for eleven years, “I will go today, I will go tomorrow”, and only in the twelfth year, while the Buddha was staying at Verañjā, did he finally come.
Dating
Year 12 after the Awakening, the Buddha aged forty-six, during the Buddha's stay at Verañjā, whether before or during the unknown; 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
Recorded only in the Pali canon of the Southern tradition. Recorded by one school.
- Dating Evidence and Precision
Commentarial dating (the canonical texts give no date; later commentaries record it). Time precision: year only.
Sources
- Pali Canon巴利 AN 8.19:1.1–19.2
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.26 p.475c–477b
- 大正藏大正藏 T02 no.125 p.752c–753c
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 AN-a，§19，PTS 4.107
- 大正藏大正藏 T02 no.125 p.752c
- 大正藏大正藏 T02 no.125 p.753b–c
- Pali Canon巴利律 Kd 19Entire text
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 AN-a，§19
- 大正藏大正藏 T01 no.26 p.477b
- 大正藏大正藏 T02 no.125 p.753b