According to the later commentaries, because of the merit of the two households of Anāthapiṇḍika and the lady Visākhā (the female devotee who built Migāramātā's Mansion in the Eastern Park), in his later years the Buddha makes the Jetavana and Migāramātā's Mansion in the Eastern Park at Sāvatthī his fixed residences: outside the rainy season he wanders from place to place, and during the he stays only at these two. This year's retreat is also spent there. Neither the canonical texts nor the commentaries state which discourses were given during this retreat.
Different Accounts
How the two places were divided during the rains retreat is told differently by the later commentaries: going back and forth between the two by day and by night each day; alternating year by year between the Jetavana and the Eastern Park; or nineteen years at the Jetavana and six at the Eastern Park in all.
More differences between accounts (2)
One reading of the Chinese Sengqieluocha suoji jing says the Buddha kept the rains retreat in the country of Sāvatthī for nineteen years, this year being the second; another reading counts Years 25 to 43 in the Sāvatthī area, this year among them. On both readings this year is in the Sāvatthī area. Taishō Canon
The total number of rains retreats the Buddha kept at Sāvatthī is given by the later commentaries as twenty-five; the arrangement here and modern scholarly reconstructions make it twenty-four.
Dating
Year 27 after the Awakening, the Buddha aged sixty-one, during the rains retreat; that “in his later years the Buddha resided permanently at Sāvatthī” is given by the later commentaries, and the number 27 is inferred from the sequence of events (worked out from the order of the retreats), so only the year is known, while whether he stayed at the Jetavana or the Eastern Park is not recorded year by year.
Related Entries
- Year
- Places
- People
- Discourses
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); converted from the Buddha's age (reckoned from the Buddha's age). Time precision: year uncertain.
Sources
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 AN-a，§37，VRI 2.31、緬甸版 2.31
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Bv-a，序分
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Bv-a
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 MN-a，§272，VRI 2.69、PTS 2.165
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 DN-a，§111，PTS 3.860
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 MN-a，§390，PTS 2.297
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Dhp-a，§1，VRI 1.4
- 大正藏大正藏 T04 no.194 p.144b
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 AN-a，§37
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 DN-a，§111
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 MN-a，§390
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Dhp-a，§1
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 MN-a，§272