According to the later commentaries, from Year 21 after the Awakening the Buddha kept the at Sāvatthī, staying at the Jeta Grove (the monastery donated by the wealthy merchant Anāthapiṇḍika) or at Migāramātā's Mansion in the Eastern Park (the hall built by the lady Visākhā), with no year-by-year assignment of which. Here Years 21 to 44 are all placed at Sāvatthī, and the final year at Beluva village. This year's rains retreat belongs to this period; which discourses were given and who was converted this year, the canonical texts do not state. Pali Canon
Different Accounts
On how the two places were used, the later commentaries give three accounts: going back and forth, at one place by day and the other by night; alternating a year at the Jeta Grove and a year at the Eastern Park; or nineteen years at the Jeta Grove and six at the Eastern Park.
More differences between accounts (3)
Taken literally, the later commentaries have him at Sāvatthī every year from Year 21, including the final year; but Dīgha Nikāya 16 of the , the Mahāparinibbāna Sutta, records the last rains retreat at Beluva village, so only Years 21 to 44 are counted here, twenty-four in all.
The Chinese Sengqieluocha suoji jing says that from Year 26 to Year 44 he kept nineteen consecutive rains retreats in the country of Sāvatthī. Taishō Canon
Later Pali Buddha biographies (such as the Jinacarita) likewise say he stayed twenty-five years at the Jeta Grove and Migāramātā's Mansion; such works are of late date and are cited only for reference.
Dating
Year 33 after the Awakening, the Buddha aged sixty-seven, during the rains retreat; that “from Year 21 he kept the rains retreat at Sāvatthī” is given by the later commentaries, and the number 33 for this year is inferred from the sequence of events (worked out from the order of the rains retreats), so only the year is known; whether he stayed at the Jeta Grove 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
- 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，PTS 2.165
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Dhp-a，VRI 1.4
- 大正藏大正藏 T04 no.194 p.144b
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 DN-a，§111
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 DN-a
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 MN-a，§390
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 MN-a
- Pali Canon巴利 DN 16:2.22.3
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Jinacarita
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 《Jinavaṃsadīpanī》