The records that the Buddha's fourth was again in the Bamboo Grove at Rājagaha (the Bamboo Grove park outside the city). The table lists only places and does not record what happened in this year.
Different Accounts
Place: the later commentaries have the Bamboo Grove at Rājagaha; the Chinese Sengqieluocha suoji jing has Lingjiuding Hill; the Chinese Shi'er you jing records a teaching on Elephant Head Hill in the fourth year, but does not say it was a rains retreat.
More differences between accounts (1)
In the sentence of the Chinese Sengqieluocha suoji jing “the second, third and fourth years on Lingjiuding Hill”, the word “fourth” appears only in the Song, Yuan and Ming editions and not in the edition on which the Taishō canon is based; on the latter reading, this sutra records no place for the fourth year. Taishō Canon
Dating
Year 4 after the Awakening, the Buddha aged thirty-eight, during the rains retreat; the place is given by the later commentaries, and only the year is known.
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
Stated in the canonical text (the text itself gives the time); 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 AN-a
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Bv-a，序分
- 大正藏大正藏 T04 no.194 p.144b
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 AN-a，PTS 2.125
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Bv-a