The Chinese says: “In the seventh year, in the country of Juyeni, he taught the Pratyutpanna Sutra to Bhadrapāla Bodhisattva and seven others.” That is, in the seventh year, in the country of Juyeni, he taught the Pratyutpanna Sutra (a Mahāyāna sutra) to the eight headed by Bhadrapāla Bodhisattva. The place recorded in this sutra differs from the Heaven of the Thirty-three recorded in the and in the Chinese Sengqieluocha suoji jing. Taishō Canon
Different Accounts
Where the Buddha was in the seventh year: the later commentaries and the Chinese Sengqieluocha suoji jing have the Heaven of the Thirty-three; the Chinese Shi'er you jing has the country of Juyeni.
More differences between accounts (1)
The Chinese Shi'er you jing counts the time beneath the tree in the year of the Awakening, from the eighth day of the fourth month to the fifteenth day of the seventh month, as “the first year”; its way of counting years differs from the one used here, so the year numbers in that sutra cannot be converted directly into “Year N after the Awakening”.
Dating
This entry sets out, for comparison, the record for the seventh year in the Chinese Shi'er you jing, and is placed in Year 7 after the Awakening (the Buddha aged forty-one); the year number is stated in the text, but the “year” of that sutra differs from the reckoning used here.
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
- 大正藏大正藏 T04 no.195 p.147a
- 大正藏大正藏 T04 no.194 p.144b
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 AN-a
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Bv-a
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Vajirabuddhi
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 《Vajirabuddhi-ṭīkā》