The non-Buddhists challenge the Buddha to a contest of supernormal powers; the Buddha performs a great miracle at Sāvatthī, the non-Buddhists scatter, and the assembled crowd hears the Dhamma and benefits. According to the later commentaries of the Southern tradition, the place was beneath a mango tree planted by a man named Gaṇḍa outside the gate of Sāvatthī, where before a vast crowd fire and water issued alternately from the upper and lower parts of the Buddha's body; the nun Uppalavaṇṇā first asked to perform the miracle in the Buddha's place, and the Buddha did not agree. After the miracle, recalling that all the Buddhas of the past had gone to the Heaven of the Thirty-three to keep the after performing the Twin Miracle, the Buddha ascended to the Heaven of the Thirty-three in three strides.
Different Accounts
Timing: the later commentaries of the Southern tradition have the full moon of , that is, the day of entering the rains retreat; the Chinese Dharmaguptaka Vinaya has the first to the fifteenth day of the twelfth month, with a miracle and a teaching each day; the Chinese Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya says the Buddha promised the king to display supernormal powers seven days later.
More differences between accounts (3)
Occasion: the later commentaries of the Southern tradition and the Chinese Dharmaguptaka Vinaya say the non-Buddhists demanded a contest after Piṇḍola took the bowl and the Buddha laid down the rule; the Chinese Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya says the six non-Buddhist teachers demanded a contest because they had lost their supporters.
The fate of the non-Buddhists: the Chinese Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya says the non-Buddhist teacher Pūraṇa tied a pot of sand around his neck and drowned himself; the Chinese Dharmaguptaka Vinaya says two other non-Buddhists tied great stones to their necks and threw themselves into a deep pool. Taishō Canon
The Chinese Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya says it was King Shengguang (that is, Pasenadi, the king of Kosala) who asked the Buddha to display supernormal powers; the nun Uppalavaṇṇā's request to perform the miracle in his place is found neither in that Vinaya nor in the Chinese Dharmaguptaka Vinaya.
Dating
Year 7 after the Awakening, the Buddha aged forty-one, on the day the rains retreat began; the later commentaries say the full moon of Āsāḷha in the seventh year, so on the commentaries' account it can be fixed to the day, but the Chinese Dharmaguptaka Vinaya records a different month.
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Research Notes: Reliability, Dating and Sources
- How Reliability Is Assessed
Recorded by two schools, the Chinese Dharmaguptaka Vinaya (Sifen lü) and the Chinese Kṣudrakavastu of the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya. Recorded by two schools.
- 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: fixed to the day, month only.
Sources
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 SN-a，§82
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 DN-a，§7
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 MN-a，§286
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Pv-a，§314–5
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Dhp-a
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 AN-a，§170
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 AN-a，§188
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 AN-a，§237
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Thig-a，§223
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Ja-a
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Snp-a，§962
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1451 p.329a–333c
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1451 p.330a
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1428 p.948c–950a
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1428 p.949c
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Namakkāraṭīkā，§19
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 《第六結集問答》
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1451 p.333c
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Ja-a，PTS 1.77
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1428 p.950a
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Ja-a，§133，PTS 4.265
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1428 p.948c
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1421 p.191c