The Chinese says: “In the eighth year, on Willow Mountain, he taught the younger brother of King Tunzhentuoluo.” That is, in the eighth year, on Willow Mountain, he taught the younger brother of King Druma the kinnara (a king of the heavenly musicians). The place this sutra records differs both from Crocodile Hill in the later commentaries and from the realm of spirits in the Chinese Sengqieluocha suoji jing. Taishō Canon
Different Accounts
Where the Buddha was in the eighth year: the later commentaries have the Bhesakaḷā Grove on Crocodile Hill in the country of the Bhaggas; the Chinese Sengqieluocha suoji jing has the realm of spirits; the Chinese Shi'er you jing has Willow Mountain.
More differences between accounts (2)
The Mahāvaṃsa, a chronicle of the , says that in the eighth year the Buddha stayed at the Jetavana; this does not agree with the , so it is placed here only in the appendix.
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 the record of the eighth year in the Chinese Shi'er you jing, placed in Year 8 after the Awakening (the Buddha aged forty-two); the year number is stated in the text, but the text's “years” are counted differently from the method 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