As a youth Viḍūḍabha entered a newly built assembly hall of the Sakyans and was reviled as the son of a slave woman, and swore to take revenge once he became king. After his accession he sent troops against Kapilavatthu; the Buddha sat beforehand by the roadside beneath a tree with sparse leaves and said, “the shade of one's kin is better than any other shade”, and Viḍūḍabha therefore withdrew; this was repeated several times, until at last the Buddha, knowing that past kamma could not be changed, went no more. Viḍūḍabha stormed the city and slaughtered the Sakyans; Mahānāma (a leader of the Sakyans) asked the king to let people escape for as long as he stayed under water, and drowned, and the king, struck with remorse, released the remaining Sakyans. On his way back, within seven days, Viḍūḍabha was destroyed by flood or by fire. Taishō Canon
More sources (4)
Different Accounts
How many times the Buddha dissuaded him: the later commentary on the Dhammapada of the Southern tradition says three times, and the fourth time he did not go; the Chinese Dharmaguptaka and Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinayas record Viḍūḍabha withdrawing after the Buddha's dissuasion and then sending troops again.
More differences between accounts (3)
Viḍūḍabha's death: the Chinese Mahīśāsaka Vinaya says he went by boat onto the Ayi river, and on the seventh day the river rose and capsized him; the Chinese Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya says he was burned to death after seven days and fell into the hell of greatest suffering; the later commentaries of the Southern tradition say he camped by a river and was swept into the sea by a flood. Taishō Canon
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The Buddha's teaching: the Chinese Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya says the Buddha taught the Sakyans, and many and attained the various stages of realization; the Chinese Ekottarika Āgama says the Buddha taught the captive Sakyan women, who attained the . Another record says those who fled to Nepāla (present-day Nepal) were Ānanda's kin. Taishō Canon
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Timing: the later commentaries of the Southern tradition, the Chinese Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya and the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya all say it happened in the Buddha's lifetime; one modern scholar holds that it was shortly after the Buddha's passing.
Dating
Estimated in Year 45 after the Awakening (the Buddha aged seventy-nine to eighty). The canonical texts say only that it was in the Buddha's last years; the later commentaries of the Southern tradition narrate this event after King Pasenadi's death, so it is placed in the same year, but this is only inferred from the sequence of events and cannot be fixed.
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Research Notes: Reliability, Dating and Sources
- How Reliability Is Assessed
The episode of “Viḍūḍabha destroying the Sakyans” is recorded by three schools: the Chinese Dharmaguptaka Vinaya (Sifen lü), the Chinese Mahīśāsaka Vinaya (Wufen lü) and the Chinese Kṣudrakavastu of the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya. Attested across multiple schools. The “Buddha's dissuasion beneath the roadside tree” within it is recorded by three schools.
- Dating Evidence and Precision
Inferred from the sequence of events (neither the canonical texts nor the commentaries give the time; the year is worked out from the order of this event and those around it). Time precision: year uncertain.
Sources
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Dhp-a，PTS 1.337–1.362
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Ja-a，PTS 4.145
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1428 p.860b–861a
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1421 p.141a–c
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1421 p.141c
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1451 p.239b–244a
- 大正藏大正藏 T02 no.125 p.690a–693c
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1425 p.519a
- 大正藏大正藏 T23 no.1440 p.548b
- 大正藏大正藏 T04 no.198 p.188a
- 大正藏大正藏 T03 no.156 p.151c–152b
- 大正藏大正藏 T04 no.211 p.591a
- 大正藏大正藏 T04 no.212 p.624b
- 大正藏大正藏 T04 no.203 p.451a–496a
- 轉引自現代整理本轉引自現代整理本
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1428 p.861a
- 大正藏大正藏 T23 no.1447 p.1057a
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1451 p.239c
- 大正藏大正藏 T02 no.125 p.693a
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1451 p.242a
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1451 p.243c
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1425 p.860bVerified location: 大正藏 T22 no.1428 p.860b