Tribes in Ancient India c53.151

c53.151

It was at the Mallian city of Pāvā that the Buddha ate his last meal at the house of Cunda, the smith, and fell ill. Though in pain, the Buddha went to the rival Mallian city of Kuśīnārā. When he felt that his last moment was fast approaching, he sent Ānanda with a message to the Mallas of Kuśīnārā who had then assembled in their *Santhāgāra* (Council-Hall) for some public affair. On receipt of the news, they flocked to the Sāla grove where the Buddha was, with their young men, girls and wives, ‘being grieved and sad and afflicted at heart’. The venerable Ānanda caused them ‘to stand in groups, each family in a group,’ and presented them to the Buddha.² After his last exhortations to the assembled brethren to work out their salvation with diligence, the Buddha entered into *parinirvāṇa*.