Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v1.c14.1005

v1.c14.1005

⁶² The concluding passage of the Mahāparinibbāna Sutta (D. ii. 167) states that the Buddha’s relics were eight measures, seven of which were honoured in Jambudīpa and the remaining one in the Nāga realm in Rāmagāma. One tooth was in heaven, one in Gandhāra, a third in Kālīṅga (later taken to Ceylon), and a fourth in the Nāga world. Ajātasutta’s share was deposited in a thūpa and forgotten. It was later discovered by Asoka (with the help of Sakka) and distributed among his eighty-four thousand monasteries. Asoka also recorded the finding of all the other relics except those deposited in Rāmagāma. These were later deposited in the Mahācetiya at Anurādhapura (Mhv. xxxi, 17 ff.). Other relics are also mentioned, such as the Buddha’s collar-bone, his alms bowl, etc. (Mhv. xvii. 9 ff.; Mhv. i. 37, etc.).