Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v1.c7.391

v1.c7.391

That the Buddha’s death was a great blow to him is shown by the stanzas he uttered immediately after the event.⁹⁵ Three months earlier he had heard for the first time that death of the Buddha was near at hand and had besought him to live longer. The reply attributed to the Buddha is a curious one, namely, that on several previous occasions, at Rājagaha and at Vesālī,⁹⁶ he had mentioned to Ānanda that he could, if he so desired, live for a whole *kappa*, and had hinted that Ānanda should, if he felt so inclined, request him to prolong his life. Ānanda, however, having failed to take the hint on these occasions, the opportunity was now past, and the Buddha must die; the fault was entirely Ānanda’s.⁹⁷ It was when Ānanda was temporarily absent from the Buddha’s side that the Buddha had assured Māra that he would die in three months.⁹⁸