Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v2.c35.23

v2.c35.23

The Samyutta account⁷ gives more details and differs in some respects from the above. There, Vakkali fell ill while on his way to visit the Buddha at Rājagaha, and was carried in a litter to a potter's shed in Rājagaha. There, at his request, the Buddha visited him and comforted him. He questioned Vakkali, who assured him that he had no cause to reprove himself with regard to morals (*sīlato*); his only worry was that he had not been able to see the Buddha earlier. The Buddha told him that seeing the Dhamma was equivalent to seeing him, and because Vakkali had realized the Dhamma, there would be no hereafter for him. After the Buddha had left, Vakkali asked his attendants to take him to Kālasilā on Isigili. The Buddha was on Gijjhakūṭa and was told by two devas that Vakkali was about to "obtain release." The Buddha sent word to him: "Fear not, Vakkali, your dying will not be evil." Vakkali rose from his bed to receive the Buddha's message, and sending word to the Buddha that he had no desire or love for the body or the other *khandhas*, he drew a knife and killed himself. The Buddha went to see his body, and declared that he had obtained Nibbāna and that Māra's attempt to find the consciousness of Vakkali would prove useless.