Buddha: His Life, his Doctrine, his Order c8.s2: Chapter V. Buddha's Death

Buddha: His Life, his Doctrine, his Order c8.s2

Language: English

Chapter V. Buddha's Death

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BUDDHA is said to have reached the age of eighty years; forty-four years of this term belong to his public career, to what his followers term his Buddhahood. The year of his death is one of the most firmly fixed dates in ancient Indian history; calculations, by which the sum of possible error is confined within tolerably narrow limits, give as a result, that he died not long before or not long after 480 B.C.

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Regarding the last months of his life and his last great journey from Râjagaha to Kusinârâ, the place of his death, we possess a detailed account in a Sûtra of the sacred Pâli Canon.[*] The external features of this narrative bear for the most part, though perhaps not in every particular,[†] the stamp of trustworthy tradition; in the utterances and addresses of Buddha, most of which convey a clear or covert intimation of his approaching end, fancy has undoubtedly allowed itself freer range. A portion at any rate of the narrative may here be

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[*] The "Mahâparinibbâna Sutta," by which the northern Buddhist versions of this narrative are rendered superfluous. [†] It especially excites distrust, to find that the occurrences at Pâtaliputta and the meeting with Ambapâli ("Childers' Ed.," p. 10 seq.) are narrated at another place in quite a different connection ("Mahâvagga," vi, 28 seq.).

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reproduced, partly in *resumé*, and partly in a verbal translation.

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From Râjagaha, the chief town in the Magadha territory, Buddha goes northward. He crosses the Ganges at the place where the new capital, Pâtaliputta (Παλίβοθρα), is then being built, the chief city of India in the following centuries. Buddha foretells the coming greatness of this town. Then he journeys on to the opulent and brilliant free-town Vesâlî. Near Vesâlî, in the village of Beluva, he dismissed the disciples who were with him, to pass in solitary retirement the three months at the damp period of the year, the last rainy season of his life. At Beluva he was attacked by a severe illness; violent pains seized him, he was near dying. He then bethought him of his disciples. "It becomes me not to enter into Nirvâna, without having addressed those who cared for me, without speaking to the community of my followers. I shall conquer this illness by my power, and hold life fast within me." Then the Exalted One subdued the sickness by his power and held the life fast within him. And the illness of the Exalted One vanished. And the Exalted One recovered from his sickness and soon after, when he had recovered from his sickness, he went out of the house and sat down in the shade of the house, on the seat which was prepared for him. Thereupon the venerable Ânanda went to the Exalted One: when he was near him and had made his salutations to the Exalted One, he sat down beside him; sitting by his side, the worthy Ânanda spake to the Exalted One thus: "Sire, I see that the Exalted One is well; I see, sire, that the Exalted One is better. All nerve had left me, sire; I was faint; my senses failed me because of the sickness of the Exalted One. But still I had one consolation, sire: the Exalted One will not enter Nirvâna, until he has declared his purpose concerning the body of his followers." "What need hath the body of my followers of me now, Ânanda? I have declared the Doctrine, Ânanda, and I have made no distinction between within and without; the Perfect One has not, Ânanda, been a forgetful teacher of the Doctrine. He, Ânanda, who says: I will rule over the Church, or let the Church be subject to me, he, O Ânanda, might declare his will in the Church. The Perfect One, however, O Ânanda, does not say: I will rule over the Church, or let the Church be subject to me. What shall the Perfect One declare, Ânanda, to be his purpose regarding the Church? I am now frail, Ânanda, I am aged, I am an old man, who has finished his pilgrimage and reached old age; eighty years old am I. . . . Be ye to yourselves, Ânanda, your own light, your own refuge; seek no other refuge. Let the truth be your light and your refuge, seek no other refuge . . . . . whosoever now, Ânanda, or after my departure shall be his own light, his own refuge, and shall seek no other refuge, whosoever taketh the truth as his light and his refuge and shall seek no other refuge, such will henceforth Ânanda, be my true disciples, who walk in the right path.”

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Buddha now goes on to Vesâlî and makes his usual begging excursion through the town. Here Mâra comes to him and calls on him to enter at once into Nirvâna. Buddha repels him, saying, “give thyself no trouble on that score, thou evil one. After a short time the Nirvâna of the Perfect One will be accomplished; three months hence will the Perfect One enter Nirvâna.” And Buddha dismisses the volition which atttached life to himself: earthquakes and thunderings accompany his resolution to enter into Nirvâna.

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In the evening Buddha sends for all the monks, who are tarrying in the neighbourhood of Vesâlî, and he seats himself in the midst of them and he addresses them :—

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“Learn ye then fully, O my disciples, that knowledge which I have attained and have declared unto you, and walk ye in it, practice and increase, in order that this path of holiness may last and long endure, for the blessing of many people, for the joy of many people, to the relief of the world, to the welfare, the blessing, the joy of gods and men. And what, O disciples, is the knowledge which I have attained and have declared unto you, which you are to learn fully, walk in it, practice and increase, in order that this path of holiness may last and long endure, for the blessing of many people, for the joy of many people, to the relief of the world, to the welfare, the blessing, the joy of gods and men? It is the four-fold vigilance, the four-fold right effort, the four-fold holy strength, the five organs, the five powers, the seven members of knowledge, the sacred eight-fold path. This, O disciples, is the knowledge which I have attained, and have declared unto you,” etc.

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And the Exalted One spake further to the monks: “Hearken, ye monks, I say unto you: all earthly things are transitory; strive on without ceasing. In a short time the Perfect One will attain Nirvâna; three months hence will the Perfect One enter Nirvâna.”

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Thus spake the Exalted One: when the Perfect One had thus said, the Master further spake as follows:—

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“My existence is ripening to its close, the end of my life is near.
I go hence, ye remain behind; the place of refuge is ready for me.
Be watchful without intermission, walk evermore in holiness;
Aye resolute and aye prepared keep ye, O disciples, your minds.
He who evermore walks without stumbling, true to the word of truth,
Struggles into freedom from birth and death, presses through to the end of all suffering.”

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On the following day Buddha once more makes a begging excursion through Vesâlî, then looks back upon the town for the last time and sets out with a large concourse of disciples for Kusinârâ,* which he had chosen as the place for his entry into Nirvâna. On the way that sickness, which was to terminate his life, attacked him at Pâvâ. Our text, with a naïveté far removed from modern affectation, has in the course of the narrative of Buddha's last addresses, preserved to us the information that his illness was brought on by eating pork, which Cunda, the son of a goldsmith at Pâvâ, put before him.

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Buddha journeys on, sick and weary, to Kusinârâ. A few verses, of which this journey is the subject, have come down to us:—

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"Travel-worn came Buddha to the river Kakutthâ,†
Peaceful, pure, with clear waters,
Down into the water went the Master, weary,
The supreme Perfect One, without equal.
When he had bathed, the Master drank of the river
And went up out of it with the bands of his disciples,
The holy Master, the preacher of the truth,
The sage went on to the mango grove.
Then spake he to Cunda, the monk: Fold me
My robe in four folds, that I may lay me down.
And Cunda did cheerfully as the Master bade him;
He quickly spread out the robe folded in four folds.
There the Master laid himself down, the weary one,
And Cunda also sat down beside him."‡

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∗ Now Kasia, east of Goruckpore, on the Chota Gandak. Cunningham, "Ancient Geography of India," 430.

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† On the way between Pâvâ and Kusinârâ. According to Cunningham (l. c. 435) the Kakutthâ is the small stream Badhi or Barhi, which flows into the Chota Gandak, eight English miles below Kasia.

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‡ These very old verses, which plainly and truly depict a plain situation, belong beyond all doubt to the most trustworthy reminiscences, which we have of Buddha's life. In the face of the wild phantasms of later works like the "Lalita Vistara," they should not be forgotten by those, who are in doubt as to whether the biography before them is that of a man or of a sun-hero.

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At last Buddha arrives at Kusinârâ. There lay on the bank of the river Hiranyavatî (Chota Gandak) a grove of sâl trees. "Go, Ânanda," says Buddha, "and prepare a bed for me between two twin trees, with my head to the north. I am tired, Ânanda; I shall lie down."

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It was not the season for sâl trees to bloom, but these two twin trees were covered with blossoms from crown to foot. Buddha laid himself down under the blooming trees, like a lion taking his rest, and blossoms fell down on him; a shower of flowers fell from heaven; and heavenly melodies sounded over head, in honour of the dying saint.

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"Then spake the Exalted One to the venerable Ânanda: Although this is not the time for flowers, Ânanda, yet are these two twin trees completely decked with blossoms, and flowers are falling, showering, streaming down on the body of the Perfect One, . . . heavenly melodies are sounding in the air, in honour of the Perfect One. But to the Perfect One belongeth another honour, another glory, another reward, another homage, other reverence. Whosoever, Ânanda, male disciple or female follower, lay-brother, or lay-sister, lives in the truth in matters both great and small, and lives according to the ordinance and also walks in the truth in details, these bring to the Perfect One the highest honour, glory, praise, and credit. Therefore, Ânanda, must ye practise, thinking: Let us live in the truth in matters great and small, and let us live according to the ordinance and walk in the truth also in details."

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But Ânanda went into the house and wept, saying: "I am not yet free from impurities, I have not yet reached the goal, and my master, who takes pity on me, will soon enter into Nirvâna." Then Buddha sent one of the disciples to him, saying: "Go, O disciple, and say to Ânanda in my name; the Master wishes to speak with thee, friend Ânanda." Thereupon Ânanda went in to the Master, bowed himself before him, and sat down beside him. But Buddha said to him: "Not so, Ânanda, weep not, sorrow not. Have I not ere this said to thee, Ânanda, that from all that man loves and from all that man enjoys, from that must man part, must give it up, and tear himself from it. How can it be, Ânanda, that that which is born, grows, is made, which is subject to decay, should not pass away? That cannot be. But thou, Ânanda, hast long honoured the Perfect One, in love and kindness, with cheerfulness, loyally and unwearyingly, in thought, word and deed. Thou hast done well, Ânanda; only strive on, soon wilt thou be free from impurities."

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When night came on, the Mallas, the nobles of Kusinârâ, went out in streams to the sâl grove with their wives and children, to pay their respects for the last time to the dying Master. Subhadda, a monk of another sect, who had desired to speak with Buddha, turned to him as the last of the converts who have seen the Master in the flesh.

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Buddha, shortly before his departure, said to Ânanda: "It may be, Ânanda, that ye shall say: the Word has lost its master, we have no master more. Ye must not think thus, Ânanda. The law, Ânanda, and the ordinance, which I have taught and preached unto ye, these are your master when I am gone hence."

Linked texts (2)

Mahāvagga — Pāli
Mahāparinibbānasutta — Pāli