XXI. The Death of Buddha

Buddhist Scriptures, by E.J. Thomas, [1913], at sacred-texts.com

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XXI

THE DEATH OF BUDDHA

Kusinārā (now Kasia), to which Buddha journeyed after recovering from his sickness, was in the Mallian country, about 140 miles east of Sāvatthi; and it was there where he gave his last instructions and passed away. In the stages of mystic ecstasy described below, the first four are called jhānas, or mystic meditations. These are the four lower stages, in which the person meditating is still distinct from the object. They will be found described in Rhys Davids’ Buddhism, p. 175. The four higher stages, in which the thinker and object are identified, are called attainments, but there are really eight attainments corresponding to the eight degrees. These eight stages correspond to the higher divisions of the universe. The universe consists of three great divisions, kāmāvacara, the domain of sensual desire, rūpāvacara, the world of form in four degrees, corresponding to the four degrees of jhāna, and the formless world, to which correspond the four higher degrees of ecstasy.

Then the Lord said to the elder Ānanda, "It may be, Ānanda, that you may think, 'Passed away is the utterance of the Master, we have a Master no more.' Not so, Ānanda, is it to be so regarded. The doctrine and discipline which have been taught and laid down by me is the

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[paragraph continues] Master after my departure. And as now, Ānanda, the brethren address one another as 'friend' [āvuso], after my departure they are not so to address them. An elder brother is to address a younger brother by his name, or family name, or the term 'friend,' and a younger brother is to address an elder brother as 'reverend sir' [bhante], or 'elder' [āyasmā]. Let the assembly, Ānanda, if it so wish, after my death, abolish some commands of minor importance. On Channa, Ānanda, after my departure the brahma-punishment is to be imposed." "What, reverend sir, is the brahma-punishment?" "The brother Channa, Ānanda, may say what he wishes, he is not to be addressed by the brethren, nor admonished, nor instructed."

Then the Lord addressed the brethren, "It may be, that even a single brother may be in doubt or uncertainty about the Buddha or the doctrine or the path or the course of conduct. Ask, brethren; do not with regret say afterwards, 'The Master was face to face with us, and we could not ask the Lord face to face.'" At these words the brethren were silent. [A second time and a third time the Lord thus addressed the brethren.] And even a third time the brethren were silent. Then the Lord addressed the brethren, "It may be, brethren, that you do not ask out of reverence for the Master; let a friend tell it to his friend." At these words the brethren

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were silent. Then the elder Ānanda addressed the Lord, "Wonderful, reverend sir, marvellous, reverend sir, in this assembly of brethren there is not even a single brother who is in doubt or uncertainty about the Buddha, or the doctrine, or the assembly, or the path, or the course of conduct." "With faith, Ānanda, have you spoken, and in this matter, Ānanda, the Tathāgata has the knowledge that in this assembly not even a single brother is in doubt or uncertainty about the Buddha, or the doctrine, or the assembly, or the path, or the course of conduct. For in this assembly of five hundred brethren the lowest brother has entered the stream, is not liable to be born in a lower state of existence, is sure, and destined to attain perfect knowledge." Then the Lord addressed the brethren, "Well then, brethren, I now exhort you. Impermanent are compound things; strive with earnestness." These were the last words of the Tathāgata.

Then the Lord reached the first Ecstasy, and ascending from the first he reached the second, from the second he reached the third, and from the third he reached the fourth. From the fourth he reached the abode of infinite space, from the Attainment of the abode of infinite space he reached the abode of infinite consciousness, from the Attainment of the abode of infinite consciousness he reached the abode of nothingness, from the Attainment of the abode of

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nothingness he reached the abode of neither perception nor non-perception, and from the Attainment of the abode of neither perception nor non-perception he reached the destruction of sensation and perception. Then the elder Ānanda addressed the elder Anuruddha, "Reverend Anuruddha, the Lord has attained Nirvana." "No, friend Ānanda, the Lord has not attained Nirvana, he has attained the destruction of sensation and perception." Then the Lord from the Attainment of the destruction of sensation and perception reached the abode of neither perception nor non-perception, from the Attainment of the abode of neither perception nor non-perception he reached the abode of nothingness, from the Attainment of the abode of nothingness he reached the abode of infinite consciousness, from the Attainment of the abode of infinite consciousness he reached the abode of infinite space, from the Attainment of the abode of infinite space he reached the fourth Ecstasy, from the fourth the third, from the third the second, from the second the first, from the first the second, from the second the third, and from the third the fourth, and immediately after ascending from the fourth the Lord attained Nirvana.

When the Lord attained Nirvana, at the time of the Nirvana, there was a great shaking of the earth, terrifying and frightful, and the drums of the gods resounded. When the Lord attained

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[paragraph continues] Nirvana, at the time of the Nirvana, Brahma Sahampati uttered this verse:

When the Lord attained Nirvana, at the time of the Nirvana, Sakka, king of the gods, uttered this verse:

When the Lord attained Nirvana, at the time of the Nirvana, the elder Anuruddha uttered these verses:

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[paragraph continues] When the Lord attained Nirvana, at the time of the Nirvana the elder Ānanda uttered this verse:

Footnotes

116:1 Samussayam, "The result of the temporary collocation of the aggregations (khandha) of mental and material qualities which give to each being . . . its outward and visible shape, its individuality. Loka is here not the world in our sense, but the locality in the Buddhist universe which such an individual occupies until it is dissolved."—Prof. Rhys Davids.

117:1 A Buddha has thirty-two marks or signs on his body, and eighty minor marks. Some of these are distinguishable in statues of Buddha, e.g. the conical protuberance of the skull, and the hair in short curls, which is represented by small knobs on the head. At the Great Renunciation he cut his hair short, and it remained two fingers long for life.

The powers spoken of by Brahma are the ten powers of a Buddha. See the list on p. 90.