Mahidol University (2016) An Illustrated Life of The Buddha

AN ILLUSTRATED LIFE OF
THE BUDDHA
(Text: h;ps://www.mahidol.ac.th/budsir/MenuEng.htm
Pictures: h;p://84000.org/ pitaka/picture/f00.html)
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Chapter 1. Devas invita on to the Bodhisa;a for
becoming enlightened as the Buddha.
(p. 1)
Chapter 2. T h e Bodhisa;as acceptance; being born
among a royal family in Kapilava;hu.
(p. 3)
Chapter 3. The Bodhisa;a takes seven step on his birth in
the Lumbini forest.
(p. 7)
Chapter 4. Asce c Asitas visit, paying reverence to the
Bodhisa;a.
(p. 11)
Chapter 5. The Brahmins perform a ceremony for the
Infant Prince Siddha;ha.
(p. 15)
Chapter 6. T h e Bodhisa;as Grst a;ainment under a
jambolan tree.
(p. 19)
Chapter 7. The Prince strings and Gres a heavy arrow at
the arms contest.
(p. 23)
C h a p t e r 8 . P r i n c e S i d d h a ;h a a n d P r i n c e s s
Bimbayasodharas marriage held by the king. (p. 27)
Chapter 9. Prince Siddha;ha saw four divines. (p. 31)
Chapter 10. While having a bath, the Prince was informed
his sons birth.
(p. 35)
Chapter 11. The Prince oJers a necklace to Kisa Gotami.
(p. 39)
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Table of Contents
Chapter 12. The Prince feel despondent and decides to

leave.
(p. 43)
Chapter 13. The Prince goes to see the sleeping Princess
Bimba in case of leaving.
(p. 47)
Chapter 14. Channa prepares the steed Kanthaka for the
Prince to lead on his going forth.
(p. 51)
Chapter 15. Mara lies the Prince hell inherit an empire.
(p. 55)
Chapter 16. The Bodhisa;a cuts oJ his hair for ordina on
at Anoma River.
(p. 59)
Chapter 17. T h e Bodhisa;a walks through Rajagaha;
everyone talks about him.
(p. 63)
Chapter 18. King Bimbisara visits the Buddha asking him
to return aer his enlightenment.
(p. 67)
Chapter 19. The Bodhisa;a studies with the recluse Alara;
Gnding unenlightened, further his journey.
(p. 71)
Chapter 20. The Bodhisa;a arrives at Uruvela Senanigama
to undertake his prac ce.
(p. 75)
Chapter 21. The Bodhisa;a undertakes self torture with
Gve disciples.
(p. 79)
Chapter 22. Sujata oJers milk rice to the Bodhisa;a.
(p. 83)
Chapter 23. A naga king realizes the Buddha enlighten
because of his tray.
(p. 87)
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Table of Contents
Chapter 24. The Bodhisa;a receives sheaves of glass from

the Brahmin So;hiya.
(p. 91)
Chapter 25. The Bodhisa;a sits under the bodhi seat;
Mara and his armies drive him.
(p. 95)
Chapter 26. Mother Earth squeezes her hair, making a
great ocean sweep away Maras armies.
(p. 99)
Chapter 27. The Buddha is enlightened at dawn; the devas
dance in his honor.
(p. 103)
Chapter 28. Maras daughters try luring the Buddha in
vain.
(p. 107)
Chapter 29. A naga king coils around the Buddha.
(p. 111)
Chapter 30. The Four Great Kings oJer the Buddha a
bowl.
(p. 115)
Chapter 31. Two merchants oJer the Buddha dried rice
cakes.
(p. 119)
Chapter 32. The Buddha is disinclined to teach, but
Sahampa Brahma requests him.
(p. 123)
Chapter 33. ReMec ng on diJerent natural beings, the
Buddha accepts the invita on.
(p. 127)
Chapter 34. The Buddha meets Upaka the asce c on the
way to teach the Gve disciples.
(p. 131)
Chapter 35. The Gve disciples decline to see the Buddha,
but Gnally change their minds.
(p. 135)
iii
Table of Contents
Chapter 36. The Buddha gives Gve disciples the Grst

sermon; the Turning of the Wheel of Dhamma. (p. 139)
Chapter 37. Yasa meets the Buddha and receives a
teaching at the Deer Park.
(p. 143)
Chapter 38. The Buddha ignores Uruvela Kassapa
warnings of a Gerce naga.
(p. 147)
Chapter 39. The Buddha subdues the naga king and
presents to the asce c.
(p. 151)
Chapter 40. The Buddhas dwelling miraculously escapes a
heavy Mood.
(p. 155)
Chapter 41. Uruvela Kassapa announces himself the
Buddhas disciple.
(p. 159)
Chapter 42. King Bimbisara oJers the Buddha the
Bamboo Grove as the Grst Buddhist Monastery.
(p. 163)
Chapter 43. The king performs merit to his ancestors
reborn as petas.
(p. 167)
Chapter 44. Venerables Moggallana and Saripu;a request
for ordina on.
(p.171)
Chapter 45. The Buddha gives the Ovadapamokkha
discourse to Arahats assembly on Magha Puja Day
(p. 175)
Chapter 46. The Buddha teaches his rela ves in
Kapilava;hu.
(p. 179)
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Table of Contents
Chapter 47. The Buddha shows his rela ves the

supernormal powers.
(p. 183)
Chapter 48. The Buddha goes for alms; Bimbayasodhara
told Rahula to see his father.
(p. 187)
Chapter 49. King Suddhodana invites the Buddha to take
the meal.
(p. 191)
Chapter 50. Princess Bimba pines over the Buddha; he
goes to see her in her palace.
(p. 195)
Chapter 51. Nanda accompanies the Buddha back to the
monastery.
(p. 199)
Chapter 52. Rahula expresses love and devo on to the
Buddha.
(p. 203)
Chapter 53. The Buddha bequeaths the treasure of
Nibbana to Rahula.
(p. 207)
Chapter 54. The Buddha guarantees Nanda on prac sing
the Dhamma before a;aining his wish.
(p. 211)
Chapter 55. Devada;a impresses Prince Ajatasa;u with
some psychic powers.
(p. 215)
Chapter 56. Devada;as archers dont kill the Buddha, but
listen to his teaching.
(p. 219)
Chapter 57. Devada;a repents his wrongdoing and asks
for forgiveness.
(p. 223)
Chapter 58. The Buddhas foster mother oJers cloth, the
Buddha gives to Venerable Ajita.
(p. 227)
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Table of Contents
Chapter 59. The Buddha forbids his paternal and maternal

rela ves from warring over the water supply. (p. 231)
Chapter 60. King Suddhodana is ill; the Buddha stays with
him un l a;ains Arahatship and passes away. (p. 235)
Chapter 61. Queen Pajapa
ladies to ordain as nuns.
Gotami leads the Sakyan

(p. 239)
Chapter 62. The Buddha performs miracles to trounce

other asce cs sects.
(p. 243)
Chapter 63. The Buddha spends the rains retreat in the
Tava msa heaven.
(p. 247)
Chapter 64. On Pavarana day, the Buddha descends from
Tava msa heaven.
(p. 251)
Chapter 65. The Buddha opens the worlds, hell beings and
humans to see each other.
(p. 255)
Chapter 66. The Buddha spends a rains retreat at the
palilaya forest.
(p. 259)
Chapter 67. Mara invites the Buddha to pass away on his
45th rains retreat.
(p. 263)
Chapter 68. The Buddha announces to Ananda that hes
renounced his life in three months.
(p. 267)
Chapter 69. The Buddha turns to view Vesali for the last
me aer returning from alms.
(p. 271)
Chapter 70. The sixth lunar month, the Buddha takes his
last meal at Cundas house.
(p. 275)
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Table of Contents
Chapter 71. Traveling to Kusinara, the Buddha is thirsty

and has Ananda fetch water for him.
(p. 279)
Chapter 72. Pukkusapu;a the Mallian passes by and
oJers Gne golden robes.
(p. 283)
Chapter 73. Ananda prepare a place for the Buddha to lie
down.
(p. 287)
Chapter 74. Venerable Ananda stands holding the door
bolt and cries over the Blessed One.
(p. 291)
Chapter 75. The Buddha gives the wanderer Subhadda a
teaching.
(p. 295)
Chapter 76. The Buddha exalts the Teaching and
Discipline before passing away.
(p. 299)
Chapter 77. The unenlightened monk disciples cry on the
Buddhas passing away.
(p. 303)
Chapter 78. Maha Kassapa pays his last respects before
ligh ng up the funeral pyre.
(p. 307)
Chapter 79. Dona the brahmin divides the relics to the
brahmins and lords of eight ci es.
(p. 311)
Chapter 80. Venerable Maha Kassapa and noble monks
convene a great council.
(p. 315)
vii
An Illustrated Life of the Buddha
Picture 1. Devas invita on to the Bodhisa;a for becoming

enlightened as the Buddha.
1
Chapter 1
Devas from all the celes"al realms convene to invite the
Bodhisa%a to take rebirth in order to become
enlightened as the Buddha
When the Bodhisa;a Vessantara passed away he was
reborn, just a li;le before the birth of the Buddha, in the
Dusita deva realm. Devas of the many diJerent realms
convened to discuss who would become the enlightened
Buddha. They all agreed that the Bodhisa;a residing in the
Dusita heaven would be so enlightened, and accordingly
invited him to leave (cu) the deva world and take birth [in
the human realm] in keeping with his vow, in accordance
with which all the perfec ons he had developed
throughout countless life mes were for no other purpose
than the a;ainment of Buddhahood.
[toc]
Picture 2. The Bodhisa;as acceptance; being born among

a royal family in Kapilava;hu.
3
Chapter 2
Accep"ng the invita"on, the Bodhisa%a descends to take
concep"on among a royal family in Kapilava%hu
This picture depicts the Bodhisa;a, later Prince
Siddha;ha and the Buddha, coming down from the Dusita
heaven in order to enter the womb of his mother. The day
he came down and took concep on was the Geenth day
of the waxing moon of the eighth lunar month, at which
me King Suddhodana, his father, and Queen Mahamaya,
his mother, were newly married.
On that same night, as Queen Mahamaya lay sleeping on
her bed, she dreamt that she was in a forest in the
Himalaya Mountains, and a white elephant descended
from the mountains and approached her. In the
Pathamasambodhi this event is described thus:
"There was a white elephant ... who lied its trunk, in
which was held a freshly blooming white lotus of waing
fragrance, roared loudly and entered into the golden
palace. It reverently circumambulated the sleeping Queen
4
three
mes and then seemed to enter into the Queen's
belly on the right side... "

Later the palace seers predicted that it was an auspicious
omen, foretelling the birth of a son. And when the Queen
became pregnant, the Pathamasambodhi describes the
Bodhisa;a in his mother's womb as follows:
"... like a yellow thread wound around a clear jewel. When
she wanted to, she could see her son siTng in medita on
posture, with his face toward the surface of her belly, like
a golden statue lying in a bud of lotus petals. But the
Bodhisa;a did not see his mother...."
The day the Bodhisa;a descended to his mother's womb,
the poet who composed the story in his honor stated that
the same kind of miracles arose as on the occasion of the
Buddha's birth, enlightenment, and Grst teaching, diJering
only in minor details. For example, a celes al drum
resounded throughout the heavens, blind people regained
their sight, and deaf people regained their hearing.
If we were to bring the story from the tradi on of
literature into the historical tradi on, we may interpret the
"magical drum" of this story as being a sign of the
5
Buddha's glory, which would cover the en re world. The

blind and deaf people are symbols of people with
deGlements who, on hearing the Buddha's teaching, would
lose their "blindness" and "deafness," obtaining wisdom of
the way out of suJering.
[toc]
Picture 3. The Bodhisa;a takes seven step on his birth in

the Lumbini forest.
7
Chapter 3
T h e Bodhisa%a takes seven steps on his birth in the
Lumbini forest
This picture illustrates the Bodhisa;a's birth. Those who
have read the Pathamasambodhi and seen the wall
pain ngs in the uposatha halls will recognize the picture
clearly.
The baby we see in the picture is Prince Siddha;ha, the
future Buddha. As soon as he emerged from his mother's
womb he took seven steps, holding up his right hand and
making a declara on as he did so. Lotuses sprang up
beneath his feet to receive his steps. The words he
u;ered on that occasion are recorded by the poet in the
Pali language. Here I translate them into Thai:
"I will be the greatest person in this world, with no equal.
This will be my last birth, I will not be born again in
future."
The ladies siTng and kneeling around the infant are the
a;endants of Queen Maya. She is the lady standing
8
behind the Prince with her back to the tree. Her right
hand is holding one of the tree's branches. The big tree is
a sal tree, which we used to translate into Thai as "rang" or
"teng rang," a tree commonly found in Thai forests, but
which we have now come to know is not the "rang" tree
and in fact is not to be found in Thai forests. It is a tree
which is found in India and used by Indians to build
houses, common in the Himalaya foothills.
The place where the Bodhisa;a was born is known as
Lumbini, outside the town of Kapilava;hu. It is now in the
country of Nepal.
Here I will insert a small aside. The Buddha's rela ves
came from two ci es, Kapilava;hu and Devadaha.
Kapilava;hu was the city of the Buddha, while Devadaha
was the city of his mother. The Buddha's father lived in
Kapilava;hu, while his mother originally lived in
Devadaha. The kings and rela ves of these two ci es
were related as a result of the royal marriage.
As the
me for Queen Mahamaya's delivery drew near,
she took leave of her husband, King Suddhodana, to give

birth to their child in the city of her own family. She had
9
gone only part of the way when the labor pains began,
and she gave birth then and there.
The date of the Prince's birth was the full moon day of the
sixth lunar month.
[toc]
10
Picture 4. Asce c Asitas visit, paying reverence to the

Bodhisa;a.
11
Chapter 4
Asita the asce"c pays a visit; seeing the baby's auspicious
features, he pays reverence
This picture depicts the infant not long aer his birth,
when his father had heard the news that Queen Maya had
given birth to a son at the Lumbini garden and asked her
to come back.
The man with the turbaned hair and hands raised to his
chest is Asita the asce c, also known as Kaladevin. This
asce c was as a recluse living in the Himalaya mountains.
He was revered by King Suddhodana and the royal family
and was a familiar face to them.
When he heard that King Suddhodana, the king of
Kapilava;hu, had a new son, he le his ashram in the
Himalayas and went to visit the palace to give his
blessings. King Suddhodana was overjoyed when he heard
that the asce c had come to visit, and immediately invited
him to take a seat while he fetched his son to pay
reverence to the asce c.
12
As soon as the asce c saw Prince Siddha;ha, he did three

things that are unusual for a homeless one (samana): he
smiled, or, according to the poe c descrip on given in the
Pathamasambodhi, laughed, then he cried, and then he
owed at the feet of Prince Siddha;ha.
He smiled because he saw that the features of Prince
Siddha;ha conformed with the legend of the "features of
a Great Being" (mahapurisalakkhana). He knew that with
such features, if Prince Siddha;ha stayed on in worldly life
he would be a Universal Emperor of great power, but if he
le the worldly life he would become the greatest
religious founder in the world. He cried because he
believed that Prince Siddha;ha would certainly leave the
worldly life and, thinking of this, and reMec ng on his own
advanced age, was saddened at his lack of fortune in not
having the chance to listen to the Buddha's teaching. He
bowed to the newly born Prince for the same reason.
When the heads of the royal families heard the news that
the asce c had bowed to the infant Prince, they all felt
even more reverence for the infant, and so oJered their
13
sons as a;endants to Prince Siddha;ha, one from each

family.
[toc]
14
Picture 5. The Brahmins perform a ceremony for the

Infant Prince Siddha;ha.
15
Chapter 5
The Brahmins perform a ceremony for the infant Prince,
naming him Siddha%ha
When the infant Prince had been born Gve days, King
Suddhodana called a great mee ng. At the mee ng were
the royal rela ves, both on the father's and mother's
sides, the royal advisers, ministers, and Brahmins who
were versed in the Vedas. The mee ng was held to
perform two auspicious ceremonies for the infant Prince:
a naming ceremony and a predic on ceremony. There
were altogether 108 Brahmins to conduct the ceremony,
but only eight of them were to ac vely perform the
ceremony. The others were present as observers. The
eight Brahmins were named as follows:
1. Rama
2. Lakkhana
3. Yanna
4. Dhuja
5. Bhoja
16
6. Suda;a
7. Suyama
8. Kondanna
The mee ng passed a resolu on that the child was to be
named "Siddha;ha", an auspicious name having two
meanings. One meaning is "He who a;ains everything he
wishes." Another interpreta on is, as the Grst-born son,
"fulGlling the wishes" of his father. In simple terms, King
Suddhodana had obtained his Grst son in fulGllment of his
wishes. In India during that me people were not usually
referred to by their give names but by their clan names
(go;a), which correspond with the surnames of our mes.
Thus the Prince was usually referred to as Prince Gotama,
or simply Gotama.
Also at the ceremony, the eight Brahmins made
predic ons based on the features of the infant Prince.
Their predic ons fell into two groups. Seven of the
Brahmins, from the Grst to the seventh named above,
were in agreement in their provisional predic ons that if
the Prince stayed to oversee his royal estate he would
become a Universal Emperor of great power, but if he le
17
the worldly life and became a homeless religious

mendicant he would become enlightened as a Perfectly
Self-enlightened Buddha (sammasambuddha) , t h e
foremost teacher of the world. Only one of the Brahmins,
the younger one, gave the deGnite predic on that the
Prince would leave the home life and become a Buddha.
This Brahmin later became the leader of the "Gve asce cs"
(pancavaggiya) who became religious mendicants in the
Buddha's footsteps, and this Brahmin became the
Buddha's Grst enlightened disciple, familiar to students as
"Anna Kondanna." The remaining seven Brahmins did not
become mendicants because they were all of advanced
age and did not live to see the Buddha leave the palace.
[toc]
18
Picture 6. The Bodhisa;as Grst a;ainment under a

jambolan tree.
19
Chapter 6
Si0ng under a jambolan tree at the royal plowing
ceremony, the Bodhisa%a a%ains 3rst jhana
This picture depicts Prince Siddha;ha at seven years of
age. The King had ordered the digging of three pokkarani
ponds within the palace grounds for the pleasure of his
son. A pokkarani pond is a pond planted with decora ve
lotuses. The king also had arranged sandal for spreading
on the head cloth, shirt, and trousers, all of which were of
the Gnest cloth from Kasi.
This picture depicts the occasion on which the Prince sat
in medita on under a tree referred to in the
Pathamasambodhi as Jambupikkha, which we know as the
jambolan tree. The Prince came to be siTng at this
par cular tree because his father had, in accordance with
royal tradi on, declared that a royal plowing ceremony
was to be held in a Geld outside of Kapilava;hu. The King,
who was to perform the ceremony himself, had his son
the Prince accompany him.
20
Again, we see in this picture that the Prince is siTng

alone. His a;endants and pages are nowhere to be seen,
because they had all gone oJ to watch the ceremony. The
Prince, siTng by himself under the jambolan tree, which
the poet says "was endowed with lush branches and
leaves like a mountain indanil, with broad spread, a shady
place..." The prince's pure heart, endowed with the
poten al for the future a;ainment of Buddhahood, was
moved to calm and naturally went into the level of
concentra on (samadhi) known as Grst absorp on (jhana).
In the aernoon, when the plowing ceremony was over
and the royal a;endants rushed to Gnd the Prince, they
found that the shadow of the tree under which he sat had
remained where it was at midday, not following the
movements of the sun. Amazed, they reported the ma;er
to King Suddhodana, and when the royal father came to
see for himself, he too was amazed, and exclaimed, "When
he was born, and I brought him to pay reverence to the
asce c Kaladevin, he performed the miracle of standing
on the asce c's headdress. I bowed to him for the Grst
21
me on that occasion. Now I bow to him for the second

me."
King Suddhodana made reverence to the Buddha on three
important occasions. The Grst was just aer his birth when
the asce c came to visit and, seeing the asce c make
reverence to his son, he followed suit. The second was
when he saw the miracle under the jambolan tree. The
third was aer the Prince had le home, become
enlightened as the Buddha, and returned for the Grst me
to teach his father.
[toc]
22
Picture 7. The Prince strings and Gres a heavy arrow at the

arms contest.
23
Chapter 7
The Prince strings and 3res a heavy arrow at the contest
of arms, the sound resounding around the city
When Prince Siddha;ha had become a young man, his
father sent him to study the arts [of warfare] at the wellknown center of learning, "Visvami;a." The Prince readily
learned how to use and a bow and arrow and the art of
administra on, so that he quickly learned all that the
teacher had to teach him.
In this picture, Prince Siddha;ha is 16 years old and has
Gnished his studies. His father had ordered the building of
three palaces, one for each of the three seasons, for his
son to live in at his pleasure. The Grst palace was ideal for
the cold season, the second was ideal for the hot season,
(what methods were used to control the temperature in
these palaces is unknown), while the third was ideal for
the rainy season.
The King then had the rela ves on both sides of the royal
family send their eligible daughters for selec on of the
24
prince's future wife. This was because the King wanted to

have his son look aer the royal estate rather than leave
home and become a religious teacher.
But the rela ves felt that the Prince should be allowed to
demonstrate his prowess at his newly learned arts for the
beneGt of his kinsmen, so the King invited all the kin of
the royal family to a gathering in front of a newly built
pavilion in the center of the city to watch the prince's
demonstra on of his archery skills.
The prince's bow was called "Sahasthama", meaning "the
bow that is so heavy it takes a thousand men to li." But
the Prince could li it, according to the Pathamasambodhi,
"as a woman might li a bobbin." When the rela ves
gathered there saw this they were full of praise. Then
when the Prince drew the bow, the sound of the
stretched bow resounded throughout Kapilava;hu, so
that people who had not come to the display and did not
know that the Prince was Gring an arrow, asked each
other what the sound was.
The target that the Prince was aiming for was the fur of a
yak's tail placed some distance away. The Prince Gred the
25
arrow right into he center of the target, as it is said, "with

an eye that was clear and aided by the Gve senses puriGed
of stains." All the rela ves gladly oJered their daughters,
from among whom the Prince would choose his wife.
Among them was Bimbayasodhara.
[toc]
26
P i c t u r e 8 . P r i n c e S i d d h a ;h a a n d P r i n c e s s
Bimbayasodharas marriage held by the king.
27
Chapter 8
The king holds the wedding of Prince Siddha%ha and
Princess Bimbayasodhara
As already stated, the Buddha's rela ves were of two
sides, the mother's and the father's side, and each of
those sides was from a diJerent city. The Rohini River
Mowed between their two lands. The mother's side of the
family was known as the Koliya clan [vamsa] and ruled the
city of Devadaha, while the father's side was known as the
Sakya clan and ruled the city of Kapilava;hu.
The two ci es were closely linked and were like brothers
and sisters of the same family. They had intermarried
oen. In the Buddha's
me, the ruler of Devadaha was
King Suppabuddha, while the ruler of Kapilava;hu was

King Suddhodana.
The wife of King Suppabuddha was Queen Amita, and she
was the younger sister of King Suddhodana. On the other
hand, the wife of King Suddhodana, the Buddha's mother,
was Queen Mahamaya, and she was the younger sister of
28
King Suppabuddha. The two kings had each married each

other's younger sisters. King Suppabuddha had one son
and one daughter to Queen Amita. The son was Prince
Devada;a, the daughter was Princess Bimbayasodhara.
T h e Pathamasambodhi s t a t e s t h a t P r i n c e s s
Bimbayasodhara was one of seven people who are known
as "sahajata" of the Buddha. Sahajata means "that which is
born on the same day." The seven sahajata are:
1. Princess Bimbayasodhara.
2. Venerable Ananda.
3. The Advisor Kaludayi.
4. Channa, the royal page.
5. The horse, Kanthaka.
6. The bodhi tree.
7. The four golden treasures (the shell treasure, the
cardamom treasure, the blue lotus treasure, and the
white lotus treasure).
The rela ves of both sides were agreed that Princess
Bimbayasodhara was replete with the all the necessary
29
quali es and was the right choice as wife for Prince

Siddha;ha. The royal marriage ceremony thus took place
when bride and groom were both sixteen years old.
[toc]
30
Picture 9. Prince Siddha;ha saw four divines.
31
Chapter 9
The trip to the pleasure grove and the four "divine"
messengers: the old man, the sick man, the dead man and
the religious mendicant
King Suddhodana, the prince's father, and all of the royal
rela ves, wished to see Prince Siddha;ha stay on and rule
the royal estate, not leave the home life and become a
religious mendicant as some of the Brahmins had
predicted, so they sought ways to
e the Prince to all
kinds of sensual pleasures. But Prince Siddha;ha was of a

philosophical nature, beGTng a man who was born to
become a great religious teacher, and found pleasure in
these distrac ons for only a short me. When he reached
the age of 29 he began to feel wearied of them.
An important reason for the arising of this feeling in the
Prince was his sigh ng of what are known as the four
"divine messengers" while touring the royal gardens
outside the city on his royal chariot. Of the four divine
32
messengers - an old man, a sick man, a dead man, and a

religious mendicant- the Prince saw the old man Grst.
T h e Pathamasambodhi describes the old man thus: "His
hair was gray, his sides crooked, his body bent forward. In
his hand he held a s ck and while walking along the way
he shook and swayed pi fully..."
The Prince was saddened at the site, just as he was when
he saw the sick man and the dead man on his second and
third trips to the royal garden. He reMected that he would
one day have to be like them. Then he thought how in this
world there are always pairs of opposites, such as
darkness and light, and heat and cold, and so since there
was suJering, there must be a way out of suJering.
On his fourth visit to the royal garden, the Prince saw a
religious mendicant, "wearing the ochre robe and with
restrained bearing..."
At the sight of the religious mendicant, the Prince became
inspired to leave home. He thought or exclaimed to
himself, "Sadhu pabbaja!" which means in simple terms,
"To become a monk, that would be good!" And he made
up his mind on that very day to leave the home life.
33
[toc]
34
Picture 10. While having a bath, the Prince was informed

his sons birth.
35
Chapter 10
While the Prince is bathing in the royal pond, a royal
a%endant informs him that Princess Bimba has had a son
Aer Prince Siddha;ha had seen the fourth divine
messenger, the religious mendicant, and had made up his
mind to go forth from the home life and become a
religious mendicant himself, he proceeded in his royal
chariot, which the Pathamasambodhi states was "teemed
with four noble steeds the color of red lotuses," to the
royal pleasure garden.
Arriving there, the Prince, surrounded by groups of
Sakyan damsels, went down to bathe in the lotus pond
which was Glled with the Gve kinds of lotuses.
He stayed at the royal pleasure grove almost the whole
day, then, when it was almost evening, an oWcial came
from the palace and King Suddhodana with news for
Prince Siddha;ha, informing the Prince that Princess
Bimbayasodhara had given birth to a son.
36
Buddhaghosa, the author of the commentaries to the

Dhammapada, says of this episode that when Prince
Siddha;ha heard the news that his consort had given
birth to a son, a new kind of feeling arose within him that
he had never felt before, and that was the love of a child.
That love that had arisen within him weighed on his heart
and bound it more than anything else in the world. He
exclaimed, "Bandhanam jatam rahulam jatam."
This translates as "A bond has arisen." The word translated
here as "bond" in Prince Siddha;ha's exclama on is
rahulam or rahula, and this word later became the name
given to Prince Siddha;ha's son.
Prince Siddha;ha's exclama on, "A bond has arisen,"
refers to the decision he was in the process of making to
leave the home life and become a religious mendicant.
Just when he had cut oJ other a;achments to the lay life,
a new a;achment had arisen.
[toc]
37
38
Picture 11. The Prince oJers a necklace to Kisa Gotami.
39
Chapter 11
The Prince o7ers a necklace to Kisa Gotami
This picture follows on from the previous one, aer the
Prince had toured the royal pleasure gardens, but here he
is shown coming back to the palace together with his
entourage. The lady we see standing at the palace window
is, according to the Pathamasambodhi, "a Sakyan damsel of
the town of Kapilava;hu by the name of Kisa Gotami. It
does not say in what way she was related to Prince
Siddha;ha.
However in the Commentary to the Dhammapada,
Buddhaghosa, its Indian author, states that she was the
daughter of one of the Buddha's aunts, who were Pamita
and Amita, both of whom were younger sisters of King
Suddhodana. However, he does not state which lady was
Kisa Gotami's mother.
Kisa Gotami saw Prince Siddha;ha coming back, radiant
and resplendent, from his bathing in the lotus pond and,
Glled with delight at the sight, u;ered a spontaneous
40
verse in praise of Prince Siddha;ha. In the original Pali the

verse was as follows:
Nibbuta nuna sa mata
nibbuto nuna so pita
nibbuta nuna sa nari
yassayam idiso pa
It means: "Quenched and full of joy are they who are the
royal mother and royal father of Prince Siddha;ha;
quenched and full of joy is she who is his wife."
Prince Siddha;ha was pleased at her verse, and the word
he liked most was the word "quenched," which he
interpreted to mean "nibbuta" or Nibbana. He took oJ his
pearled necklace, valued at a hundred thousand
"kahapana," and handed it to one of his a;endants to give
to Kisa Gotami. She interpreted this as meaning that the
Prince was a;racted to her, a thought that Glled her with
joy.
[toc]
41
42
Picture 12. The Prince feel despondent and decides to

leave.
43
Chapter 12
The Prince awakens late at night and sees the ladies of
the harem lying in disarray; he becomes despondent and
decides to leave the home life
From the moment Prince Siddha;ha had seen the four
divine messengers and deGnitely resolved to leave the
home life, his resolu on was unwavering, in spite of the
bond on his heart that had just arisen, in the form of his
new-born beloved son.
That night, aer coming back from his trip to the royal
pleasure grove, the Pathamasambodhi states that "... the
Prince the Bodhisa;a was par cularly moved to the
homeless life. This, together with his excellent wisdom
devoid of a;rac on to sensual pleasures, caused him to
take no delight in the dancing of the dancers that were so
a;rac ve, and in spite of them he dried oJ to sleep for a
moment ..."
The prince's palace was lit up within by lanterns which,
"fed by aroma c oils, illuminated the palace jewels and
44
gold." The maidens doing the singing and dancing, seeing

the Prince fall asleep, themselves lay down their
instruments and also went to sleep then and there.
Not long aer, the Prince awoke from his slumber and saw
the ungainly postures of the sleeping maidens. The
Pathamasambodhi says, "He saw the group of maidens
sprawling, saliva drooling, some of them snoring loudly
with sounds like crows, some of them gnashing their
teeth, some of them murmuring in their sleep, some of
them with mouths open weirdly, some of them with
clothes shed, revealing their narrow places..."
The Prince alighted from his bed, got up and looked
around the palace. Although it was brightly lit by the
lanterns and beau fully decorated, it seemed to him to be
dark, like a charnel ground. The living beings who were
s ll breathing and sleeping in unguarded postures, the
singers and dancers, seemed to the Prince to be like so
many corpses in a charnel ground. He u;ered, "I will leave
the palace and take to the homeless life this very night,"
and, going to the palace door, cried out to the pages
guarding the door, "Who is there?"
45
[toc]
46
Picture 13. The Prince goes to see the sleeping Princess

Bimba in case of leaving.
47
Chapter 13
The Prince goes to see the sleeping princess Bimba as a
way of taking leave
As soon as Prince Siddha;ha had cried out, a voice came
in answer. The owner of the voice was Channa, a close
servant of Prince Siddha;ha and also one of the sahajata,
born on the same day as the Prince.
If we were to compare the Buddha's life story to a play,
Channa would be one of the main characters. His
importance is in the role he played in the Buddha's leaving
of the home life. He is also well known in the me aer
the Bodhisa;a le the home life and became the Buddha,
when he became a monk. Channa was a very stubborn
monk who would listen only to the Buddha, because he
held that he was the Buddha's former servant. He referred
to the Buddha, even aer he had ordained as a monk, as
"Young Prince."
At this point in the story, Channa was sleeping outside the
prince's room, his head res ng on the doorstep. When
48
Prince Siddha;ha ordered him to go and prepare his

horse, Channa immediately complied by going to the
stables.
As for the Prince, who had Grmly made up his mind to
leave home, he went to the sleeping quarters of Princess
Bimba, his wife. Arriving there, he parted the curtain to
her bed. The scene of his wife sleeping soundly, her arm
res ng around the head of Rahula, his newly born son,
Glled the Prince with love and longing for his wife and the
son he was only now seeing for the very Grst me.
At Grst he thought to himself, "I will li up her arm and
hold my son," but then he was afraid that by so doing he
would wake her, thereby obstruc ng his plans to leave the
palace. So he suppressed his desire, thinking, "No, only
aer I have become a Buddha will I come back and gaze
on my son's face."
Then he le the room and went down from the palace to
Channa, who had prepared the horse already.
[toc]
49
50
Picture 14. Channa prepares the steed Kanthaka for the

Prince to lead on his going forth.
51
Chapter 14
The Prince awakens Channa to prepare Kanthaka, the
steed that would lead him on his going forth
The horse that Prince Siddha;ha was to ride on his great
going forth was named Kanthaka. It was another of the
sahajata, born on the same day as the Prince. The
Pathamasambodhi says of the size of this horse that it was
"about eighteen elbow lengths [sork] from neck to tail,"
but it does not say how tall the horse was, sta ng only
that "its height was in propor on to its length." It also
describes it as being "of purest white, like a freshly
polished conch shell, its head black, the color of a crow.
The hair on its face was white like the pith of Johnson
grass. It was possessed of great strength and stood on a
jeweled pedestal."
According to this descrip on, the poet makes the horse
bigger than ordinary horses and very special. In ordinary
terms we might say that Kanthaka was a very tall, white
horse, like the steed of a great Emperor or movie star.
52
Approaching the horse, Prince Siddha;ha lied his right

hand and stroked Kanthaka's back. It is said that this
pleased Kanthaka so much that the horse neighed loudly,
the sound traveling all over Kapilava;hu for a distance of
one yojana (about 16 kilometers). If this was so, then why
did not the people of the city wake up? The author of the
story states "the devas suppressed the sound and made it
disappear"-he used the devas as a muYer for the horse's
cries.
If we were to translate this from poe c to more realis c
terms, we might say that Prince Siddha;ha was very
skilled with horses and was able to calm the horse so that
it did not cry out.
The Prince then mounted the horse and headed toward
the city gate, known as Phrayabaladvara, with Channa as
page walking behind him. The day of his going forth,
according to the Pathamasambodhi, was the full moon of
the eighth month. The author states, "The moon waxed
bright in a sky that was clear of clouds. The whole of the
heavens were bathed in the white light of the full moon."
53
[toc]
54
Picture 15. Mara lies the Prince hell inherit an empire.
55
Chapter 15
Mara tries to prevent the going forth, telling the Prince
that in seven days he will inherit an empire; the Prince
does not listen
When Prince Siddha;ha had ridden the horse through the
city gate into the moonlit night, a voice like music arose
from close to the city gate. That voice forbade the Prince
from going forth.
The Prince asked, "Who are you?"
The sound answered, "My name is Vassavadi Mara."
Mara [the Buddhist personiGca on of evil or obstruc on
to goodness] informed the Prince that in seven days from
that day, the Wheel treasure would arise, and the owner
of that Wheel Treasure would be the Prince. The "Wheel
Treasure" referred to by Mara was a term meaning that he
would become Emperor.
The Prince: "I know this already."
Mara: "In that case, for what purpose do you go forth?"
56
The Prince: "For complete knowledge (sabbanutanana)."

T h e sabbanutanana referred to by the Prince was
a;ainment of Buddhahood. All the above is given
according to the descrip on of the Pathamasambodhi and
Buddhaghosa's Commentary to the Dhammapada. The
story is rendered in the form of an allegory
(puggaladhihana).
An "allegory" is the rendering of something not visible to
the eye or cognizable by the senses, an "abstract"
[namadhamma], into a scene or an ac on by a person, just
as a writer of stories expresses feelings through the
characters in his story. If no such example were give
people would not understand and the story would fall Mat.
The allegory given above, if rendered into realis c terms
[dhammadhihana], would be: "Having passed through the
city gates, the Prince, who was s ll an unenlightened
being, although Grmly bent on his resolve to become a
Buddha, was also, in another part of his mind, s ll worried
about the city."
The poet gave his worry the concrete form of Mara trying
to prevent the Prince's departure, but the Prince defeated
57
him. That is to say, he defeated Mara, or defeated the

worries which were his inner enemies.
[toc]
58
Picture 16. The Bodhisa;a cuts oJ his hair for ordina on

at Anoma River.
59
Chapter 16
The Bodhisa%a cuts o7 his hair and goes forth on the
banks of the Anoma River; Gha"kara the Brahma o7ers
the recluse's requisites
Prince Siddha;ha, followed by Channa, rode his royal
steed all through the night, gree ng the dawn at the river,
which bordered the three ci es of Kapilava;hu, Sava;hi,
and Vesali. He asked Channa what the river was called,
and Channa answered, "Young Prince, this river is called
the River Anoma, sire."
The Prince led the horse and his page across the river,
then dismounted and sat on the sand of the river bank,
which was the color of silver. In his right hand he held his
sword, in his le he held his top knot, which he cut with
the sword, leaving only a circle of hair turning to the right,
two inches long.
Having done that, he took oJ his royal garments and put
on the yellow robe which Gha kara Brahma had oJered
him together with other requisites of one gone forth. Then
60
he made a resolu on, commiTng himself to the life of a

homeless one on the banks of the Anoma River.
He gave his garments and horse to Channa to take back to
the palace and inform the King of the news. Channa loved
his master. He cried and lay at his feet, not wan ng to
leave him, but he could not disobey his master's wishes.
The Prince, or as he is referred to in the biography from
that moment on, the "Great Being," stroked the back of
the horse which was going now to leave his master and go
back to the city. Tears ran down the horse's face, and it
licked its master's feet.
The horse and Channa, tears streaming down their faces,
crossed the river and made their way back to the city, but
once they had escaped the Great Being's sight, Kanthaka's
heart broke into seven pieces- it had a heart a;ack- and it
died. Channa took oJ the horse's rigging, placed some
wild Mowers on the body of the dead steed, and then
proceeded to walk, carrying both his master's clothing and
the horse's saddle, alone back to the city.
[toc]
61
62
Picture 17. The Bodhisa;a walks through Rajagaha;

everyone talks about him.
63
Chapter 17
The Bodhisa%a walks through Rajagaha; the people talk
wildly about him all over the city
While Channa the loyal page was going back to inform
Kapilava;hu of the news, the Great Being, who had once
been Prince Siddha;ha, journeyed from the sandy bank of
the Anoma to a district in which there were many mango
forests, known as Anupiya Ambhavana. This district was in
the district of Malla. He stayed there for one week and on
the eighth day journeyed into the state of Magadha,
eventually making his way to Rajagaha, which at the me
was the capital of this kingdom.
Magadha was a big and prosperous state, with many
people and power equal to another great state of that
me, Kosala, the capital of which was Sava;hi.
The King of Rajagaha in Magadha at that
me was King
Bimbisara. Being the same age as the Great Being, he was

at that me s ll a young king.
64
In the morning the Great Being entered the city. The

people of the city were moved to a state referred to be
the Pathamasambodhi as "great excitement" which spread
over the city at the sight of the noble-featured recluse. No
one could tell whether a deva, a naga [serpent-deity], a
garuda [bird-deity], or some other kind of divine being had
entered the city for alms. The talk buzzed all over the city.
Prince Siddha;ha, the Great Being who would later
become the Buddha, had been born into the KhaTya clan,
of noble birth on both sides of the family. His complexion
was referred to in the Pali texts as kancanavanno",
meaning of golden complexion. His features were
handsome. Even though he had shaved oJ his hair and
beard and was wearing the yellow robe of a homeless one
who has given up the beauty of the worldling, his bearing
as he walked, more stately than that of a normal person,
clearly belied his noble birth.
Thus, when the people of Rajagaha saw him they were
Glled with excitement, and the news eventually reached
the ears of King Bimbisara, the King of Rajagaha.
65
[toc]
66
Picture 18. King Bimbisara visits the Buddha asking him to

return aer his enlightenment.
67
Chapter 18
King Bimbisara pays a visit, and asks the Buddha to come
back to teach him if he becomes enlightened
King Bimbisara heard that the people were all saying that
a young, noble recluse, unlike other recluses, had entered
the city, and so he ordered some of his a;endants to look
into the ma;er. The Pathamasambodhi gives the words of
King Bimbisara at this point as:
"Go and follow him and see: if he is a deva he will My into
the air; if a naga he will go down into the earth; if he is a
human being he will sit and eat his alms food in
modera on. Go and see just what happens."
The Great Being, having received suWcient alms food
from the people of Rajagaha, le the city and went up to a
cliJ just outside the city, where he sat and mindfully set
about ea ng his alms food. The food he had obtained was
that known as "masikabaa"-all mixed together, the good
and the bad, the dry and the wet, the salty and the sweet.
68
Seeing the food, the Great Being felt, according to the

Pathamasambodhi, "as if his gut were to come out of his
mouth," since he had only ever eaten Gne foods, like
celes al foods, but, controlling his mind with the virtue
becoming of a recluse, he ate the food as normal.
King Bimbisara and the Great Being were "adihasahaya,"
friends who had only previously heard of each other by
name, but never met. Hearing of the Great Being's
whereabouts from his a;endant, King Bimbisara went to
see him. When he heard that he was the Prince from the
Sakya clan, he invited him to stay on in the city and help
him rule it, but the Great Being declined his oJer,
i nfor m i ng hi m of hi s Gr m resolve to a chi eve
enlightenment.
King Bimbisara then asked to, if he did a;ain
enlightenment, come and teach him. The Great Being
accepted his request.
[toc]
69
70
Picture 19. The Bodhisa;a studies with the recluse Alara;

Gnding unenlightened, further his journey.
71
Chapter 19
T h e Bodhisa%a goes to study with the recluse Alara;
3nding it not to be the way to enlightenment, he journeys
on
At this
me, the country of Magadha had many famous
recluses who had established themselves as teachers with

ashrams. Each of these ashrams had many followers and
adherents. Rajagaha was one place through which these
sect-leaders passed to spread their teachings.
During the me of Prince Siddha;ha's going forth, there
were two teachers more well known than the others in
that country: the group belonging to Alara Kalama, and
that of Udaka Ramapu;a. Both of these ashrams were
established in the forest outside the city.
The Great Being went here to study and see whether their
paths led to enlightenment. He Grst went to the ashram of
Alara Kalama. He stayed there and learned all that the
teacher had to teach, and then, Gnding that it s ll did not
lead to enlightenment, went to study at the ashram of the
second teacher. He obtained a li;le more knowledge
72
there, but only up to the level of the eighth level of

concentra on [samapat].
Samapat is "absorp on" [jhana], a method of making the
mind concentrated. It ranges from coarser levels up to the
most reGned. Altogether there are eight levels. The Great
Being saw that the mind even in these states was s ll on
the mundane level. An unenlightened being was capable
of experiencing them, but they could decline. They were
not the level of lokuara, transcendence.
The teachers of both of these centers invited the Great
Being to stay on and help them teach their followers. Both
of them praised him as having a knowledge equal to their
own. However, the Great Being declined their invita ons.
Having tried out the teachings of both of these teachers,
who were regarded by the people to be possessed of the
highest knowledge, and found them through his own
wisdom to be not the way to enlightenment, the Great
Being thought of trying out a mode of prac ce resorted to
by many recluses of that
me to see whether it led to
enlightenment. That was the prac ce of asce cism, the
73
strict and rigorous prac ce beyond what an ordinary

person could do referred to as "self-torture."
[toc]
74
Picture 20. The Bodhisa;a arrives at Uruvela Senanigama

to undertake his prac ce.
75
Chapter 20
The Bodhisa%a arrives at Uruvela Senanigama, deciding
to undertake his prac"ce at the peaceful forest there
The Great Being took leave of the two teachers and
journeyed in search of a place to try out the asce c
prac ces so favored by the recluses of that
me. He
traveled to a certain district, also in the country of

Magadha, by name of Uruvela Senanigama. Uruvela
means "sand hill," while senanigama means "district" or
"village."
The area of this district was Mat and blessed with a green
and delighZul forest. The clear waters of the River
Neranjara ran through it and there was a place to bathe
and villages in the vicinity, not too far and not too near,
suitable as a resource for alms food for a recluse intent on
prac ce.
Uruvela Senanigama might in modern
"Sandhill Town."
76
mes be called
The commentarial text, Samantapasadika, volume 3,

wri;en aer the Buddha's passing away (parinibbana) by
the Indian commentator Buddhaghosa, relates the history
of the sandhill at this village as follows: In the past the
area had been a forest in which lived many recluses
undertaking asce c prac ces. The asce cs, observing that
wrongs expressed through body and speech were easily
seen, but not the wrongs of the mind, which were le
unpunished, made a regula on that any of them who
commi;ed a mental wrong, such as a thought of lust,
should punish himself by taking his bowl and scooping out
some sand and pouring it out onto the bank, one bowl-full
for each person, each me. It was a kind of self-inMicted
penance. Thus came into being the hill of sand, "uruvela", a
monument to the mountain of deGlements of the asce cs
of old.
In the me of the Buddha the area of this district was s ll
known as Uruvela Senanigama, but in later mes it came
to be known as Bodhgaya, where at present the Bodhgaya
Thai Temple is established.
77
The Great Being chose this district as the place to

undertake the asce c prac ces that would comprise his
next experiment on the search for the path to
enlightenment.
[toc]
78
Picture 21. The Bodhisa;a undertakes self torture with

Gve disciples.
79
Chapter 21
The Bodhisa%a undertakes self torture with the Group of
Five; Indra plays the lute as an analogy
This picture depicts the Great Being undertaking his
prac ces of self-torture. The men siTng in front of him
are the Group of Five, consis ng of Kondanna, Vappa,
Bhaddiya, Mahanama and Assaji. They had all followed the
Great Being to serve him. The being siTng in the clouds
holding the lute is Indra, King of the Gods.
The leader of the group was Kondanna. He was one of the
eight Brahmins who had given predic ons based on
Prince Siddha;ha's a;ributes. At that me he was young,
but by this me he was very old. The other four were sons
of the other seven Brahmins.
Self-torture was one kind of prac ce undertaken by
recluses at that
me. It ranged from mild through to
moderate to extreme, death-defying austeri es beyond

the ability of ordinary men. "Death defying" means that
80
they required clenching of the teeth, holding of the breath

and fas ng.
The Great Being experimented with all of these, un l, at
some
mes, such as when he had gradually reduced his
food intake un l he stopped ea ng altogether, he almost

died. His body was haggard, his hair fell out. All that
remained was skin and bones, and when he walked he
swayed from side to side with weakness.
Aer experimen ng with these prac ces he realized
something. The truth he realized was that described by
the poet in the allegory of Indra playing a three-stringed
lute to the Bodhisa;a. The Grst string was too ght and as
a result snapped. The second string was too loose and
didn't make any sound. The third string was neither too
loose nor too ght, and when plucked it made a pleasant,
resonant sound.
Indra's plucking of the third string (the Middle Way) also
told the Bodhisa;a that there is no way that wet wood
lying in water can be used to rub and start a Gre. Even
wood that is not lying in water, but is wet, cannot be used
to start a Gre. Only dry wood on dry land can be used to
81
start a Gre. The Grst kind of wood is like people with

deGlements living the household life; the second is like
people who have gone forth from the household life but
whose minds are s ll "wet" with deGlements. The third is
like people who have gone forth from the household life
and whose minds are "dry" of deGlements.
Hearing this, the Great Being gave up his prac ce of selftorture, which was a physical kind of eJort, and began to
eat more food in order to begin a more mental kind of
eJort. When the Group of Five found out they became
disillusioned with the Great Being, feeling that he had
renounced the prac ce and reverted to a life of
indulgence, so they gave up serving him and le him to go
elsewhere.
[toc]
82
Picture 22. Sujata oJers milk rice to the Bodhisa;a.
83
Chapter 22
The morning of the enlightenment: Sujata o7ers milk rice,
believing the Bodhisa%a is a deva
From the day the Great Being had gone forth from the
household life un l the day depicted in this picture, six
years had elapsed. Here he has resumed ea ng normal
food and his body has returned to a normal state. This day
was the Geenth of the waxing moon of the sixth lunar
month, 45 years before the Buddha's passing away
[parinibbana]. The lady oJering things to the Great Being
in the picture is Sujata. She was the daughter of a
householder in a village in Uruvela Senanigama. She is
oJering a dish of milk rice [madhupayasa], rice cooked
with pure cow's milk. It was a vegetarian food, containing
no meat or Gsh, used especially as an oJering to dei es.
T h e Pathamasambodhi states that Sujata had made a
prayer to the deity of a certain banyan tree for a husband
of equal status and for a son by him. When she had
obtained what she wished for, she cooked the milk rice as
84
an oJering in thanks. Before the day she was to cook the

rice, Sujata had some of her servants lead the herd of
1,000 cows to a forest of licorice grass so that the cows
could eat their Gll. Then she divided them into two herds
of 500 head each, and milked the 500 cows of one herd
and fed that milk to the 500 cows of the other herd. She
then con nued to divide that herd and feed half on the
milk of the other half un l there were only eight cows le.
She then took the milk from those eight cows to make her
milk rice.
When the rice was cooked, Sujata sent a slave girl to clean
up the area around the banyan tree. The slave girl came
back to Sujata with a report that the deity [deva] who was
to receive the oJerings had materialized, and was already
siTng at the foot of the banyan tree. Excited, Sujata lied
the tray of milk rice to her head and carried it to the
banyan tree, together with her slave girl. Seeing that it
was as her slave had told her, she came forward and
proJered the tray of milk rice. The Great Being received it
and looked at Sujata. She understood from his look that
he had no bowl or any other dish with which to eat the
85
food, and so she made an oJering of both the rice and the
dish.
Having oJered the rice, she walked back to her house, full
of happiness, believing that she had made oJerings to a
deva.
[toc]
86
Picture 23. A naga king realizes the Buddha enlighten

because of his tray.
87
Chapter 23
The Bodhisa%a ?oats the tray, and it falls into the river at
the very same place as three previous trays; a naga king
realizes that a Buddha is to be enlightened
When Sujata had returned home, the Great Being rose
from his seat with the golden tray of milk rice and went to
the bank of the Neranjara River. He bathed, then climbed
up and sat on the river bank. He made the milk rice into
49 mouthfuls, which he then ate. The Pathamasambodhi
states that "it was a meal that would nourish him for
seven days."
Having Gnished his meal, he Moated the tray on the river
and made a vow that, if he was to a;ain Buddhahood, the
tray should Moat upstream. When he released it, the tray
did indeed Moat upstream for a distance of 80 sork
[forearm-lengths] where, having reached a deep area, it
sank down into the realm of Kala, the naga king, falling on
top of the trays of three previous Buddhas with a "clunk."
88
The three past Buddhas who had Moated those trays were
Kakusandha, Konagamana, and Kassapa. The Great Being
would be the fourth who had been enlightened at this
place.
Kala the naga king had been sleeping since the me of the
previous Buddhas. He would wake every
me he heard
the sound of a tray falling. Each me he heard that sound,

he would know that another Buddha had arisen in the
world. On this occasion it was the same: hearing the
sound of the Great Being's tray falling on top of the
others, he drowsily mumbled to himself, "Yesterday a
Great Victor [the Buddha Kassapa] arose in the world.
Now another one is arising!" And with that he arose, made
obeisance to the new Buddha, and went back to sleep.
The episode of the Great Being Moa ng the tray, the tray
Moa ng upstream, and Kala the naga king, in his
subterranean realm, is an allegory which can be explained
thus: the tray is the Buddha's teaching (sasana); the river is
the world or worldly beings: the teachings of the Buddha
will lead people against the stream of the world to the
stream of Nibbana. That is, to the transcendence of
89
suJering in which there is no birth, no aging, no sickness

and no death, unlike the stream of the world which Mows
to birth, aging, sickness and death. The naga king sleeping
in his subterranean world is a symbol for worldly beings
who are s ll thick with deGlements-when a Buddha arises
in the world they know it is a Buddha, but s ll they go
back to "sleep" due to the power of their deGlements.
[toc]
90
Picture 24. The Bodhisa;a receives sheaves of glass from

the Brahmin So;hiya.
91
Chapter 24
T h e Bodhisa%a receives sheaves of grass from the
Brahmin So%hiya
By the me he had Moated the golden tray it was geTng
later in the morning and the sun was geTng hot. The
Great Being moved from the bank of the Neranjara River
into the shade of a sal tree not far from the river. There he
stayed for the whole of the day un l the late aernoon,
when he went to the Great Bodhi tree.
The Great Bodhi tree was a bodhi tree just like the bodhi
trees seen in Thailand. They can be found in forests but
most are in monasteries. Before the Buddha's
enlightenment no one referred to the tree as the Great
Bodhi tree. Instead it was referred to in the local dialect by
two names: one was the name used by the villagers-"pipal
tree," and the other was a more formal name, "assaha"
tree.
Aer the Buddha's enlightenment it was referred to as a
bodhi tree, meaning the tree under which the Buddha was
92
enlightened. It was later given the name "great" (maha)

and some mes holy (sri). It was also one of the sahajata of
the Buddha, being "born" on the same day as Prince
Siddha;ha.
While he was walking to the Great Bodhi tree, the Great
Being passed by a man of the brahmin caste by name of
So;hiya. So;hiya was holding in his hands eight handfuls
o f kusa grass, which he oJered to the Great Being. The
Great Being received the grass and placed it on the
ground, forming a "siTng cushion" under the bodhi tree.
There the Great Being sat, in medita on posture: his right
foot over his let and his right hand over his le, facing the
east with his back to the trunk of the Great Bodhi tree. He
made a Grm vow to himself:
"Un l I have a;ained Perfect Self Enlightenment, I will not
rise from this seat, even if my Mesh and blood should dry
up and only skin, sinews and bones remain."
[toc]
93
94
Picture 25. The Bodhisa;a sits under the bodhi seat;

Mara and his armies drive him.
95
Chapter 25
The Bodhisa%a takes his seat upon the "bodhi seat" of
grass; at night Mara brings his army to drive him from his
quest
The event depicted in this picture is called "Mara's
challenge." It occurred on the day of the full moon of the
sixth lunar month, not many hours before the Buddha's
enlightenment. The sun was just seTng behind the trees.
The four-legged creature making as if to gore the Great
Being is known as Naragirimekhala, the elephant of King
Vassadi Mara, the commander of the army. The woman
who is squeezing her hair is "Mother Earth,"
Sundharivanida.
Mara had already confronted the Great Being once before,
when he was just leaving the city gates on his great going
forth, but this me the confronta on was the greatest of
all Mara's a;empts to overthrow the Buddha. The army
assembled by Mara on this occasion was of such size that
the en re earth and sky were darkened by it. It came in
from the sky, from across the earth and from beneath the
96
earth, and was so fearsome that the devas that were

guarding the Great Being all Med in terror to their palaces.
The Pathamasambodhi described the scene of Mara's army
thus: "... some of the beings had red faces and green
bodies, some had green faces and red bodies; some of
them manifested as white bodies with yellow faces ...
some of them had striped bodies and black faces ... some
of them had serpent lower bodies and human upper
bodies..."
As for Mara, he appeared with a thousand arms on each
side, each arm brandishing a diJerent weapon-swords,
spears, bows and arrows, javelins, wheel blades, hooks,
maces, rocks, spikes, hatchets, axes, tridents, and more.
The reason that Mara confronted the Great Being on
many occasions was that he hated to see anyone excelling
him. Thus, since the Great Being was making eJorts to be
the "best" person in the world, he opposed him. But he
always lost. On this occasion, he was defeated in the Grst
round, so he tried some trickery, accusing the Great Being
of usurping his seat, the "bodhi" seat, which he claimed to
be his. Mara named as witnesses members of his own
97
entourage. On his part, the Great Being could Gnd no

witnesses to support him, the devas having all Med, so he
stretched out his right hand from under his robe and
pointed his Gnger to the earth, upon which Mother Earth
rose up to be his witness.
All of the above is an allegorical account. Its meaning will
be given in the next chapter.
[toc]
98
Picture 26. Mother Earth squeezes her hair, making a

great ocean sweep away Maras armies.
99
Chapter 26
Mother Earth squeezes her hair, making a great ocean
which sweeps away Mara's armies
The place at which the Great Being sat in order to carry
out his training of the mind and seek enlightenment, the
f o o t o f t h e bodhi tree, is called the "Throne of
Enlightenment." Mara tried to claim that it was his own,
but the Great Being countered that it had arisen as a
result of the accumulated perfec ons of his previous lives,
for which he called Mother Earth to witness.
T h e Pathamasambodhi states: "The great earth was
incapable of remaining inac ve ... It sprang up from the
earth in the form of a young maiden..." and served as
witness for the Bodhisa;a. Thereupon, [the maiden]
squeezed water from her hair. That water is referred to as
daksinodaka, which is all the water that the Great Being
had used to consecrate the vows made in his previous
lives, which Mother Earth had kept in her hair. When she
squeezed her hair, all that water Mowed out.
100
T h e Pathamasambodhi states: "It was a great Mow that

Mooded all the land, like a great ocean.... The armies of
Mara were powerless to stop it and were swept away and
en rely carried oJ by the current. As for Girimekhala,
Vassavadi Mara's elephant, it was swept oJ its feet and,
unable to maintain its balance, was carried oJ to the
ocean. ...Thus Mara was eventually defeated."
Now I will explain the meaning of this allegory. Mara is the
deGlements within people; they are what opposes the
mindfulness and understanding that lead to knowledge of
good, evil, beneGt and harm. DeGlements take delight in
misdeeds, so that when a person is going to do something
good the deGlements try to interfere. Before the Great
Being was enlightened as the Buddha, he s ll had
deGlements, but they were in the process of falling from
his mind. His deGlements were the fondness and
a;achment for his royal treasures and the country he had
le behind, but he was able to defeat them due to the
great perfec ons [paramita] he had accumulated.
A perfec on is goodness. The Great Being reMected that
the lives, hearts and eyes he had sacriGced to others as
101
wholesome deeds of charity, if gathered together, would

be greater than the fruits in the forest and greater than
the number of stars in the sky.
Good deeds do not disappear: even if no one sees them,
the sky and the earth, Mother Earth, see them.
[toc]
102
Picture 27. The Buddha is enlightened at dawn; the devas

dance in his honor.
103
Chapter 27
The Buddha is enlightened at dawn; the devas dance in
his honor
By the me the Bodhisa;a had conquered Mara, the sun
was seTng and night was falling. The Great Being sat
mo onless on his bodhi seat underneath the bodhi tree.
He began to make his mind concentrated through the
method known as jhana, absorp on concentra on, and
a;ained nana.
Jhana is a method of concentra ng the mind, making it
one-pointed, not thinking restlessly of this and that as
people ordinarily do. Nana is gnosis, clear realiza on. It
may be simply illustrated thus: the s ll light of a candle in
a windless room is like jhana, while the illumina on from
the candle is gnosis (nana).
The Great Being a;ained the Grst realiza on (nana) in the
Grst watch of the night (about nine PM). The Grst nana is
called "pubbenivasanusanana," meaning clear realiza on
of the past lives of both oneself and others. During the
104
middle watch of the night (about midnight) he a;ained the

second nana, known as cutupapatanana, meaning, clear
realiza on of the passing away and arising of beings in the
world, and their diJerences due to kamma. In the last
watch of the night (aer midnight), he a;ained the third
n a n a , k n o w n a s asavakkhayanana, meaning clear
realiza on of the ex nc on of deGlements and the Four
Noble Truths: suJering, the cause of suJering, the
cessa on of suJering and the way leading to the
cessa on of suJering.
The Great Being's a;ainment of these three nana is
known as his enlightenment as the Buddha, which
occurred on the full moon night of the sixth lunar month.
From this point on, the names "Siddha;ha" and
"Bodhisa;a," and the term "Great Being" newly coined
before his enlightenment, all become things of the past,
b e c a u s e f ro m t h i s p o i n t o n h e i s k n o w n a s
arahantasammasambuddha, one who has on his own
become enlightened and transcended all deGlements.
This event is thus a great miracle. The poet has allegorized
the episode in the Buddha's honor by sta ng that at that
105
me all animals, people, and devas throughout ten

thousand world systems were relieved of their suJering,
sorrow, despair and danger, and all beings were imbued
with goodwill to each other, free of enmity and hatred.
All the devas played music, danced and sang the Buddha's
praises as an act of reverence and honor to the Buddha's
virtues.
[toc]
106
Picture 28. Maras daughters try luring the Buddha in vain.
107
Chapter 28
The Buddha goes to a banyan tree; the daughters of Mara
try in vain to lure him
Aer the enlightenment, the Buddha sat under the Great
Bodhi tree, imbibing the bliss of deliverance, for seven
days. The term "imbibing the bliss of deliverance" is used
to refer to those who are enlightened. In ordinary terms,
we may say that the Buddha was res ng aer his heavy
labors.
Aer the seven days he went to the ajapalanigrodha tree,
which was situated to the east of the Great Bodhi tree. A
nigrodha is a banyan tree. The le;ers "ajapala" mean
"place for herding goats." According to the legend, this
banyan tree had long been a resort of goatherds, and
goatherds in the local area had long used the shade of this
banyan tree to graze their goats.
The compilers of this story, who lived in the me of the
Commentaries, many hundred years aer the Buddha's
passing away, have wri;en an episode in honor of the
108
Buddha, sta ng that while he was staying here, the

daughters of Mara, who had launched his armies against
the Buddha just before the enlightenment and been
defeated, volunteered to try to seduce the Buddha into
Mara's power. Mara had three daughters: Tanha, Raga, and
Aradi.
The three of them approached the Buddha and did
everything in the way of sensual en cement to try to
a;ract him, such as taking oJ their clothes, transforming
themselves into young maidens on the verge of
maidenhood, fully grown ladies, and women of various
ages, but the Buddha's mind was already u;erly puriGed
and he exhibited no reac on, not even opening his eyes to
see.
The episode of the a;empted seduc on by the daughters
of Mara is an allegory. The three daughters of Mara are
allegories for deGlements. The Grst is delight, the second
is aversion or hatred. Delight is further analyzed into
tanha, craving, endless desire; another is raga, lust;
aversion or hatred here is expressed in aradi, which here
means jealousy.
109
That the Buddha showed no reac on, even opening his

eyes, refers to the fact that the Buddha was u;erly
removed from all those deGlements.
[toc]
110
Picture 29. A naga king coils around the Buddha.
111
Chapter 29
The Buddha repairs to the mucalinda tree; a rain storm; a
naga king coils himself around the Buddha to ward o7 the

rain
Just aer his enlightenment, having not yet decided who
to Grst teach the Dhamma to and so begin his mission, the
Buddha moved from place to place, seven days in each
place. In this picture we see him in the third week, at the
third place he stayed, which his the mucalinda tree, which
stood to the southeast of the bodhi tree.
The mucalinda is a tree that grows commonly in India, and
Ggures in much Indian literature, such as the Jatakas and
elsewhere. In the Vessantara Jataka the mucalinda is the
tree to which the Bodhisa;a resorted when he was
banished to the forest.
In Thailand we call the mucalinda the "jik" tree. This seems
to be right, as the places in which the two trees tend to
take root are similar: both tend to arise in damp places,
such as on river banks, near ponds, along canals and lakes.
112
Its wood is resilient, its Mowers hang down, and are white
and red in color. The leaves are about the same size as
roseapple leaves. The tender leaves are astringent and are
tasty used as a vegetable and dipped in chili sauce. The
Mavor is similar to the leaves of the roseapple tree. Usually
the tree has rich foliage and oJers good shade.
When the Buddha arrived at the tree, a heavy rain and
cold wind arose and con nued for seven days
con nuously. The writer of the Pathamasambodhi says of
this event that a naga king, by name of mucalinda, came up
out of the nearby pond, wound himself around the
Buddha seven
mes, then spread his hood over the
Buddha to prevent the wind and the rain from blowing at

him and soaking him. When the storm subsided and the
sky cleared, the naga king unwound himself and
transformed himself into a young man standing to the
north of the Buddha.
The statue depic ng the Buddha protected by the naga is
a depic on of this event in the Buddha's life. The image is
believed to have special powers in terms of mea, loving
kindness, because it indirectly teaches the beneGts of
113
developing loving kindness: even a great naga king living

at the bo;om of a pond went to the Buddha and provided
protec on for him as a result of the powers of the
Buddha's great compassion.
[toc]
114
Picture 30. The Four Great Kings oJer the Buddha a bowl.
115
Chapter 30
The Buddha stays at the ket tree; the Four Great Kings
o7er him a bowl; a devata tells two merchants to go and
see the Buddha
Aer the Buddha had stayed under the jik or mucalinda
tree for seven days, he journeyed on to a tree known in
Pali as the rajayatana. It was situated down to the le of
the Great Bodhi tree. Rajayatana is usually translated as
"Mai Ket" It is a tree of the pikul family. The writer has
seen one in the area surrounding the Pathoma Ceya in
Nakhon Pathom, planted by the government during the
reign of Rama V. The trees are now big. They look like
pradoo trees.
While the Buddha was staying here he was visited by two
traveling merchants, who also made oJerings to him. One
of these merchants was named Tapussa, the other
Bhallika. They were traveling in a caravan of many
hundreds of carts (500 according to the Pathamasambodhi)
and had come from the Ukkala country. Seeing the
116
Buddha siTng under the ket tree, the two merchants

were inspired and oJered to him some of the dried rice
cakes they had brought along as provisions for their
journey.
The Buddha received the food from the two caravan
merchants in a stone bowl which had been oJered to him
by the Four Great Kings. When he had Gnished his meal,
the two caravan merchants declared themselves to be
followers of the Buddha, taking the Buddha and the
Dhamma, his teaching, as refuge.
In brief, the two merchants declared themselves to be
Buddhists. Thus the two merchants were the Grst
Buddhists, or followers of the Buddha, in the world. That
the merchants declared themselves to have taken refuge
in these two refuges [the Buddha and his Teaching, rather
than the now tradi onal three refuges of Buddha,
Teaching, and Order of Buddhist followers] is because at
that me the third refuge, the Sangha, or monas c order,
had not yet come into existence, as the Buddha had not
yet begun to teach.
117
The Pathamasambodhi relates how aer the two caravan

merchants had declared themselves to be Buddhists, they
asked the Buddha for a memento of some form before
taking leave. The Buddha lied his right hand and stroked
his hair. The text con nues, "Then eight strands of hair of
the color of the wings of a carpenter bee ... fell down onto
the palm of his hand."
The Buddha then oJered those eight strands of hair to the
caravan merchants to use as objects of worship.
Delighted, the two merchants bowed and took their leave.
[toc]
118
Picture 31. Two merchants oJer the Buddha dried rice

cakes.
119
Chapter 30
Two merchants o7er dried rice cakes to the Buddha and
become the 3rst lay people to declare themselves
Buddhists
The picture shown here depicts the events that occurred
at the
me the Buddha was staying under the ket tree,
related in the cap on to Picture 30. The place is the

rajayatana or ket tree, and the
me is during the fourth
week aer the Buddha's enlightenment.

During the Grst week the Buddha stayed under the Great
Bodhi tree; on the second week he stayed under the
goatherds' banyan tree; in the third week he stayed under
the mucalinda tree, and in the fourth week he stayed here.
In the picture we see one of the two traveling merchants
oJering dried rice cakes to the Buddha. The Buddha is
receiving them in the stone bowl oJered to him by the
Four Great Kings, as already related.
The Four Great Kings are powerful devas who have the
duty of protec ng the world. They live in the four
120
direc ons. King Dhataratha is the Lord of the gandhabbas

[gandharva, heavenly musicians]. He lives in the east. King
Virulhaka is the Lord of the [earth] devas. He lives in the
south. King Virupaka is the Lord of the nagas and lives in
the west, and King Kuvera is the Lord of the yakkhas and
lives in the north.
These four deva kings had each brought a bowl to oJer to
the Buddha. The Buddha received the four bowls and
through a vow made them all into one. Then he received
the food from the two caravan merchants.
The Pathamasambodhi relates that the Buddha's Grst bowl,
which had been oJered to him together with robes by
Gha ka Brahma when he Grst went forth from the home
life and which he had used up un l arriving at the banks
of the Anoma river, disappeared when he received the
meal of milk rice from Sujata, just before his
enlightenment.
When the two traveling merchant brothers brought the
provisions to oJer to the Buddha, there was no bowl for
the Buddha to receive them in, so the Four Great Kings
oJered the four bowls already described. It is a tradi on
121
among Buddhas not to receive food oJerings in their

hands, but only to receive them in a bowl.
[toc]
122
Picture 32. The Buddha is disinclined to teach, but

Sahampa Brahma requests him.
123
Chapter 31
Returning to the banyan tree, the Buddha is disinclined to
teach; Sahampa" Brahma makes a request
Having stayed at the rajayatana or ket tree for seven days,
in the Gh week the Buddha moved back to the ajapala
nigrodha, or goatherds' banyan tree.
While he was staying there, the Buddha reMected on the
truth (dhamma) that he had been enlightened to. Realizing
how subtle and profound it was, he felt disinclined to
teach, wondering whether there would be anyone who
could understand his teaching. Thus, part of him was
inclined to contentment [merely with his own
enlightenment], to not bothering to teach others.
The compiler of the texts dealing with the Buddha's story
have devised an allegory at this point, rela ng how the
thoughts of the Buddha became known to Lord Sahampa
Brahma in the Brahma world. Lord Sahampa was gravely
concerned about those thoughts, and declared out loud
three mes, "Now the world is lost."
124
T h e Pathamasambodhi writes: "That sound resounded

throughout the ten thousand world systems. Lord
Sahampa , together with a re nue of devas, approached
the Buddha and formally made a request to him to teach
the Dhamma."
For the me when Lord Sahampa came down to formally
invite the Buddha to give a teaching to the world, the
poet has composed a verse in Pali:
Brahma ca lokadhipa sahampa
Katanjali andhivaram ayacatha
sandha saapparajakajjaka
desetu dhammam anukampimam pajam
It translates as "Lord Sahampa Brahma, hands together,
bowed and invited the Buddha, he who is endowed with
excellent quali es, saying, 'There are beings in this world
who are free enough of deGlements to understand the
Dhamma. May the Lord please teach the Dhamma to help
the beings of this world.'"
125
This Pali verse has become the ceremonial passage for

asking for a Dhamma teaching in Thailand up to the
present day.
[toc]
126
Picture 33. ReMec ng on diJerent natural beings, the

Buddha accepts the invita on.
127
Chapter 31
Re?ec"ng on the di7erent natures of beings, compared
to the four kinds of lotuses, the Buddha accepts the
invita"on
The story of Lord Sahampa Brahma coming to invite the
Buddha to spread his teaching to the world, as explained
in Picture 32, is an allegorical teaching. Translated into a
factual statement, we might interpret Sahampa
Brahma
as being the Buddha's own compassion.

Even though the Buddha was inclined not to teach the
Dhamma, another part of him, which was stronger,
decided to teach. Having made up his mind, the Buddha
reMected on the diJerent natures of beings in the world
and saw that they could be divided into four levels or
groups:
First group: Extremely clever-merely listening to the name
of a teaching they immediately understand it.
Second group: very clever: aer listening to an
explana on of the teaching, they understand it.
128
Third group: moderately clever: the "veneyya" beings. They

must devote a lot of
me to training their minds before
they can understand.

Fourth group: the "padaparama," the fools, the idiots, who
are unteachable. In other words they are the people the
Buddha had nothing to do with.
The Grst group are like lotuses that have grown and risen
above the water level. As soon as they contact sunlight,
they open out. The second group are like lotuses that are
just under the surface of the water, ready to rise above it.
The third group are like lotuses that are deeper down in
the water, which will at a later
me grow up and rise
above the water level. The fourth group are like lotuses
that are very deep down in the water, so deep that there
is no way they will rise above the surface because they fall
food to Gshes and turtles. The Buddha saw the diJerent
levels of wisdom among people like this.
Then the Buddha began to reMect on who would be the
best person to Grst impart his teaching to. He saw in his
mind the images of the two asce cs who he had
previously studied with, but both of them had already
129
passed away. Then he came to know that the Group of

Five (pancavaggiya) were s ll alive, and so he made up his
mind to Grst give his teaching to them.
[toc]
130
Picture 34. The Buddha meets Upaka the asce c on the

way to teach the Gve disciples.
131
Chapter 34
The Buddha goes to 3nd the Group of Five; he meets
Upaka the asce"c along the way
From the sixth to the eighth weeks aer the
enlightenment the Buddha spent his me going back and
forth between the Great Bodhi tree and the goatherds'
banyan tree. On the fourteenth day of the waxing moon
of the eighth lunar month, in the eighth week aer the
enlightenment, the Buddha took leave of the area of the
enlightenment to make his way to the Deer Park,
nowadays known as Sarnath, in the vicinity of Varanasi. At
that
me the Group of Five who had once followed the
Buddha in his renuncia on and lived with and tended him

had come to live at this place.
On the way, speciGcally when he reached the Gaya River
on the border of the district in which he had been
enlightened, the Buddha met a ma;ed-hair asce c
(ajivaka) by name of Upaka coming the opposite way. An
132
ajivaka is one of the kinds of asce cs who were common

in the Buddha's me.
From afar, this asce c Grst no ced the rays of light
radia ng from the Buddha's body. These rays are called
the "Sixfold rays." They are
1. Nila: green like the Mower of the bu;erMy pea
2. Pita: yellow like golden realgar
3. Lohita: red, the color of the sun low in the sky
4. Odata: white, like silver
5. Manjetha: red like a cockscomb Mower
6. Pabhassara: shiny like a pearl
In later
mes, when Buddha images with the sixfold ray
were built, the rays were known as "pabhamandala,"

meaning rays that shoot up above the Buddha's head in a
conical shape.
As the Buddha drew nearer, the asce c saw the source of
the rays, and was inspired by the sight, so he approached
the Buddha and asked him who his teacher was. When
the Buddha answered that he had no teacher, that he was
133
a ayambhu, fully self-enlightened, the asce c responded

to his statement in two ways-shaking his head and lolling
his tongue-then walked oJ.
[toc]
134
Picture 35. The Gve disciples decline to see the Buddha,

but Gnally change their minds.
135
Chapter 35
The Buddha arrives at the Deer Park; the Group of Five
see him approaching from a distance and decide not to
receive him, but change their minds
The Buddha traveled to the Deer Park on the evening of
that same day, according to the me and date recorded in
the Pathamasambodhi.
At that
me the Group of Five, led by Kondanna, were
talking among themselves. The subject of their

conversa on directly concerned the Buddha: they were
conjecturing on where the Buddha might have been
staying in the long me since they had forsaken him, and
whether he thought of them at all.
At that moment, the Group of Five, Kondanna, Vappa,
Bhadiya, Assaji and Mahanama, no ced the brilliant light
of the sixfold rays, and, following back along the rays,
found the Buddha approaching them from afar.
The Gve agreed among themselves that they would not
formally receive the Buddha or show the customary signs
136
of respect: that is, they would not get up and receive his
bowl and robe, that they would only lay down a mat for
him to sit on, and not pay reverence to him, but sit s ll
and pretend not to no ce or be interested that the
Buddha had arrived.
However, when the Buddha actually arrived at their place,
the Group of Five all forgot their agreement, geTng up to
receive him, paying respects, receiving his bowl and robe
respecZully just as they used to do. The only diJerence
was that when they addressed the Buddha, they did not
use the words they used to use.
The Group of Five used familiar terms, calling the Buddha
"friend," or simply "Gotama." The second word, Gotama,
was the Buddha's clan name. "Friend" [avuso] is the same
word that Thai people use nowadays, except that its
meaning is the opposite to Thai usage. In Thai, avuso is
used to refer to a senior and learned person, whereas in
Pali it is used to refer to a person young in both age and
learning. It is the word a senior person would use to refer
to a junior person. Avuso is the Pali equivalent to the Thai
word "khun."
137
The Buddha admonished the Group of Five, asking them

whether they had ever used such words with him before.
The Group of Five heeded his admonishment, so the
Buddha told them about himself, that he had a;ained
Buddhahood, and that he had come to teach them the
Dhamma.
[toc]
138
Picture 36. The Buddha gives Gve disciples the Grst

sermon; the Turning of the Wheel of Dhamma.
139
Chapter 36
The Buddha gives the 3rst Sermon, the Turning of the
Wheel of Dhamma, to the Group of Five, opening the eye
of Dhamma in them
The day on which the Buddha gave his First Sermon
(pathamadesana) was the Geenth day of the waxing
moon of the eighth lunar month. It was the day following
the day he had arrived and met the Group of Five. It is
now known as Asalhapuja Day.
There were Gve people listening to the teaching, the
"Group of Five." The subject of the Buddha's teaching was
a denuncia on of that which the religious prac cers of
that me were prone to, the extreme of asce c prac ce,
and also the extreme of sensual indulgence. The Buddha
rejected these two extremes. He had experienced and
experimented with them already and found that they were
not the way to enlightenment. He then recommended the
Middle Way (majjhima papada), the proper prac ce in
140
accordance with the Noble EighZold Path, which in

essence consists of morality, concentra on and wisdom.
When the Buddha had passed away, the disciples who
convened the Great Council for Gnalizing the Buddha's
t e a c h i n g s c a l l e d t h i s Gr s t s e r m o n t h e
Dhammacakkappavaana Sua, o r j u s t Dhammacakka
Sua, comparing the Buddha's teaching on this occasion
to a Universal Emperor wielding his wheel weapon or
chariot and spreading his great power. The diJerence here
was that the wheel or chariot used by the Buddha was the
Dhamma, the "Wheel of Dhamma."
When the teaching came to an end, Kondanna, the leader
of the Group of Five, a;ained the Eye of Dhamma, that is,
he a;ained Stream Entry. Seeing Kondanna a;aining this
fruit as a result of listening to the teaching, even though it
was only a lower level of enlightenment, the Buddha
joyously u;ered, "Annasi vatabho kondanno, annasi
vatabho kondanno," meaning "Oh, Kondanna has realized,
Kondanna has a;ained the truth!" From that
me on,
Venerable Kondanna became known as Anna Kondanna,

"Kondanna who Knows."
141
Having listened to the teaching, Kondanna asked the

Buddha for permission to go forth under him, and so the
Buddha gave his permission for Kondanna to become a
monk, u;ering the invita on, "Come, bhikkhu." The
remaining four also in
me a;ained enlightenment and
became monks like Kondanna.

[toc]
142
Picture 37. Yasa meets the Buddha and receives a

teaching at the Deer Park.
143
Chapter 37
Yasa wearies of his wealth and wanders into the Deer
Park; mee"ng the Buddha, he receives a teaching
The Buddha, together with the Gve noble disciples, spent
the rains retreat at the Deer Park at Isipatana, the place of
his Grst teaching. That was the Grst rains retreat. At this
stage the Buddha did not yet travel around to teach
others because it was the rainy season, but a young man
named Yasa did come to see him.
Yasa was the son of a rich man in Varanasi. His parents
had built three mansions for him, one for each of the
seasons [hot, rainy and cool], and in each of the mansions
there were a great number of dancing girls to entertain
him. One day, at midnight, Yasa awoke and saw the
dancing girls sleeping in various ungainly postures (here
the story is just the same as for the Bodhisa;a on the day
he le home for the homeless life) and became wearied of
his life.
144
Yasa ran away from his home in the dead of night, and
made for the Deer Park, mu;ering to himself as he went,
"Upaddutam vata upasaggam vata": "Here it is confusing,
here it is oppressive!" He was referring to the confusion
and oppression he felt inside.
At that me a sound came in response from the edge of
the forest: "No upaddutam no upasaggam": ("Here it is not
confusing, here there is no obstruc on!"). It was the
Buddha.
At the me of this exchange it was very late, almost dawn
in fact. The Buddha had been pacing up and down in
cankamma. Cankamma is pacing up and down, a kind of
mild physical exercise for stretching the muscles and
overcoming sleepiness.
The Buddha said to Yasa, "Come, come here and sit down.
I will teach you."
Yasa approached the Buddha and bowed to his feet, then
sat down to one side. The Buddha gave him a teaching, at
the comple on of which Yasa a;ained Arahatship, full
enlightenment. He asked for admission to the Buddha's
order as a monk.
145
Not long aer Yasa had become a monk, a great number

of his friends, 54 of them, having heard of his going forth,
went to see the Buddha, listened to the teaching and
were all, like Yasa, fully enlightened. Thus within the Grst
vassa, or rains retreat, there were altogether 61 Arahats in
the world.
[toc]
146
Picture 38. The Buddha ignores Uruvela Kassapa warnings

of a Gerce naga.
147
Chapter 38
The Buddha goes to see the asce"c Uruvela Kassapa;
ignoring the asce"cs' warnings of a 3erce naga, he stays
at the 3re house
Aer the rains retreat, on the 15th waxing day of the
twelh lunar month, the Buddha convened a mee ng of
his 60 disciples (savaka) at the Deer Park in Isipatana. All
of those disciples were Arahats. The Buddha's inten on in
calling the mee ng was to send these disciples out to
spread the teaching to other places.
At the mee ng, the Buddha addressed the monks
(bhikkhus) as follows:
"Monks! Released am I from all bonds. Released are you
from all bonds. Go ye forth to declare the teaching in
other lands for the beneGt and happiness of the many. Go
each of you alone. Give the teaching that is beau ful in
the beginning, in the middle and in the highest levels,
which is pure, and which I have declared to you. Monks!
There are in this world people with only few deGlements
148
and with suWcient intelligence to understand the

Dhamma. But because they have had no chance to hear
t h e Dhamma they do not obtain the beneGt that they
rightly should obtain. Go forth. I myself will go to declare
the teaching at Uruvela Senanigama."
Thus on the morning of the Grst waning moon of the
twelh lunar month, the 60 disciples split up, each going
alone to spread the teaching according to the Buddha's
instruc ons. The Buddha himself journeyed to Uruvela
Senanigama, which was where he had gained his own
enlightenment. Reaching there, the Buddha proceeded to
the ashram of a group of famous asce cs there by name
of "the three brother asce cs."
The oldest brother's name was Uruvela Kassapa. He had
500 disciples and had an ashram for performing religious
prac ce, worshipping Gre on the banks of the northern
Neranjara River. The middle brother's name was Nadi
Kassapa. He had a following of 300, while the youngest
brother's name was Gaya Kassapa, with a following of
200. They had established separate ashrams on sand
banks just south of the oldest brother.
149
The Buddha went Grst to the ashram of the oldest

brother. Approaching the leader, he asked for a place to
stay. The asce c leader told the Buddha that the only
place le was the Gre house, but that a ferocious and
dangerous naga was living there.
[toc]
150
Picture 39. The Buddha subdues the naga king and

presents to the asce c.
151
Chapter 39
The Buddha subdues the ferocious naga king and
presents the naga to the asce"c coiled up in his bowl, but
the asce"c is s"ll not convinced
The three asce c brothers, especially Uruvela Kassapa,
the eldest, were all leaders of sects that the people of
Rajagaha held in high esteem. Uruvela Kassapa had
announced that he was an Arahat, fully enlightened. He
dwelt as a Gre worshipper.
When the Buddha arrived at his ashram and asked to stay
at the Gre house, which the asce cs held to be a very holy
place and dangerous to live because of the naga king of
great venom and power, the asce c thought to himself
that the Buddha was being very foolhardy in not heeding
the danger.
According to the story in the Pathamasambodhi, when the
Buddha entered the Gre house, the naga king was furious,
and spat venom at the Buddha. The Buddha entered the
concentra on on the Gre kasina (a certain kind of jhana or
152
absorp on concentra on wherein he could emit Gre from

his body). The venom from the naga king and the Gre
coming from the Buddha's Gre medita on produced such
a great light that it seemed as if the Gre house were
consumed in Mames and would be burnt to the ground.
The asce cs, seeing the light from the Gre, thought that
the newcomer (the Buddha) had surely been burnt to a
crisp by the naga king's fury.
T h e Pathamasambodhi states: "At the end of the night,
with the arrival of the dawn, the All-Knowing One
stripped the power from the naga king and caused the
naga king to coil himself up into his bowl. He then showed
the naga to Uruvela Kassapa, saying, 'This naga has been
stripped of his powers by the Tathagata.'"
[toc]
153
154
Picture 40. The Buddhas dwelling miraculously escapes a

heavy Mood.
155
Chapter 40
The Buddha's dwelling miraculously escapes a heavy
?ood; the asce"cs are amazed and ask to go forth
The reason the Buddha made a journey to teach the three
asce c brothers, as already explained, was because these
three brothers were famous teachers widely respected in
those mes. Bringing famous asce cs into the fold of his
own ministry was an important strategy in spreading his
own teaching, which was new. If he could convince these
powerful asce cs, his spreading the teaching would be
much easier and more eJec ve.
Thus the Buddha had gone to the ashram of the three
asce c brothers, who believed themselves to be Arahats,
and he tamed them by showing or proving to them that
they were not in fact Arahats as they believed. The
Buddha gradually showed them that the quali es they
believed to be so special were not in fact so.
They believed that the naga king was of mighty power, but
the Buddha had made him coil up in his bowl. When a
156
great Mood arose, the asce cs thought that the Buddha

must have surely drowned, and took boats to go and Gnd
him, only to Gnd that he was walking medita on under the
surface of the water.
The Pathamasambodhi states: "The Buddha spent two full
months conver ng the asce cs, aer which the asce c
who led the largest group, Uruvela Kassapa, becoming
disillusioned, realized that he was not an Arahat as he had
at Grst mistakenly believed. His realiza on was a result of
the power of the Buddha's silent teaching.
Thus the leader of the asce c group Moated his Greworshipping gear on the Neranjara River, bowed at the
Buddha's feet and asked for acceptance as a disciple. The
two younger brothers who lived downstream, seeing their
older brother's gear Moa ng down the river, thought that
some accident must have befallen him and went to see
what had happened.
When the two brothers found out what had happened
they also became followers of the Buddha. The Buddha
gave a teaching to the assembled asce cs and all of them
157
became Arahats. And so the Buddha received a further

1,000 monks to his Order.
[toc]
158
Picture 41. Uruvela Kassapa announces himself the

Buddhas disciple.
159
Chapter 41
Uruvela Kassapa announces himself a disciple of the
Buddha before King Bimbisara at the palmyra grove
When the Buddha had "tamed" the asce cs of the schools
of the three brothers, i.e., had cured them of their
mistaken no ons about themselves being Arahats, such
that they readily became his disciples, he proceeded with
the next stage of his plan in spreading the teaching, which
was to enter the city of Rajagaha.
At that
me Rajagaha was the capital city of both the
state of Magadha and the state of Anga. It was a heavily

populated city ruled by King Bimbisara. This king had
already met the Buddha before his enlightenment, as
already related.
The Buddha together with his 1,000 disciples, the former
Gre-worshipping asce cs, who had previously worn animal
skins but were now wearing the yellow robe of the
Buddhist monk [bhikkhu], came to a park known as
160
La;hivana, the palmyra grove, just outside the city and

stopped to stay there.
The townsfolk were excited to hear that a great gathering
of asce cs with the asce c Gotama, the Buddha, had
arrived at the outskirts of the city, and so they poured out
to see them. Even King Bimbisara himself went to see.
The townsfolk approached the Buddha and greeted him in
diJerent ways, some holding their hands together in
gree ng, some siTng down, some announcing themselves
and their clans. Many of them were not sure who,
between the Buddha and Uruvela Kassapa, the famous
leader of the Gre-worshipping asce cs, was the teacher
and who the student.
In order to relieve them of their doubts, the Buddha asked
Uruvela Kassapa why he had renounced his previous
doctrine. He answered loudly, in front of the crowd, that
his previous teaching was worthless, not the path to
libera on from suJering. Having said that, he rose and
bowed at the Buddha's feet, clearly showing the ci zens
of Rajagaha who was the teacher and who the student.
Seeing this, the townsfolk were Glled with wonder.
161
Aer the townsfolk had se;led down, the Buddha gave a

Dhamma teaching, at the end of which a great number of
the people declared themselves followers of the Buddha,
while another large number, including King Bimbisara
himself, became Stream Enterers.
[toc]
162
Picture 42. King Bimbisara oJers the Buddha the Bamboo

Grove as the Grst Buddhist Monastery.
163
Chapter 42
King Bimbisara, inspired by the Buddha, oCcially o7ers
the Bamboo Grove as the 3rst Buddhist Monastery
When King Bimbisara, the King of Magadha, had listened
to the Buddha's teaching and a;ained Stream Entry, he
rose, bowed down at the Buddha's feet, and invited the
Buddha, together with the 1,000 monks, to take the meal
on the next morning at the royal palace. The Buddha
consented to the invita on by remaining silent.
That was a tradi on upheld by the Buddha and the monks
in those days. If they were silent, that meant that they
could accept the invita on. If they could not accept the
invita on, for instance if someone were to ask the Buddha
to receive the meal at his house every day for a whole
rains retreat, the Buddha would answer, "Many are the
people in this world who wish to make merit with us. It is
not proper to invite us for the whole
that he could not receive the invita on.
164
me." This means
The next morning, the Buddha departed from the palmyra

grove and entered the palace of King Bimbisara. The
oWcials had arranged the alms food already. The King
oJered the food to the Buddha and his Order of monks
[sangha].
When the Buddha and all the monks had eaten enough,
King Bimbisara approached the Buddha and sat
respecZully to one side. He pointed out to the Buddha
that the palmyra grove was very far from the city.
Moreover it was in a remote area, not convenient for
entrance and egress. Then the King went on to say that
his own Bamboo Grove, the Veluvana, was situated
neither too near nor too far from the city, easy to get to,
not crowded during the day and peaceful at night. In
short, it was a GTng place for the Buddha and the Order
to stay.
When the Buddha expressed his approval by remaining
silent, King Bimbisara formally consecrated his oJering of
the Bamboo Grove as the Grst Buddhist monastery in the
world by pouring water onto the Buddha's hand.
165
The Pathamasambodhi states: "At the very moment that

the Omniscient One accepted the Bamboo Grove, the
great earth resounded as if to announce, 'Buddhism has
now been established in this world.'"
[toc]
166
Picture 43. The king performs merit to his ancestors

reborn as petas.
167
Chapter 43
The king performs merit in the name of his ancestors
reborn as petas (hungry ghosts); the peta rejoice in the
act and receive a share of the merit
In Picture 43 we see King Bimbisara pouring consecra ng
water from a jar onto the Buddha's hand. The pouring of
water by King Bimbisara in this picture is called in Thai the
"kruat nam" ceremony, or in Pali "uddisodaka, meaning
"pouring water and oJering." It is a custom prac ced
when oJering something that is big and cannot be
physically lied and placed into the hands of the recipient,
such as land or a monastery.
King Bimbisara's pouring of water depicted here is called
"daksinodaka," meaning "pouring water and oJering in the
name of the dead." It is also used when oJering something
to someone else, but the diJerence here is that the thing
being oJered is invisible, being merit or skillfulness, and
the receivers of the oJering are also invisible, being
168
departed beings. This ceremony is s ll popularly used

when making merit in Thailand.
The subject of the picture is the second great act of merit
on behalf of King Bimbisara. When the King made his Grst
oJering he failed to dedicate the merits to his departed
ancestors. The Pathamasambodhi states that, as a result,
on that night the petas who had been rela ves or
ancestors of the king wailed in protest throughout the
palace, and some of them even appeared to the King.
According to the Dhammapada stories, these petas, when
they were human beings, had been corrupt. They had used
belongings oJered to the Sangha for themselves. Aer
their deaths they had been reborn as petas and had been
wai ng on the merit that King Bimbisara would oJer
them. Being disappointed on that account, they made
their protest.
King Bimbisara went to see the Buddha the next morning
and asked him the reason for the sounds and visita ons
he had heard and seen. Hearing the Buddha's explana on,
he made a royal act of merit, oJering food and robes for
the Buddha and the Order of monks on the next day. Aer
169
making the oJering, he performed the ceremony of

pouring water, intoning, "idam no nanam hotu," meaning
"May the wholesomeness and results of the good ac on I
am performing today go to my rela ves." Thus all of those
petas received the wholesomeness and merit of his ac on
and were relieved of the suJering they were at that me
experiencing.
The words idam no nanam hotu have become the oWcial
words for dedica ng an oJering to the departed in
Thailand up to this very day.
[toc]
170
Picture 44. Venerables Moggallana and Saripu;a request

for ordina on.
171
Chapter 44
Venerables Moggallana and Saripu%a, the future "right
and leG hand disciples," ask to become bhikkhus
In this picture, Moggallana and Saripu;a are receiving
ordina on from the Buddha at the Bamboo Grove in
Rajagaha. Before being ordained as Buddhist monks, they
had both been wanderers (paribbajaka), followers of the
teacher Sanjaya.
Sanjaya was one of the famous sect founders in the area
of Magadha. He had many disciples and was widely
revered. Saripu;a had gone to live with him in order to
seek the way out of suJering, but having studied his
teaching he found that it did not lead to the way out of
suJering, so he took leave of his teacher and went in
search of a new teaching. It was then that he met
Venerable Assaji at Rajagaha.
Venerable Assaji was one of the Group of Five. The
Buddha had sent them out to spread the Buddha's
teaching. Assaji found out that the Buddha was staying at
172
Rajagaha, and so he journeyed there in order to pay a visit

to the Buddha. On the way he met Saripu;a, who at that
me was known as Upa ssa the Wanderer. Saripu;a
no ced Venerable Assaji's inspiring bearing and was
moved to approach him and ask him about his prac ce
and his teacher. He was pleased at the answers he
received from Assaji, and proceeded from there to his
good friend , Moggallana, who was then known as Kolita
the Wanderer, and together they and a following of 250
wanderers went to see the Buddha.
When the Buddha acknowledged the ordina on of the
two friends into the Order with the customary "Come, be
a bhikkhu," bowls and robes, according to the compilers of
the ancient Buddhist legends, appeared from out of thin
air and wrapped themselves around the two wanderers,
making them fully clothed bhikkhus instantly.
If this last episode were to be wri;en in modern parlance,
we would say that those who had already been ordained
as asce cs, on taking and receiving ordina on with the
Buddha, did not have to spend a lot of
me preparing
their equisites, because they already had bowls and robes.

173
Not long aer their ordina on, these two bhikkhus

a;ained Arahatship and became the staunchest helpers of
the Buddha in the spreading of his teaching. The Buddha
established them in the posi on of leading disciples,
Venerable Saripu;a being the right-hand-Leading Disciple,
and Venerable Moggallana the le-hand-Leading Disciple.
In other words they were like the Buddha's "right and le
hands." Both of them passed away (parinibbana) not many
months before the Buddha did, Saripu;a from a chronic
ailment he had, and Moggallana at the hand of killers hired
by members of other sects.
[toc]
174
Picture 45. The Buddha gives the Ovadapamokkha

discourse to Arahats assembly on Magha Puja Day.
175
Chapter 45
The Buddha gives the Ovadapa"mokkha discourse to the
assembly of Arahats on Magha Puja day
Not long aer Moggallana and Saripu;a had been
admi;ed as monks the Buddha held a mee ng of the
Order on the full moon day of the third lunar month at the
Bamboo Grove Monastery in Rajagaha. This mee ng of
the Order was recognized by later Buddhists as a great
event, and the day has become an important Buddhist
holiday known as Magha Puja Day.
The mee ng of the Buddha's disciples on this day was
unlike any other mee ng convened during the Buddha's
me in that each of the 1,250 monks in a;endance had
been ordained personally by the Buddha himself; they had
all the same preceptor. All were Arahats. Each had come
spontaneously to the mee ng without prior appointment.
And on that day the Buddha gave the Ovadapamokkha
discourse. Thus the mee ng of the Order held on that day
176
is also called the caturangasannipata-the mee ng with the

four special features.
At that
me Rajagaha was a center of the state of
Magadha. When the Buddha went to stay there the

monks who had separated in order to spread the teaching,
hearing where the Buddha was, all went there to meet
him. Since more than a thousand monks had gathered
there, the Buddha called the mee ng and gave the
Ovadapamokkha address.
The Ovadapamokkha is a brief synopsis of the principles
of the Buddha's teaching, containing both injunc ons and
principles for administra on of the Order. There are
thirteen points in all. They include: Buddhism teaches the
giving up of evil, the cul va on of the good, and the
puriGca on of the mind; the highest of all teachings is
Nibbana, the cessa on of deGlements and transcendence
of suJering; a monk must be restrained, moderate in
ea ng, pa ent, not disparaging others, not harming
others.
At this
me, the Buddha had not yet formulated the
monas c discipline for administering the Order because

177
no damage had yet arisen in that regard. Thus he only laid

down the principles for administering the Order in brief. In
illustra on, not so many years ago Thailand had no state
cons tu on (rath thammanoon), but instead a manifesto
(thammanoon) of principles for government. This
thammanoon may be compared to the Ovadapamokkha.
The cons tu on (rath-thammanoon) for governing the
kingdom may be compared to the Vinaya, the rules of
discipline, determined by the Buddha in the later me of
his administra on.
[toc]
178
Picture 46. The Buddha teaches his rela ves in

Kapilava;hu.
179
Chapter 46
The Buddha goes to teach his rela"ves in Kapilava%hu;
the senior rela"ves do not pay obeisance
For more than six years, from the me the Bodhisa;a had
gone forth, been enlightened and begun to spread the
teaching in Magadha un l he had many disciples and
followers, the Buddha had not gone back to visit
Kapilava;hu, the town of his birth, even once. This picture
depicts the Buddha's Grst return to Kapilava;hu in order
to teach his rela ves, in response to a request from King
Suddhodana, his father.
When King Suddhodana found out that the Buddha was
staying and teaching in Magadha, he wished to see him,
and sent a party of emissaries to invite him to
Kapilava;hu.
Each of the par es of emissaries sent by King Suddhodana
to invite the Buddha consisted of a leader and followers
to the number of 1,000, according to the
Pathamasambodhi. There were altogether 10 of these
180
par es. The Grst to the ninth of them, on paying respects

to the Buddha, sat and listened to a teaching, as a result
of which they all a;ained Arahatship and so did not report
back to King Suddhodana. Then the king sent a tenth
party consis ng of court ministers. Of this tenth group
Kaludayi was the leader. He was a friend of the Buddha
and one of the sahajata, born on the same day as the
Buddha. Before seTng out on his journey to formally
invite the Buddha to Kapilava;hu, Kaludayi took leave of
the King to go forth as a monk, promising to invite the
Buddha back to Kapilava;hu aer receiving acceptance as
a monk. The King gave his consent.
Later, when Kaludayi reached the Buddha's monastery, he
listened to a teaching from the Buddha, became an Arahat
and asked for acceptance as a monk, together with all his
re nue. Then he formally invited the Buddha to journey to
Kapilava;hu. At that
me it was the dry season,
approaching the rainy season.

The Buddha, accep ng the invita on, set oJ on his
journey with a company of monks which, according to the
Pathamasambodhi, numbered 20,000, and in two months
181
reached Kapilava;hu. Arriving there, he stayed at the park

of a Sakyan by the name of Nigrodha, a place that the
Sakyan rulers had oJered to the Buddha for his stay. This
park (arama) was not a monastery, but a park, a pleasure
garden situated outside of the town. The royal rela ves,
including King Suddhodana himself, were there to receive
the Buddha.
[toc]
182
Picture 47. The Buddha shows his rela ves the

supernormal powers.
183
Chapter 47
The Buddha gives a show of supernormal powers, ?ying
in the air; the rela"ves give up their pride and together
bow to him
This picture depicts an event that happened immediately
following that depicted in the previous picture. It is the
episode known as "the Buddha displays a miracle to
dampen the pride of his rela ves."
The Sakyan lords, the senior rela ves of the Buddha,
considered that they were older and therefore of higher
standing than the Buddha, who was then only 36 years
old. When they received him and went to visit him at the
Nigrodha Park, they did not make any gestures of
obeisance to the Buddha, but had the younger Sakyan
princes and princesses sit in the front row and pay
respects to the Buddha in their place, while they stood
s Yy at the back.
T h e Pathamasambodhi relates that this was why the
Buddha performed the miracle of Mying into the air and
184
sprinkling the dust from his feet onto the heads of the
Sakyan lords.
Somdej
Phra
Mahasamanachao
Kromphrayavachiranyanavarorosa, the Supreme Patriarch

of Thailand who compiled a biography of the Buddha,
states in volume two of that biography, in rela on to this
episode:
"If we interpret this to mean that in fact the Buddha made
a display of the anusasani pahariya, the miracle of
teaching, that is, giving a teaching to the Sakyans that
enlightened them, inspired them, encouraged them,
gladdened them and caused them to give up their pride,
and to regard the Buddha as their superior, as if he had
Mown into the air, this would be more acceptable."
King Suddhodana, who had gone to receive the Buddha
and visit him, seeing this miraculous event, put his palms
together in a gesture of homage, and all of the rela ves
gathered there gave up their pride and paid homage to
the Buddha.
T h e Pathamasambodhi states: "At that moment, a great
cloud gathered above them and released a downpour. The
185
rain that fell then was what is known as bokkharavassa,

being of red color and of such a nature that whoever
wanted to become wet by it became wet, while whoever
did not want to become wet stayed dry, and the rain
drops simply bounced oJ their bodies like water oJ a
lotus leaf."
Interpre ng this, we could say that the Buddha and his
rela ves had been away from each other for so long that
when they saw each other they were overjoyed and
refreshed, as if their hearts had been drenched with a
refreshing shower.
[toc]
186
Picture 48. The Buddha goes for alms; Bimbayasodhara

told Rahula to see his father.
187
Chapter 48
The Buddha goes for alms round in the town;
Bimbayasodhara sees him and points him out to Rahula,
saying, "There, that is your father!"
Aer the torren al rain had fallen, the monks who
accompanied the Buddha were amazed and began to
converse among themselves about the rain, saying it was
like none they had ever seen. The Buddha said to the
monks, "This bokkharavassa rain falling during the
Buddha's
me is not so amazing, but the bokkharavassa
rain that fell in his previous life, when he was Prince

Vessantara, was truly amazing."
At that the monks were intrigued to hear about the
Buddha's previous life as Prince Vessantara, and so asked
the Lord to relate it to them. The Buddha thus related the
Vessantara Jataka to them, from the beginning up un l the
episode of the prince's return to the city and the event of
the bokkharavassa rain, just like the rain that had fallen
that day. The story of the Vessantara Jataka, which Thai
188
Buddhists revere and nowadays like to invite monks to

relate to them in the ceremony of the Great Life Desana
(desana maha ja) originated from the story the Buddha
related on this very day, when he went to give teachings
to his rela ves.
As for the rela ves, including King Suddhodana, they paid
homage to the Buddha and variously took their leave, but
none of them invited the Buddha for the next day's meal.
The next morning, the Buddha together with his re nue of
monks entered the town of Kapilava;hu for alms round.
The townsfolk were all in a Mu;er, never having imagined
that the Buddha, who was a king by birth, would walk in
the town for alms, or, in more common terms, "begging."
T h e Pathamasambodhi relates this event as follows: "At
that
me the leading ci zens of the town reported that
Prince Siddha;ha was going for alms in the city, so the

people of the town all opened the windows of their
houses, which were two and three stories high, to see, but
all of the people were intent on looking at the Omniscient
One as he went on his alms round [i.e., none of them put
food in his bowl]."
189
Bimbayasodhara, who had been Prince Siddha;ha's wife,

and who had s ll not go;en over her sorrow at the
Prince's departure, heard the noise of the ci zens as they
talked excitedly about the Buddha walking through the
streets of their town. She took Rahula, her son, who at
that me was seven years old, to the window and, when
they saw the Buddha walking at the head of the Order,
pointed him out to Rahula, saying, "There, that's your
father."
[toc]
190
Picture 49. King Suddhodana invites the Buddha to take

the meal.
191
Chapter 49
The Buddha's father hears the news of the Buddha's
arrival and goes out to protest, invi"ng the Buddha to
take the meal at the palace
That King Suddhodana went to receive the Buddha and
had an audience with him at the Nigrodha Park but did
not invite him to take the meal at the palace was because
he simply assumed that the Buddha would eat nowhere
else but the King's palace.
But when he heard the report from Princess Bimba that
the Buddha together with a great number of monk
disciples went not to the palace but walked instead
through the streets of the town on alms round, he was
greatly distressed.
The Pathamasambodhi states: "With his sash in hand, the
King went down from the palace and has ly walked up to
the Buddha, stopping in front of him, and said: 'Why, son,
do you shame me by walking for alms? It is against the
192
customs of our kshatriya clan. Why do you not go for the

meal at the palace?'"
The Buddha told his father that while this custom of going
for alms round was not a custom of the kshatriya clan, it
was a custom of the Buddha clan. The Buddha explained
that it was a custom for Buddhas and monks who had
given up home for the homeless life to walk for alms
round as a means of livelihood, and that alms round is the
pure form of livelihood for the Buddha clan.
The Buddha told King Suddhodana that he was no longer
one of the kshatriya clan, and had ceased to be so not
from the day he le the home life for homelessness, nor
on the day he prac ced medita on under the bodhi tree,
but only when he succeeded in his endeavor, becoming an
enlightened Buddha. From that moment on he became a
member of the Buddha clan.
The Buddha stood and addressed the King as above, and
at the end of his words King Suddhodana, standing there,
a;ained Stream Entry. Then the King received the
Buddha's bowl and invited the Buddha together with his
193
re nue of noble disciples to enter the palace to take their

meal.
[toc]
194
Picture 50. Princess Bimba pines over the Buddha; he

goes to see her in her palace.
195
Chapter 50
Princess Bimba pines over the Buddha; he goes to see her
in her palace
The picture we see here is of the Buddha going to see
Princess Bimbayasodhara, his former wife.
The day the Buddha went to see Princess Bimba was the
same day that he went to receive the meal in his father's
palace, as already described. The place of their mee ng
was the princess's palace. Accompanying the Buddha on
this visit were Venerables Saripu;a and Moggallana, the
right and le hand disciples, and King Suddhodana.
Princess Bimba had been grief stricken ever since the
Buddha le for the life of homelessness, feeling that the
Buddha had rejected her. When she heard that the
Buddha had entered Kapilava;hu, her sorrow became
even greater. Even when King Suddhodana sent for her to
come and pay respects to the Buddha she could not bring
herself to go, and when the Buddha himself went to see
her at her own palace, she could not walk to him unaided,
196
but had to be helped in to see him by some of her

maidservants. When she reached where the Buddha was
siTng, she collapsed in a heap in front of him and rolled
her head over his feet, wailing and almost losing her
senses.
King Suddhodana extolled the virtues of Princess Bimba
to the Buddha, telling him how loyal she was to him and
that she had never let her heart change all the me he had
been away. The Buddha answered the King that the
Princess had not only been loyal to him in this life but also
in many previous lives, when she had been his partner
through many a diWculty. Then the Buddha recounted
many a jataka, past life story, for the beneGt of King
Suddhodana and Princess Bimba.
Hearing the stories, Princess Bimba's sorrow lied from
her heart and she was Glled with joy at the Buddha's
teaching. When the Buddha had Gnished giving his
teaching, she a;ained Stream Entry.
[toc]
197
198
Picture 51. Nanda accompanies the Buddha back to the

monastery.
199
Chapter 51
Nanda receives the Buddha's bowl to accompany him
back to the monastery; his 3ancee calls out to hurry
back; reaching the monastery, the Buddha invites him to
go forth as a monk
On the Gh day of the Buddha's Grst visit to Kapilava;hu
there was a marriage ceremony between one of the
Sakyan princes named Nanda and a princess named
Janapadakalyani.
Nanda was the Buddha's half-brother. Aer the Buddha's
mother, Mahamaya, passed away only a few days aer the
Buddha's birth, King Suddhodana took Pajapa
Gotami,
Mahamaya's younger sister, as his wife. Nanda was the

son of King Suddhodana and Queen Pajapa Gotami.
When the Buddha went forth into the life of
homelessness, the posi on of successor to the throne
thus fell to Nanda. The King had planned that Nanda, aer
marrying, would ascend the throne and con nue on from
him.
200
On the day of the marriage, the Buddha had gone at the

invita on of the King his father. Aer the meal, when the
Buddha was preparing to return, he handed his bowl to
Nanda, his younger brother, to carry for him on the way
back. Nanda thought to himself that when they reached
the gates of the palace the Buddha would turn around and
take the bowl from him, but when they reached the gates ,
he did not do that. Nanda didn't dare thrust the bowl onto
the Buddha, since he was the older brother, so he
followed him all the way to the park where he was
staying. Reaching there, the Buddha turned to Nanda and
said, "Become a monk?"
Nanda held his brother in too high respect to refuse him,
so he said, "Yes, Revered Sir."
Nanda did not ordain wholeheartedly, because he had
been in the process of geTng married. What's more, while
he was leaving the palace with the Buddha's bowl in hand,
Janapadakalyani, his betrothed, had called out to him,
"Hurry back, my prince!" But he answered that he would
ordain out of respect for the Buddha.
201
[toc]
202
Picture 52. Rahula expresses love and devo on to the

Buddha.
203
Chapter 52
Rahula expresses such great love and devo"on to the
Buddha his father that he forgets to claim his inheritance
On the seventh day of the Buddha's visit to Kapilava;hu,
which was aer Prince Nanda had become a monk, the
Buddha and the Order of monks entered King
Suddhodana's palace for their meal once again.
Nanda was the second heir to the throne, aer the
Buddha, who was originally to assume rule aer King
Suddhodana, but when Nanda became a monk, or more
correctly, was forced to ordain by his older brother, the
succession to the throne then fell to Rahula, Prince
Siddha;ha's son.
Princess Bimbayasodhara, seeing her chance, knowing
that the Buddha had entered the palace to take the meal,
dressed Rahula beau fully with the full regalia of a
Kshatriya prince, and said to him, "That noble samana,
with the golden radiance and a sound like a god,
surrounded by 20,000 monks, is your father."
204
Bimba told her son to go and ask for his inheritance and
all his father's wealth, which he had not yet passed on.
The Princess told her son that it was usual for a son to
take over the wealth of the father.
At this
me, the Pathamasambodhi states, Rahula was
seven years old, and from the day of his birth had never
seen his father. He saw him for the Grst
me when the
Buddha entered the town of Kapilava;hu. Seeing him and

geTng close to him, Rahula was Glled with love for the
Buddha, as a son would feel for his father. Rahula said one
sentence to the Buddha, which in essence was "I am so
happy to be close to my father." Then he asked for his
inheritance and the rights to his father's wealth, as his
mother had told him.
The Buddha did not answer. Ea ng his meal and giving a
blessing, he went back to the Nigrodha Park with the
Order, with Rahula following on to ask for his inheritance.
[toc]
205
206
Picture 53. The Buddha bequeaths the treasure of

Nibbana to Rahula.
207
Chapter 53
The Buddha bequeaths the treasure of Nibbana to
Rahula, ordaining him as the 3rst novice.
When Rahula followed the Buddha to the Nigrodha park
to ask for his inheritance and the rights to the Buddha's
wealth, the Buddha considered: "What Rahula is asking
me for is merely worldly wealth, which is impermanent
and diWcult to look aer, unlike noble wealth, the truth
that I have become enlightened to. I will make Rahula an
heir to the transcendent [lokuara]."
So the Buddha sent for Saripu;a and instructed him to be
the preceptor for Rahula, ordaining him as a novice
(samanera). Thus Rahula became the Grst Buddhist novice.
Later, when he came of age (i.e., 20 years old), he became
a monk and a;ained Arahatship.
When Nanda had his marriage ceremony cut oJ by the
Buddha taking him to be ordained as a monk, King
Suddhodana was very distressed, but not overly so as he
realized he s ll had Prince Rahula as an heir to the throne.
208
But when he heard that Rahula, too, had gone forth and
become a novice, King Suddhodana was more grief
stricken than when Nanda and even the Buddha himself
had gone forth.
King Suddhodana was beside himself with grief, so he
went to see the Buddha at the Nigrodha Park and made a
request to him to the eJect that if any monk should give
ordina on to any child or grandchild of a householder, he
should Grst get permission from the parents, otherwise
the ordina on will cause untold suJering for them, just as
he had suJered at Rahula's going forth.
The Buddha agreed to King Suddhodana's request, and so
laid down the Vinaya rule which has been upheld to this
very day that anyone who is to ordain, regardless of
whether it is as a novice or as a monk, should Grst obtain
permission from his parents or guardian. The tradi on
upheld to this day of presen ng trays of ritual oJerings to
one's parents and elders, and bowing and asking their
permission to go forth, springs from the incident
described above.
209
[toc]
210
Picture 54. The Buddha guarantees Nanda on prac sing

the Dhamma before a;aining his wish.
211
Chapter 54
The Buddha takes Nanda to admire the celes"al nymphs;
Nanda wants to take one for a wife, and the Buddha
guarantees that if he prac"ces the Dhamma he will a%ain
his wish
Aer the Buddha had stayed at Kapilava;hu teaching his
father and rela ves for about one week, he journeyed
back to Rajagaha in Magadha. Traveling with the Order of
monks who followed the Buddha at that
me were
Bhikkhu Nanda, the Buddha's younger brother whom he

had coerced into becoming a monk, and Rahula the
novice.
Later, the Buddha together with a great company of
monks journeyed to the town of Sava;hi in the state of
Kosala, which were of comparable size with the town of
Rajagaha and the state of Magadha respec vely. Nanda
accompanied him there too.
However, ever since he had gone forth as a monk Nanda
had never done the du es of a monk. His mind was Glled
212
only with thoughts of leaving the monk's life because he

was constantly thinking of Princess Janapatakalyani, the
Gancee he had le behind on their marriage day.
This ma;er became known to the Buddha. The
Commentaries relate this with a puggaladhihana
(personiGed teaching), sta ng that as a result of this the
Buddha took Nanda for a tour of the Tava msa heaven.
On the way he pointed out a deformed female monkey
siTng on a tree stump in a Geld at the edge of a certain
forest. When they reached the Tava msa heaven, the
Buddha showed Nanda the celes al nymphs, with their
feet as red as doves feet and many mes more beau ful
than earthly women.
"Nanda! Between Princess Janapatakalyani, your Gancee,
and the girls in heaven, who is more beau ful?" asked the
Buddha.
Nanda answered, "Now Princess Janapatakalyani seems
no more beau ful to me than that deformed monkey."
Interpre ng this, we might say that the Buddha gave
Nanda a teaching showing him clearly that love and
beauty know no end, and that our ideas of what is
213
adorable and beau ful are only because we have not yet
seen anything even more adorable and beau ful.
Nanda, listening to the Buddha, became disillusioned and
wearied of love and delight in beauty, and applied himself
to prac cing the Dhamma. In no long me he became an
enlightened Arahat.
[toc]
214
Picture 55. Devada;a impresses Prince Ajatasa;u with

some psychic powers.
215
Chapter 55
Devada%a impresses Prince Ajatasa%u with some psychic
powers to win him over
The Buddha's Grst visit to Kapilava;hu inspired many of
the Sakyan princes to leave the home life. Among them,
those that are well known even now are Prince Ananda, or
Venerable Ananda, Upali the barber, and Prince
Devada;a.
Deva d a;a wa s t h e o l d e r b rot h e r of Pr i n ce s s
Bimbayasodhara. In other words, he was the brother-inlaw of Prince Siddha;ha, the future Buddha. All of those
who went forth with Devada;a a;ained enlightenment
[the Path and Fruit], but Devada;a a;ained only mundane
jhana [absorp on concentra on], but even so the level of
jhana that he a;ained enabled him to exercise psychic
powers, such as Mying through the air.
One day the Buddha with a large company of monks,
Devada;a included, went to the city of Kosambi. The
townsfolk came out to receive him and brought many
216
oJerings, giving some of them to the Buddha and some to

the Order of monks. The townsfolk were making oJerings
to individual monks, walking along the line asking, "Where
is our Saripu;a?" "Where is our Moggallana?" When they
found the monk they were looking for they would present
the oJerings to him. However, none of them was asking
"Where is our Devada;a?"
That was the beginning of Devada;a's dissa sfac on and
the cause of his later commiTng many an evil deed
[kamma].
Devada;a entered the mundane jhana concentra on
state and appeared as a young prince with bracelets of
seven snakes coiled about him-one coiled around his head
like a turban, four more around his wrists and ankles,
another around his neck and another draped over his
shoulders-Moa ng in the air in the palace. He sat down on
the knee of Prince Ajatasa;u, Crown Prince and son of
King Bimbisara, the King of Magadha. Devada;a planted
the idea in Prince Ajatasa;u's mind to kill his father the
king and usurp the throne, while he would kill the Buddha
and take over as a new Buddha, declaring a new religion.
217
When he went to see Prince Ajatasa;u Devada;a Mew in

the air, but on his way back he could no longer manage to
My, and had to walk, as the unwholesome thoughts in his
mind had damaged the jhana state he once had, and it
disappeared from him from that day on.
[toc]
218
Picture 56. Devada;as archers dont kill the Buddha, but

listen to his teaching.
219
Chapter 56
The archers sent by Devada%a to kill the Buddha lay
down their bows, listen to a teaching, and a%ain
enlightenment
The man siTng in the picture with his palms together,
bow laid beside him on the ground in front of the Buddha,
i s a khamandhanu. Khamam translates as "hunter," so
"khamamdhanu is a "hunter skilled with a bow." The bow
was the deadliest weapon in use in the Buddha's me.
Aer encouraging Ajatasa;u, the crown Prince, to kill
King Bimbisara, Devada;a went to see the Buddha. At
that
me the Buddha had gone back to Rajagaha.
Devada;a said to the Buddha that he was old, and should

pass on the posi on of head of the Order to him. As a
result, Devada;a was given the "spi;le speech"
(khelasikavada). Khelasikavada means "one who swallows a
ball of spi;le or mucous that has already been spat out."
The meaning is that one gone forth from the home life,
having ordained, is said to have renounced all worldly
220
things, such as children, wife, wealth, rank and status.

Why was Devada;a, as one who had renounced those
things when he went forth as a monk, going back to
them? The Buddha compared it to someone ea ng his
own spi;le.
Devada;a was peeved at the Buddha's words and
developed even greater hatred for him than before, so he
devised many violent plans to deprive the Buddha of life.
On the poli cal side, Devada;a had succeeded in
persuading Ajatasa;u to kill his father and eventually take
over the throne from him. But what he had not yet
succeeded in was killing the Buddha.
At Grst Devada;a hired many archers, all of them highly
skilled in their cra, to lay in wait and shoot the Buddha at
the Bamboo Grove in Rajagaha, all with King Ajatasa;u's
knowledge and consent. But when all the hunters arrived
at the Buddha's monastery and saw the Buddha, their
arms went weak and they could not bring themselves to
shoot. This was due to the Buddha's presence, which
calmed their minds, so that they all laid down their bows
and bowed at the Buddha's feet.
221
The Buddha gave teachings to the hunters, aer which

they all a;ained Stream Entry.
[toc]
222
Picture 57. Devada;a repents his wrongdoing and asks

for forgiveness.
223
Chapter 57
Devada%a repents his wrongdoing; while going to ask
forgiveness, the earth swallows him up
When Devada;a's Grst plan to kill the Buddha failed,
Devada;a tried to do the job himself. He went to the top
of Gijjhakuta Mountain, knowing that at that moment the
Buddha was staying on its lower slopes. Then he rolled a
large rock down the hill, hoping to crush the Buddha. But
on its way down the rock smashed into smaller pieces,
one of which Mew passed the Buddha and grazed him,
causing a small wound.
The second plan had failed. Aer that, Devada;a
persuaded King Ajatasa;u to have his elephant trainers
release a pack of Gerce war elephants onto the streets
while the Buddha was going for alms round, but this plan
also failed as the elephants did not dare hurt the Buddha.
It was at this
me that Devada;a's deeds and evil
reputa on began to become widely known. All the

townsfolk were gossiping about how the hiring of the
224
hunters, the rolling of the rock and wounding the Buddha,

the releasing of the herd of elephants, and even the death
of King Bimbisara, were all masterminded by Devada;a,
and they decided that their King had done evil deeds
because of his associa on with this evil monk.
King Ajatasa;u heard of the talk of the townsfolk and was
struck with shame. He gave up going to see Devada;a,
and gave orders to stop taking the tray of palace food to
oJer to him as had been done in the past. In the town, no
one would oJer food to Devada;a. But Devada;a had
s ll not given up his pride. He went to see the Buddha,
asking him to change his religion with a number of
reforms, such as making the monks compulsory
vegetarians, but the Buddha refused. As a result
Devada;a established a new sect of monks, puTng
himself at the head as a second Buddha.
But later the monks who had mistakenly followed
Devada;a all le him and went back to the Buddha,
leaving only a handful staying with Devada;a. Devada;a
was Glled with sorrow and vomited blood. Knowing that
he was going to die, his conscience struck him, and he
225
asked the few remaining monks with him to carry him to

the Buddha so that he could ask forgiveness before dying.
However Devada;a did not get a chance to see the
Buddha, for when they reached the perimeter of the
monastery, he developed a desire to bathe. As soon as he
put his feet on the ground, the earth opened up and
swallowed him down.
[toc]
226
Picture 58. The Buddhas foster mother oJers cloth, the

Buddha gives to Venerable Ajita.
227
Chapter 58
The Buddha's foster mother o7ers a cloth, which the
Buddha gives to Venerable Ajita, the future Buddha
According to the sources in the Buddhist texts, especially
the Commentaries, which were compiled by later writers
aer the Buddha's passing away, it seems that the Buddha
went to visit Kapilava;hu many mes.
This picture depicts one of those visits. The
Pathamasambodhi states that it was his second visit. The
woman siTng in front of the Buddha is Pajapa Gotami,
the Buddha's aunt, being the younger sister of the
Buddha's mother. When Mahamaya died, King
Suddhodana took her as his wife.
According to the story, Pajapa
Gotami, realizing that
when the Buddha went to Kapilava;hu on his Grst visit

she had not oJered anything to him, on the second visit
brought two pieces of co;on cloth, each 14 sork (forearm
lengths) in length and 7 sork in width, to oJer to the
Buddha. The Pathamasambodhi states that the co;on of
228
the cloth was yellow, like gold. The Queen had planted the
co;on herself, and it grew a dark yellow color. She spun
and wove the co;on herself and, puTng it onto a golden
tray, oJered it to the Buddha.
The Queen was disappointed when the Buddha would not
receive the cloth, and went to see Venerable Ananda to
tell him what had happened. Ananda went to see the
Buddha and asked him to receive it. Once again, the
Buddha would not receive it, telling the Queen to oJer it
to one of the monks in the Order, but not one of them
would receive it. There was only one monk, siTng at the
end of the line of monks, newly ordained, who would
receive it. His name was Ajita. He was s ll unenlightened,
but, according to the Pathamasambodhi, in the future he
would be Me;eya, the next Buddha to save the world.
The reason the Buddha would not receive Pajapa
Gotami's cloth was because he wanted to show the great
worth of the Order, in that even a newly ordained monk
who keeps the precepts is worthy of oJerings from
Buddhists. If he had not done this people would think that
one should give oJerings only to the Buddha, a view
229
which would mean that the monks would live with

diWculty aer the Buddha had passed away.
[toc]
230
Picture 59. The Buddha forbids his paternal and maternal

rela ves from warring over the water supply.
231
Chapter 59
The Buddha forbids his paternal and maternal rela"ves
from warring over the water supply
This picture depicts an event that happened on one
occasion when the Buddha went back to his home town,
but this me by himself. He made this journey to prevent
a war between the rela ves of both sides of the family.
On one side were his paternal rela ves, the lords of
Kapilava;hu. On the other side were the maternal
rela ves, the lords of Koliya, otherwise known as
Devadaha. These two ci es were on opposite sides of the
Rohini River, and conten on had arisen over the use of
the river's water for irriga on. When the town that was
upriver channeled oJ the water for their own Gelds, those
who lived down river lost water. Both sides had held
mee ngs but could reach no agreement. The situa on had
grown in intensity so that they were digging up each
other's ancestry to insult each other.
232
"You wild dogs who just mate with each other!" One side
was insulted like this on account of their tradi on of
allowing marriage between brother and sister.
"Mangy dogs!" The other side was insulted like this on
account of their ancestor who caught leprosy and was
banished to live in the forest.
Both sides had prepared armies of soldiers and weapons
to go into ba;le. When the Buddha heard of this he went
to see them to put a stop to the ba;le, convening a
mee ng of the lords of both sides of the dispute and
asking them about the cause of the dispute.
The Buddha: What is the conten on about?
The rela ves: About water, Revered Sir.
The Buddha: Which is more valuable, water or human
lives?
The rela ves: Human lives are more valuable, Revered Sir.
The Buddha: So is what you are doing correct?
The rela ves were all silent.
233
The Buddha: If the Tathagata (i.e. the Buddha) had not

come today, a river of blood would have Mowed.
Thus the rela ves on both sides stopped preparing for
war. The Buddha played an important role in this event,
and it is for this reason that in later mes a Buddha image
was made in the posture known as "forbidding the
rela ves."
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234
Picture 60. King Suddhodana is ill; the Buddha stays with

him un l a;ains Arahatship and passes away.
235
Chapter 60
The Buddha's father takes ill; the Buddha goes to visit
and stays with him un"l he a%ains Arahatship and passes
away
On the Gh year aer the enlightenment, according to the
Pathamasambodhi, the Buddha was staying in the Great
Forest near the city of Vesali, when he heard news that his
father King Suddhodana was gravely ill and aged and
wished to see the Buddha and the monks who had been
Sakyan princes and rela ves, such as Venerable Ananda,
Venerable Nanda, and Rahula the novice.
The Buddha instructed Ananda to inform the Order that
he would be going to Kapilava;hu once more.
It is a tradi on that before the Buddha went anywhere he
would leave word with the monks who were nearby to
inform the Order where and when he was to be traveling
so that any monk who wanted to accompany him could
prepare himself in me.
236
It appears that the Buddha's visit to Kapilava;hu to visit

his dying father was his last visit there.
Arriving at Kapilava;hu, the Buddha went straight to see
his father, who was already in a grave condi on. The
Buddha gave him a teaching about the impermanence of
condi oned phenomena. The Pathamasambodhi cites one
part of the Buddha's teaching on that occasion as follows;
"Your Majesty, human life is very short. It does not appear
for long; like a Mash of lightning, it appears and then is
gone."
King Suddhodana was at that
me a Non-Returner
(anagami), and aer listening to the teaching in full

a;ained Arahatship in the very evening of his life. Seven
days later he passed away.
The Buddha stayed to perform the funerary rites for his
father together with the Order and the complete circle of
Sakyan rela ves.
[toc]
237
238
Picture 61. Queen Pajapa

ladies to ordain as nuns.
239
Gotami leads the Sakyan
Chapter 61
Queen Pajapa" Gotami leads a party of Sakyan ladies to
ask for ordina"on as nuns
Not long aer King Suddhodana's passing away, Queen
Pajapa Gotami, the Buddha's aunt and foster mother, or
King Suddhodana's wife, together with a re nue of
Kshatriyan ladies, had an a;endance with the Buddha,
who at that
me was staying at the Nigrodha Park at
Kapilava;hu, in order to ask permission to go forth as a

nun (bhikkhuni).
The Queen asked the Buddha whether women could go
forth as homeless ones in the Buddhist religion as could
men. The Buddha responded by discouraging her, telling
her to forget about ordaining. He responded in this way
three mes.
Aer that, the Buddha went back to Vesali. Queen
Pajapa
Gotami and her re nue followed him. This
me
all the ladies, with heads shaved and wearing the ochre
robes of renunciants, approached the Buddha and asked
240
once again to be accepted. Once again the Buddha

refused.
So the Queen decided to rely on the inMuence of
Venerable Ananda, asking him to go and seek the
Buddha's permission on their behalf. Venerable Ananda
had an audience with the Buddha, pleading with him to
allow Pajapa
Gotami and her re nue to go forth as
bhikkhuni.
The Buddha refused another three mes, but in the end
agreed on the condi on that Pajapa Gotami Grst accept
eight "heavy condi ons" (garudhamma). The eight heavy
condi ons were preliminary condi ons for acceptance as
a bhikkhuni, such as that a bhikkhuni, even ordained for as
long as 100 years, should respect a bhikkhu even ordained
for one day, and that before ordaining as a bhikkhuni a
woman had to Grst observe six precepts for two years
without blemish.
Pajapa
Gotami had very strong faith, and accepted the
condi ons and was ordained as the Grst bhikkhuni, or

Buddhist nun. However, the Order of nuns did not last
very long, and indica ons are that it ceased to exist even
241
before the Buddha passed away. The reason for this is

that the conven ons and rules the Buddha established for
the bhikkhuni were like a prison for them, much stricter
than for the bhikkhus, so that no one without excep onal
faith would consider ordaining.
[toc]
242
Picture 62. The Buddha performs miracles to trounce

other asce cs sects.
243
Chapter 62
The Buddha performs the twin miracle to trounce the
asce"cs of other sects at the Gandamapikkha mango tree
In this picture we see the episode of the Buddha's display
of the yamaka pahariya at Sava;hi, in the state of Kosala,
on the full moon day of the eighth lunar month, one day
before the beginning of the rains retreat.
A pahariya is a display of something miraculous,
something that ordinary people or people who have never
learnt it cannot possibly do. It begins on the lowest level
as magical tricks, and on the higher levels includes sinking
into the earth, walking through Gre, ea ng nails, as yogis
are want to do, and even Mying through the air, walking in
the air, as people with psychic powers may do. An
unenlightened person may perform them, and so can an
enlightened being who has developed jhana and psychic
powers.
Yamaka means "twin" or "two." Thus the yamaka pahariya
is the "twin miracle": water with Gre. When performing
244
the miracle, a great water pipe sprouted from the upper

half of the Buddha's body, while a great Mame shot from
the lower half of his body.
The twin miracle can only be performed by one person-a
Buddha. The Arahat disciples and asce cs of other sects
can only perform ordinary pahariya, such as walking on
water or sinking into the earth.
The place where the Buddha performed the twin miracle
on this occasion was the foot of a mango tree, called
gandamapikkha, in the town of Sava;hi. The reason for his
showing the miracle was that ordinees of other religions
had challenged him to a "compe
on of psychic powers."
The members of other sects knew that the Buddha would

display the twin miracle only at the foot of a mango tree,
so they and their supporters cut down all the mango trees.
Wherever they knew there was a mango tree they used
whatever means they could manage to buy it and cut it
down. They even uprooted the
ny mango seedlings
sprouted on that very day, leaving none le.

But the Buddha managed to display the twin miracle at
the foot of a mango tree. Someone had oJered him a ripe
245
mango for the meal. Having eaten the mango, he

instructed the seed to be planted. Then he used the water
for washing his hands to water it and the seedling
sprouted up and grew voraciously, sending out branches
and reaching up to a height of 50 sork. In the end the
members of other sects lost the compe
on.
The story of the twin miracle is a part of Buddhist

mythology. It has been created by Buddhist writers in
order to exalt the Buddha over other sects. The reader
must read it as a story, looking at the Buddha as like a
god, and bearing in mind the mo ves of the writers.
[toc]
246
Picture 63. The Buddha spends the rains retreat in the

Tava msa heaven.
247
Chapter 63
The Buddha goes to spend the rains retreat in the
Tava"msa heaven in order to teach his mother
Aer performing the twin miracle and trouncing the
members of other sects who had challenged him, the
Buddha reMected on the tradi on upheld by Buddhas of
the past: aer performing a twin miracle, where did they
spend their rains retreat? He realized through insight that
they spent their following rains retreats in the Tava msa
heaven realm.
The Pathamasambodhi collates the Buddha's rains retreats,
puTng the seventh (from the me of his enlightenment)
as at Tava msa heaven.
According to the story, both from the Pathamasambodhi
and other Buddhist writers wri ng aer the Buddha's
p a s s i n g a w a y, k n o w n a s t h e C o m m e n t a t o r s
(Ahakathacariya), the reason the Buddha went to spend
the rains retreat in Tava msa was to teach his mother,
248
Queen Mahamaya, who aer passing away from this

world had been reborn in the Dusita heaven realm.
The Buddha spent the rains retreat at the foot of a
parichaa tree. Under the trees in the heaven realm there
i s e a r t h c ove re d w i t h re d c a r p e t , k n o w n a s
pandukambalasila asana.
Indra, the Lord of Heaven, hearing that the Buddha had
come to spend the rains retreat here, called a mee ng of
all the dei es in the heaven realms to listen to the
Buddha's teaching. The Pathamasambodhi states that the
announcement made by Indra on that occasion could be
heard throughout the heaven realms for a distance of
10,000 yojanas (about 160,000 kilometers), and when the
devatas heard it they were Glled with joy, and called out to
each other for another 10,000 world systems.
Mahamaya, the Buddha's mother, who was living among
the devas in the Dusita heaven, also came to listen to the
Buddha's teaching, and the Buddha taught her the
Abhidhamma for the whole of the rains retreat. Hearing
the teaching, the Buddha's mother a;ained Stream Entry,
249
while a great number of devas a;ained the Path and Fruit

according to their disposi ons.
[toc]
250
Picture 64. On Pavarana day, the Buddha descends from

Tava msa heaven.
251
Chapter 64
On the Great Invita"on (pavarana) day, the Buddha
descends from Tava"msa heaven via stairways of jewels,
gold and silver
This picture shows the Buddha descending from the deva
realm, from Tava msa heaven, aer having spent the rains
retreat there in order to teach the Dhamma to his mother.
The day of his descent was the day of "leaving the rains
retreat." The town that he descended to was Sankasa, and
he descended right to the gates of the city. The place
where the Buddha Grst stepped onto the earth later
became known as the "acalaceya," or in ordinary terms a
"Buddha's footprint." This is one place, according to the
legend, where a Buddha's footprint was made.
Before the Buddha's descent, Indra, king of the devas,
conjured up three stairways for the purpose: a gold
stairway, a silver stairway and a jewel stairway. The gold
stairway, for the devas, was on the right. The silver
stairway, on the le, was for the Brahmas. The jewel
252
stairway, in the center, was for the Buddha. The top of

each of the stairways rested on the summit of Mount
Sumeru, while the foot of the stairways rested at the city
gates of Sankasa.
The people on the Buddha's right in the picture are devas.
They are the devas who descended with the Buddha. On
the Buddha's le, holding the ceremonial umbrella, is a
Brahma. Carrying the Buddha's bowl and walking just in
front of the Buddha is Indra. Playing the lute and singing is
the deva Pancasinkhara, on his right is Matuli Devapu;a,
who is strewing celes al Mowers on the path as the
Buddha descends.
The Buddha was a visuddhi deva, a deity on account of his
purity. Later genera ons of Buddhist writers gave him the
honoriGc name "Devadeva," meaning "Deva among devas."
The various devas worshipped by the people of India in
ancient mes, such as Indra and Maha Brahma, are made
into "suppor ng actors" as disciples of the Buddha.
Thai Buddhists believe that the day of leaving the rains
retreat is another important Buddhist day. On that day
they make a special oJering in honor of the day the
253
Buddha descended from the Tava msa heaven. The alms

giving performed on this day is called "tak bhat devo," from
the word "devorohana," meaning alms oJering given on
the day of the Buddha's coming down from the deva
realm.
[toc]
254
Picture 65. The Buddha opens the worlds, hell beings and
humans to see each other.
255
Chapter 65
The Buddha opens all the worlds, enabling the devas, hell
beings and humans to see each other
On the day that the Buddha descended from Tava msa he
performed another miracle. While he was standing on the
jewel stairway, he looked upwards and the worlds of the
devas (devaloka) and the Brahmas (Brahmaloka) were
revealed. Then he looked downward, and the hell realms
were revealed. At that
me the celes al realms, the hell
realms and the human realms throughout the universe

were all visible to each other.
The scene shown here is from the
me the Buddha
descended from Tava msa. The event is the Buddha's

"opening of the worlds." The worlds that he opened at
that me were the three worlds of heaven (devaloka), hell
(yamaloka) and earth (manussaloka).
Devaloka is all the worlds from the Brahmaloka down to all
the celes al realms. Manussaloka is the world of human
256
beings. Yamaloka is the lower realms, all the levels of hell

down to the lowest hell, avici.
When the Buddha was descending from heaven, he
looked upwards and all the worlds from the human world
up to the highest heavenly realm were illuminated. As he
looked around in each direc on of the universe it became
clear and unobstructed. And when he looked downwards,
the illumina on con nued down to the hell realms.
At that instant the beings living in these three realms
could all see each other. The human beings saw the devas,
the devas saw the humans, the humans and the devas saw
the hell beings, and the hell beings saw the devas and
humans. And all could see the Buddha descending from
Tava msa gloriously.
T h e Dhammapada c o m m e n t a r y , c o m p o s e d b y
Buddhaghosa, states that "On this day when the beings of
all realms saw each other, there was not one who did not
want to be the Buddha." The Pathamasambodhi goes even
further, saying; "At that me, of all the devas, humans and
beasts, even down to the niest red or black ant, who saw
257
the Buddha, there was not one among them who did not
desire Buddhahood."
Buddhahood is the state of being a Buddha. If we were to
make the story of the Buddha opening up all the worlds so
that the beings could all see each other more mundane,
we may interpret it to mean that on that day the Buddha
gave a teaching to which people came to listen in great
number, and from which people could sees the results of
good and bad deeds: the result of bad being suJering,
which is hell, and the result of good being happiness,
which is heaven, and the possession of morality is what
diJeren ates people from the animals.
[toc]
258
Picture 66. The Buddha spends a rains retreat at the

palilaya forest.
259
Chapter 66
The Buddha spends a rains retreat at the palilaya forest,
with an elephant and a monkey as a%endants
This picture is of one episode in the Buddha's life, when
he went to spend a rains retreat by himself, with no
monks or lay people in a;endance. The forest that he
stayed in that year was a very big forest, the home of a big
tusker elephant known as palilayaka, and the forest was
named aer that elephant. In Thailand it is called the
"palelai forest."
The reason that the Buddha spent the rains retreat on his
own that year is that he was
red of the monks of
Kosambi who had split into two groups and were not in
harmony, refusing to perform the du es of the order
(sanghakamma) together. When the Buddha heard of this
he went to see them to try to put a stop to their discord,
but both sides refused to listen to him. That is why the
Buddha went to stay on his own.
Due to the Buddha's great powers and kindness, the
elephant known as palilayaka a;ended on him. In the
260
morning he would bring fruits from the forest to oJer to

the Buddha and in the evening boil water for him by
rolling rocks heated in a Gre into a pool of water.
A monkey saw the elephant serving the Buddha and
brought a honeycomb to oJer. The Buddha received it but
did not eat the honey, so the monkey took back the
honeycomb and considered it. Seeing bee larvae inside, he
took them all out and then took only pure honey to oJer.
This me the Buddha accepted it and ate the honey. The
monkey, watching the Buddha from atop a tree, was
overjoyed. Jumping about with excitement, he fell from
the tree and was run through and killed by a sharp tree
stump.
Aer the rains retreat the monks who had split into two
groups agreed to make up their diJerences because the
local lay people were not making any oJerings to them.
The monks sent a representa ve to see the Buddha and
invite him to go back to the city. The elephant palilayaka
was heartbroken to see the Buddha go, and followed him
out of the forest, and even made as if he would follow the
Buddha into the city. The Buddha turned to him and said,
261
"Palilayaka. This is the limits of your territory. From here

on is the territory of man, which are a great danger to
animals such as you. You cannot come with me!"
Palilayaka the elephant stood and roared in grief, but did
not dare follow the Buddha. As soon as the Buddha was
out of sight, his heart broke and he died right there. The
texts state that the elephant and the monkey, aer dying
at that
me, were reborn as devas in the Tava msa
heaven.
[toc]
262
Picture 67. Mara invites the Buddha to pass away on his

45th rains retreat.
263
Chapter 67
On the full moon of the third month of the Buddha's 45th
rains retreat, Mara approaches the Buddha and invites
him to pass away; the Buddha accepts the invita"on
The Buddha traveled spreading his teaching around
various countries and towns for 45 years, coun ng from
the day of his enlightenment. The 45th rains retreat was
thus the Buddha's last rains retreat, and at that me the
Buddha was 80 years old.
During the last rains retreat the Buddha stayed at
Velugama in the state of the town of Vesali. During that
rains the Buddha was seriously ill and almost passed away.
All the monks who were s ll unenlightened, even Ananda,
the Buddha's personal a;endant, felt very ill at ease
seeing the Buddha so ill. The Buddha told Ananda that
now his body was very old, like an old worn out carriage
held together with bamboo.
The Buddha recovered from that illness and aer the rains
retreat went with Ananda to stay under a tree at the
264
Pavala ce ya in the area of Vesali. During the day the

Buddha gave an obhasa nimia to Ananda that one who
had fully developed the four pathways to success
(iddhipada) could extend his life for a considerable me.
An obhasa nimia is in general terms "sign language". The
Buddha's life was going to end that very year, so the
Buddha was in ma ng to Ananda that he could invite him
to extend his life for a further me, but Ananda did not
invite him, even though the Buddha made his statement
about the iddhipada three mes.
T h e Pathamasambodhi states that since Ananda didn't
catch on, the Buddha sent him oJ to sit at another tree
nearby. It was then that Mara approached the Buddha and
invited him to pass away (nibbana). The Buddha accepted
his invita on and mentally renounced his life.
To say he "renounced his life" means that he appointed
the day of his death. That day was the full moon of the
third lunar month. The Buddha said that three months
from that day (in the middle of the sixth month) he would
pass away at the town of Kusinara.
265
[toc]
266
Picture 68. The Buddha announces to Ananda that hes

renounced his life in three months.
267
Chapter 68
The Buddha announces to Ananda that he has renounced
his life and in three months will pass away
When the Buddha renounced his life, that is, announced
the date of his passing away three months in advance, an
earthquake occurred. When people heard it their hair
stood on end. The Pathamasambodhi states that magical
drums resounded through the heavens to announce the
event. Ananda, seeing the miraculous events, came out
from the foot of the tree he was staying at and
approached the Buddha, asking him the reason for the
miraculous earthquake. The Buddha told Ananda that
there were eight reasons for an earthquake, as follows:
1. Winds [geological factors]
2. Psychic powers
3. A Bodhisa;a has come down from heaven to
take birth in the human world
4. A Bodhisa;a has been born
268
5. A Buddha has been enlightened

6. A Buddha gives his Grst sermon
7. A Buddha renounces his life
8. A Buddha passes away
The Buddha told Ananda that the earthquake on that day
was a result of him renouncing the rest of his life. Hearing
this, Ananda realized what the Buddha had been saying to
him earlier in the day, how one who fully developed the
four condi ons called iddhipada, which are zeal, eJort,
applica on and inves ga on, if he so desired, could
extend his life beyond the designated me of its expiry.
Realizing this, Ananda formally invited the Buddha to use
the four iddhipada to extend his life, but the Buddha
refused. This happened three
mes. The Buddha
explained that he had given the obhasa
nimia
(in ma ons) to Ananda to invite him to extend his life

many mes, and in many places, and if Ananda had been
mindful and invited him then he would have accepted the
invita on. In ordinary terms, the Buddha was telling
Ananda that it was "too late," because the Buddha has
269
already declared that he had renounced the remainder of

his life and would pass away.
[toc]
270
Picture 69. The Buddha turns to view Vesali for the last
me aer returning from alms.
271
Chapter 69
The next morning, coming back from alms round, the
Buddha turns to view Vesali for the last "me
Aer the Buddha had refused Venerable Ananda's
invita on to extend his life span a li;le longer, and not to
pass away, he, together with Ananda, journeyed on to
Kutagarasala in the Great Forest in Vesali.
Kutagarasala was a hall with a gabled roof, like a palace.
The Great Forest was a very big virgin forest. Many of the
Buddhist scriptures are in agreement in that this forest
covered a huge area. To the north it extended to the
Himalayas. In the Buddha's me the forest was the habitat
of many asce cs, sages and monks. The Buddha and the
monks had lived here before and had visited here many
mes. On this occasion, when the Buddha reached the
forest he called a mee ng of the Order, because by that
me the news of his renouncing the remainder of his life
span had already spread. The Buddha gave a teaching to
the monks who had not yet become enlightened to strive
272
with diligence, not to be heedless and leave themselves

open to regret when later the Buddha was no longer with
them.
"All people, young and old, wise and foolish, rich and poor,
must die in the end. All clay pots that come from the
po;er's wheel, large and small, baked or raw, regardless of
size, inevitably go to destruc on. Thus are the lives of
people and all kinds of beings in this world."
These are the words spoken by the Buddha to the monks
at the Great Forest.
The next morning the Buddha and Venerable Ananda
went for alms round in the town of Vesali. As they were
leaving the town the Buddha did something he had never
done before in any town, and that was to turn around and
take a look at the town of Vesali.
He said, "Ananda, this vision of Vesali is the last for me. I
will be seeing it no more."
Then he said, "Let us journey on to Bhandagama."
Bhandagama was a small district on the way to Kusinara,
which was the town the Buddha was to pass away in.
273
[toc]
274
Picture 70. The sixth lunar month, the Buddha takes his
last meal at Cundas house.
275
Chapter 70
On the morning of the full moon of the sixth lunar month,
the Buddha takes a meal of pork, his last meal, at the
house of Cunda
The Buddha, together with the company of monks,
journeyed from the area of Vesali by stages to the town of
Kusinara, the place he had designated as the place for his
passing away, reaching Pava on the 14th day of the
waxing moon on the sixth lunar month. It was one day
before his passing away.
He went to stay in a mango grove belonging to Cunda
Kammarapu;a. Cunda was the son of a goldsmith. He
heard that the Buddha with a company of monks had
gone to stay in his mango grove, and so went there to
listen to a teaching.
Aer listening to the teaching Cunda invited the Buddha
and the company of monks to take the next day's meal at
his house.
276
On the next morning Cunda oJered food to the Buddha

and the monks at his house. One of the foods Cunda
oJered to the Buddha was known as sukaramaddava.
The Buddhist commentaries and teachers have not
reached agreement as to just what this sukaramaddava
actually was. Some say it was "piglet" (transla ng literally
from sukara, "pig." and maddava, "young" or "baby"). Some
believe it was a kind of mushroom, while others say it was
a certain kind of Gne delicacy that Indian people used to
cook specially for people for whom they had the highest
respect, such as dei es. It was a food even more reGned
than milk rice.
The Buddha told Cunda to oJer that sukaramaddava only
to him, while the other food was to be oJered to the
other monks. And when the Buddha had Gnished ea ng
the meal, he summoned Cunda and told him to bury the
sukaramaddava remaining from the Buddha's meal in a
hole, because no one other than a Buddha could digest it.
Then the Buddha inspired Cunda with a teaching, causing
him to rejoice in his own meritorious ac ons, and took
leave of him to travel on to Kusinara.
277
[toc]
278
Picture 71. Traveling to Kusinara, the Buddha is thirsty

and has Ananda fetch water for him.
279
Chapter 71
Traveling to Kusinara, the Buddha is thirsty and has
Ananda fetch water for him
On the way to Kusinara, aer taking the meal of
sukaramaddava at Cunda's house, the Buddha came down
heavily with the illness known as pakkhandhikabadha and
almost passed away right there, before the designated
me, but with an eJort of will he subdued the illness with
his perfec on of pa ent endurance (khan paramita).
Pakkhandhikabadha is a kind of illness that arises only in
Buddhas, in which there is internal bleeding. It has been
ventured that the illness may have been internal
hemorrhoids.
Because of the illness, the Buddha was put under a great
amount of diWculty, but he maintained mindfulness and
clear comprehension and was not perturbed by it.
They journeyed to a place along the way where there was
a small river with some water Mowing in it. Here the
Buddha stopped and rested at the roadside, siTng under
280
a tree, and told Ananda to fold his outer robe (sanga) into
four layers and spread it under the tree. There he sat and
rested. He asked Ananda to fetch some water for him
from the river.
"I will drink a li;le to quench my thirst," the Buddha said.
Venerable Ananda pointed out that the water in this river
was very shallow. Moreover, a caravan of about 500 oxcarts had just crossed over it, the hooves of the ca;le
having s rred up the water and made it muddy. He said to
the Buddha, "Not far from here there is another river
called the Kukkutanadi, with cool, clear, fresh water, and a
shady place to rest. May the Blessed One please go there."
The Buddha refused Ananda's invita on three
mes, so
Ananda took the Buddha's bowl down to scoop some

water from the river. Seeing the water, he was amazed
and exclaimed to himself:
"The power of the Buddha is truly amazing! The river was
so muddy, and yet now that I've come close to scoop out
some water, the water has become clear."
Then Ananda took the bowl of water to the Buddha.
281
[toc]
282
Picture 72. Pukkusapu;a the Mallian passes by and oJers

Gne golden robes.
283
Chapter 72
Pukkusapu%a the Mallian passes by and o7ers 3ne
golden robes
While the Buddha was siTng under the shade of the tree
by the side of the river, along the road to Kusinara, a man
by the name of Pukkusa, son of a Mallian lord, was
traveling from Kusinara to Pava. When he reached the
spot where the Buddha was res ng he stopped to rest,
too, and went up to greet the Buddha.
The Buddha gave him a teaching on peace. Listening to
the talk, Pukkusa was Glled with faith, and as a result
oJered two lengths of singivanna cloth. Singivanna cloth is
delicate cloth, Gnely woven, and of golden color, "singi"
meaning "gold."
He explained to the Buddha that one of these singivanna
cloths was an upper robe, the other a lower robe. They
were of special cloth, especially Gne, and he had worn
them on occasion. He had cherished them, but now he
was oJering them to the Buddha.
284
The Buddha took one of the robes, but the other he told
Pukkusa to oJer to Ananda, which Pukkusa accordingly
did. He then bowed to the Buddha and took his leave to
con nue his journey.
Aer he had le, Ananda took the robe oJered to him and
oJered it to the Buddha. The Buddha wrapped one of the
robes around his waist and the other over his shoulders.
As soon as he had put the robes on his body seemed to
shine with a glow and radiance unlike any that Ananda
had ever seen before, and Ananda remarked to the
Buddha that it was truly an amazing sight.
The Buddha said to Ananda that there were only two
mes when the Buddha's body shone with peculiar
radiance, and they are when he is newly enlightened, and
on the day before his passing away (parinibbana), which
was today. Then he said, "Lo, Ananda, at the end of this
night I will pass away. Come, let us journey on to
Kusinara."
Ananda received the Buddha's instruc on and informed
the monks who were traveling with them to prepare to
journey on.
285
[toc]
286
Picture 73. Ananda prepare a place for the Buddha to lie

down.
287
Chapter 72
Arriving at the sal forest in Kusinara, the Buddha has
Ananda prepare a place for him to lie down between the
twin sal trees
The Buddha and the company of monks journeyed to the
outskirts of the town of Kusinara, arriving there in the
evening. They then crossed the Hiranava
River and
entered the town's park, known as Salavanodyana.

Most of the ci es in the Buddha's
me had groves, like
today's public parks, and they were used by all the people
and rulers of the city. At Rajagaha there was the park
known as La;hivana, the park of the palmyra trees;
Kapilava;hu, where the Buddha was born, had the
Lumbini park. Kusinara had the Salavanodyana.
Salavanodyana was situated north of the city. It had two
large trees known as sal trees, and the park was named
aer those sal trees-Salavanodyana.
Arriving at the park, the Buddha instructed Ananda to
prepare a place for lying down, with his head poin ng to
288
the north. The bed was to be between the twin sal trees.
The Buddha said, "I am aYicted and very red. I wish to
lie down and subdue my aYic on."
Ananda made up a bed and laid a sleeping cloth on it, and
the Buddha went to it and lay down, on his right side, his
head pointed to the north, his feet lying beside each
other, establishing mindfulness and clear comprehension
on taking his "seyyavasana" (his last sleep), also known as
"anuthanaseyya," the "lying down from which there is no
rising. "
The Pathamasambodhi states: "At that me, it was not the
season for blossoms, but the twin sal trees blossomed
profusely from their roots right up to their tops, and on
every branch. And those sal Mowers fell down as oJerings
to the Buddha. Magical heavenly mandarava Mowers,
sandal powder and perfumes fell from the sky, and
celes al music was heard, a great fanfare in honor of the
Buddha before his passing away."
[toc]
289
290
Picture 74. Venerable Ananda stands holding the door

bolt and cries over the Blessed One.
291
Chapter 74
Venerable Ananda stands holding the door bolt and cries
over the Blessed One
Ananda was the Buddha's personal a;endant. Many other
monks had Glled this posi on before him, but none of
them had performed that duty for very long before taking
leave of the Buddha. The monk who a;ended on the
Buddha for the longest me, up to the me of his passing
away, was Ananda.
In terms of their bloodlines, Ananda was related to the
Buddha as a younger cousin, as his father was, in ordinary
parlance, the younger brother of the Buddha's father.
Throughout the me he had served the Buddha, Ananda
had accompanied him everywhere, a;ending to his needs
faultlessly. It was for this reason that he had no
me to
a;end to his own prac ce. All the monks who had
ordained with him (except for Devada;a) had become
Arahats already, but Ananda had only a;ained Stream
Entry.
292
As the Buddha came closer to passing away, Ananda's

du es had increased. He was
red both physically and
mentally, and he felt confused. When he heard the

Buddha telling the Order about his passing away, Ananda
couldn't contain his sadness and sorrow at losing the
Buddha, so he stole away from the Buddha's presence,
went into a nearby dwelling (vihara), and stood at the door
of the building, his hand holding the door bolt, and cried,
wailing that he was s ll only a low-level noble one [had
a;ained only a low level of enlightenment], had not yet
a;ained Arahatship, and here the Buddha, who was both
his Teacher and his older cousin, was leaving him.
The Buddha no ced that Ananda had disappeared from
the crowd in a;endance, so he asked the monks about
him. Knowing where he had gone, the Buddha sent for
him and gave him a Dhamma teaching, admonishing
Ananda not to grieve.
At one me the Buddha said to Ananda, "You are one with
merit. Do not be heedless. Not long aer I have passed
away, you will a;ain enlightenment." (Venerable Ananda
293
a;ained enlightenment three months aer the Buddha's

passing away.)
[toc]
294
Picture 75. The Buddha gives the wanderer Subhadda a

teaching.
295
Chapter 75
The Buddha gives a teaching to Subhadda the wanderer,
leading him to enlightenment, making him the last of the
Buddha's direct disciples
When Ananda had go;en over his grief and crying he
went into the city on the Buddha's orders and announced
to the Mallian lords of Kusinara that the Buddha was
going to pass away at the end of this very night. He
announced that whoever wanted to see the Buddha
should hurry, so as not to be one who regrets later on.
The Mallian lords who were mee ng in the town, when
they heard the news of the Buddha's passing away,
proceeded in great number with oJerings to the Buddha,
each of them weeping and expressing his grief in various
ways.
Among those who went to see the Buddha was a
wanderer named Subhadda. He was a monk from another
religion.
[toc]
296
Subhadda the wanderer approached the Buddha aer the

Mallian lords had done so, and told Ananda that he
wanted to see the Buddha to ask some ques ons that had
been plaguing him for a long
me. Ananda refused to
allow him in, saying that the Buddha was not to be

disturbed as the
me for his passing away was
approaching.
At that me the Buddha heard the conversa on between
Ananda and Subhadda the wanderer, and told Ananda to
allow Subhadda to approach him. GeTng the opportunity
to approach the Buddha, Subhadda asked the ques ons
that had been bothering him. One of the ques ons was
whether there were people who a;ained the Path and
Fruit (enlightenment) outside of Buddhism or not. The
Buddha answered that there were not, then he gave a
detailed teaching.
On listening to the teaching Subhadda the wanderer was
Glled with faith and asked to become a monk under the
Buddha. The Buddha told him that normally for people
coming from other religions there was a proba onary
period to undergo for four months before they could
297
become monks. Subhadda answered that he would be

willing to live under such a proba on for four years, not
just four months.
The Buddha then gave special permission, having the
Order ordain Subhadda the wanderer on that very day.
Subhadda the wanderer was thus the last direct disciple of
the Buddha.
[toc]
298
Picture 76. The Buddha exalts the Teaching and Disciple

before passing away.
299
Chapter 76
The Buddha exalts the Teaching and Disciple as the
teacher aGer him, gives his 3nal teaching, and passes
away
Just before passing away-i.e., aer accep ng Subhadda
the wanderer-the Buddha gave a teaching to the Order.
That teaching comprised his last words. It dealt with many
things. One of the subjects of the teaching was the
irregulari es that existed in the way monks referred to
each other, using the words "avuso" and "bhante." Avuso is
equal to the Thai word "khun" [a form of address to
equals], while bhante is equal to the Thai word "tahn" [a
form of address to superiors].
The Buddha said that those monks who were older in age
in terms of the number of their years in the Order were to
call those monks ordained aer them "avuso" [khun], while
those who were younger in age in terms of years in the
Order were to call those ordained before them "bhante"
[tahn].
300
Then the Buddha gave permission for all the monks to ask
about any remaining doubts they may have about the
teaching so that they would not be disappointed later,
saying they had no chance to ask.
It seems, according to the Mahaparinibbana Sua, that not
one monk had a doubt to put to the Buddha.
Before passing away, the Buddha had not appointed any
monk to be the leader of the Order aer him like leaders
of other religions did. None of the monks had asked the
Buddha about this, but the Buddha le word with the
monks clearly before passing away that no monk should
understand that aer the Buddha had passed away the
religion would have no leader (sasada).
The Buddha said to Ananda, "Listen Ananda, the Dhamma
(Teaching) and Vinaya (Discipline) that I have explained
and established, they are to be your leader aer the
Tathagata passes away."
Then the Buddha gave his Gnal words: Monks, I now warn
you. All things that arise in this world are of the nature to
decay and pass away. You must all apply yourselves to
301
your tasks for the beneGt to yourself and the beneGt of

others and bring them to comple on with heedfulness."
Aer that the Buddha spoke no further words un l his
passing away at the end of the night of the 15th day of
the waxing moon, on the sixth lunar month, or the month
of visakha, underneath the twin sal trees in full blossom.
[toc]
302
Picture 77. The unenlightened monk disciples cry on the

Buddhas passing away.
303
Chapter 77
The unenlightened monk disciples, hearing of the
Buddha's passing away, break out crying
The picture we see here is of a scene just aer the
Buddha's passing away, when Maha Kassapa was
journeying to a;end on the Buddha. Before the Buddha's
passing away, the many monks who had gone out to
spread the Buddha's teaching in diJerent states and ci es,
hearing that the Buddha was to pass away at Kusinara,
made their diJerent ways toward that city. Those who
were nearby arrived in me to see the Buddha, but those
who were farther away didn't get there in me.
Venerable Maha Kassapa was a senior monk who the
Buddha had once praised very highly as being of equal
honor in some respects to himself. He was journeying
together with many hundreds of monks. Arriving at Pava
the sun was extremely hot, so he led the monks to rest for
a
me under the shade of some trees. Just then, Maha
Kassapa saw an asce c of another sect walking towards
304
them from the direc on of Kusinara. In his hand was a

mandarava Mower. Maha Kassapa asked him for news of
the Buddha. The asce c informed them that the Samana
Gotama had passed away seven days before, and he held
up the mandarava Mower to show them, saying he had
picked it up from the place where the Buddha had passed
away. According to legend, the mandarava Mower is a
Mower from heaven which only Mowers and blossoms at
mes when portentous things are happening in the world.
At that moment, two responses arose among the monks
who were traveling with Maha Kassapa. Some of the
monks, those who had a;ained Arahatship, were silent,
reMec ng that the Buddha had passed away. The rest of
the monks, who were unenlightened, could not contain
themselves, some of them crying, some of them
exclaiming out loud, some of them throwing up their arms
and wailing, some of them throwing themselves down
onto the ground and writhing about. The Mahaparinibbana
Sua records that the way those monks writhed about on
the ground was like one who had just had both legs cut
oJ.
305
But there was one monk, by name of Subhadda (not the

Subhadda who was the Buddha's last direct disciple), who
had ordained late in life, who went up to those stricken
monks and tried to comfort them, saying, "Sirs, sirs, why
do you wail? The Buddha has passed away, that is a very
good thing. When the Buddha was alive we couldn't do
what we wanted to do, everything was an oJense (apat).
Now we are be;er oJ. The Buddha's passing away is a
blessing."
Seeing this, Venerable Maha Kassapa could not help
feeling heavy-hearted, knowing that the Buddha had only
just passed away seven days ago, but already "thorns" had
arisen in the religion. Then he led the monks onward to
Kusinara in order to get there in me to pay tribute to the
Buddha's body.
[toc]
306
Picture 78. Maha Kassapa pays his last respects before

ligh ng up the funeral pyre.
307
Chapter 78
As soon as Maha Kassapa pays his last respects, a ?ame
from heaven appears, ligh"ng up the funeral pyre
Once the Buddha had passed away, the Order of monks
and the civilian body, the lords of Kusinara, performed a
ceremony of tribute to the Buddha's body for six days. On
the seventh day they led the body by procession to the
north of the city, going through the city center, and placed
the body on the Makutabandhana Ce ya, which was
situated to the northeast of the city, for the crema on.
The day appointed for the crema on was the eighth day
of the waning moon in the sixth lunar month, a day
remembered today in Thailand as ahami puja, "oJering
on the eighth" day.
The Buddha's pall bearers were called Mallapamokkha.
There were eight of them, each large and powerfully built.
Mallapamokkha means "chief wrestler."
The Buddha's body was wrapped in layers of new cloth,
said in the Pathamasambodhi to number 500. This can be
308
interpreted to mean that there were many layers of cloth.

Each layer of cloth was separated from the next by co;on
wool, and the funeral oWcials had it placed into a golden
coWn Glled with fragrant oils and sealed oJ. This was then
placed on the pyre, composed of many diJerent kinds of
fragrant woods.
At the appointed
me the oWcials lit Gres at all four
corners of the pyre. The legend tells us that no ma;er

how much they tried to light the Gre, it would not ignite.
So the oWcials asked Venerable Anuruddha (a younger
cousin of the Buddha and an Arahat disciple). He informed
them that the devas were not allowing the Gre to be lit
because they wanted to give me to Maha Kassapa, who
was at that me s ll traveling to Kusinara, to pay tribute
to the body. When Maha Kassapa did in
me arrive
together with his company of monks, no sooner had he

bowed to the Buddha's body than a great Gre created by
the devas Mared up.
Interpre ng this, we may say that the civilian oWcials and
the Order heard news that Maha Kassapa was on his way
309
and was almost there, so they delayed the ligh ng of the

Gre.
Eventually the Gre burned all of the Buddha's body,
leaving only scraps of bone (referred to as ahi), hair,
teeth, and another set of robes. The Mallian lords
sprinkled fragrant water over the embers on the pyre and
collected the Buddha's relics (dhatu) to be kept in the
Santhagara Hall, their town hall. Surrounding and guarding
the town hall were lines of fully armed soldiers, and there
were dancing, music, singing and Mowers of many a kind,
and a fes val las ng seven days was held to honor the
relics.
[toc]
310
Picture 79. Dona the brahmin divides the relics to the

brahmins and lords of eight ci es.
311
Chapter 79
Dona the brahmin divides the relics to the brahmins and
lords of eight ci"es
The news that the Buddha had passed away and that the
Mallian lords and Order of monks had already performed
the crema on spread to the kings of the neighboring
ci es. The kings of those ci es immediately sent
messengers with royal decrees to the city of Kusinara.
There were altogether seven ambassadorial par es from
seven ci es, both large, such as Rajagaha in Magadha,
where the Buddha had Grst spread his teaching, and
smaller, such as Kapilava;hu, the place of the Buddha's
birth. All seven par es on arriving in Kusinara presented
their royal decrees to the lords of Malla. The subject of
those decrees was that the kings of those seven ci es
were asking for a por on of the relics to be taken and
placed into large stupas for worship in their ci es. The
Mallian lords answered Grmly that they would not give
312
them because the Buddha had passed away in their own

town. Thus the relics belonged to them.
Since the Mallian lords refused to share the relics, the
kings of those seven ci es refused to accept their refusal,
and were determined to get their shares. It looked as if a
war was going to erupt over the distribu on of the
Buddha's relics. Fortunately a brahmin named Dona put
an end to the conten on. Dona lived in Kusinara.
According to his biography he was a clever speaker and
was held in high esteem by the people of the city. He was
well known for his honor, performing a duty something
like the secretary of the United Na ons nowadays-i.e., he
put a
mely stop to imminent war, by saying at the
mee ng:
"The Buddha was one who praised pa ence and harmony.
So why are we going to argue, Gght and go to war over his
relics? Let us divide them equally. Then the Buddha's relics
will be spread widely and lead to beneGt for a great
number of people."
The mee ng accepted his words, and Dona the brahmin
performed the duty of dividing up the Buddha's relics into
313
eight equal por ons, using a tumba, a golden scale, to

measure them. He gave the kings of the seven ci es seven
of the por ons, while another por on went to the lords of
Kusinara. Then all those kings and lords took the relics and
put them into reliquaries to be taken and placed in stupas
in their respec ve ci es. Dona the brahmin, who did the
dividing, asked for the scale used to divide the relics as a
memento, and put it into another stupa. Thus the division
of the Buddha's relics was carried out successfully.
[toc]
314
Picture 80. Venerable Maha Kassapa and noble monks

convene a great council.
315
Chapter 80
Venerable Maha Kassapa and the noble monks convene a
great council [sangayana] to preserve the religion up to
the present day
The
me of the crema on of the Buddha's body at
Kusinara was one when monks had come together in

greater numbers than any other
me. Thus when the
crema on was complete, Venerable Maha Kassapa, who

was the senior monk there, called a mee ng of the Order,
the Grst, at Kusinara.
The subject of the mee ng was the sangayana, the review
and authoriza on of the teaching of Dhamma and Vinaya
that the Buddha had given. Maha Kassapa brought to the
council's a;en on the ma;er of the "thorns in the
religion" that he had seen with his own eyes on his way to
Kusinara, when the old monk rejoiced at the Buddha's
passing away.
The mee ng selected three senior monks to be the chair
of the council. They were Venerable Maha Kassapa,
316
Venerable Ananda and Venerable Upali. In this, Maha

Kassapa was to be the chairman with the duty of choosing
the number of monks to a;end the council. Maha Kassapa
chose altogether 500 monks for the council and chose the
city of Rajagaha in Magadha as the venue. The me of the
council was to be from the Grst day of the rains retreat
onwards, or in three months me from that day.
Aer that, the monks who had been chosen to par cipate
in the Sangayana traveled by stages to Rajagaha. Arriving
there, the Order asked for assistance from the city in the
form of repairs to dwellings for the monks, and
prepara on of the place for the council, which was a cave
in a hill just outside the city.
The Order of monks asked for assistance from the civilian
authori es in forbidding disciples of other sects and
monks other than those invited to the council from
entering the city of Rajagaha for the en re dura on of the
me of the council. Thus was in order to prevent obstacles
which may arise, which might have been a cause for the
council not proceeding smoothly.
[toc]
317
THE END
~~~Oo~~~
Copyright 2002 Mahidol University All rights reserved.

Mahidol University Compu ng Center, Rama VI Road,
Rajathewi, Bangkok 10400, THAILAND Tel. (662) 3544333
(Text: h;ps://www.mahidol.ac.th/budsir/MenuEng.htm
Pictures: h;p://84000.org/ pitaka/picture/f00.html)
318
Dhamma Dana A Gi of Dhamma

Copyright 2002 Mahidol University All rights reserved.
Mahidol University Compu ng Center, Rama VI Road, Rajathewi, Bangkok 10400,
THAILAND Tel. (662) 354-4333

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AN ILLUSTRATED LIFE OF

Chapter 12. The Prince feel despondent and decides to

Chapter 24. The Bodhisa;a receives sheaves of glass from

Chapter 36. The Buddha gives Gve disciples the Grst

Chapter 47. The Buddha shows his rela ves the

Chapter 59. The Buddha forbids his paternal and maternal

Gotami leads the Sakyan

Chapter 62. The Buddha performs miracles to trounce

Chapter 71. Traveling to Kusinara, the Buddha is thirsty

An Illustrated Life of the Buddha

Picture 1. Devas invita on to the Bodhisa;a for becoming

An Illustrated Life of the Buddha

An Illustrated Life of the Buddha

Picture 2. The Bodhisa;as acceptance; being born among

An Illustrated Life of the Buddha

An Illustrated Life of the Buddha

mes and then seemed to enter into the Queen's

belly on the right side... "

An Illustrated Life of the Buddha

Buddha's glory, which would cover the en re world. The

An Illustrated Life of the Buddha

Picture 3. The Bodhisa;a takes seven step on his birth in

An Illustrated Life of the Buddha

An Illustrated Life of the Buddha

me for Queen Mahamaya's delivery drew near,

she took leave of her husband, King Suddhodana, to give

An Illustrated Life of the Buddha

An Illustrated Life of the Buddha

Picture 4. Asce c Asitas visit, paying reverence to the

An Illustrated Life of the Buddha

An Illustrated Life of the Buddha

As soon as the asce c saw Prince Siddha;ha, he did three

An Illustrated Life of the Buddha

sons as a;endants to Prince Siddha;ha, one from each

An Illustrated Life of the Buddha

Picture 5. The Brahmins perform a ceremony for the

An Illustrated Life of the Buddha

An Illustrated Life of the Buddha

An Illustrated Life of the Buddha

the worldly life and became a homeless religious

An Illustrated Life of the Buddha

Picture 6. The Bodhisa;as Grst a;ainment under a

An Illustrated Life of the Buddha

An Illustrated Life of the Buddha

Again, we see in this picture that the Prince is siTng

An Illustrated Life of the Buddha

me on that occasion. Now I bow to him for the second

An Illustrated Life of the Buddha

Picture 7. The Prince strings and Gres a heavy arrow at the

An Illustrated Life of the Buddha

An Illustrated Life of the Buddha

prince's future wife. This was because the King wanted to

An Illustrated Life of the Buddha

arrow right into he center of the target, as it is said, "with

An Illustrated Life of the Buddha

An Illustrated Life of the Buddha

me, the ruler of Devadaha was

King Suppabuddha, while the ruler of Kapilava;hu was

An Illustrated Life of the Buddha

King Suppabuddha. The two kings had each married each

An Illustrated Life of the Buddha

quali es and was the right choice as wife for Prince

An Illustrated Life of the Buddha

Approaching the horse, Prince Siddha;ha lied his right