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1. Lord Buddha (also known as Siddhattha Gotama or Siddhārtha Gautama) was a philosopher, mendicant, meditator, spiritual teacher, and religious leader who lived in ancient India (c. 5th to 4th century BCE). He is revered as the founder of the world religion of Buddhism. He taught for around 45 years and built a large following, both monastic and lay. His teaching is based on his insight into duḥkha (typically translated as "suffering") and the end of dukkha – the state called Nibbāna or Nirvana.
2. Lord Buddha was born into an aristocratic family, in the Shakya clan but eventually renounced lay life. According to Buddhist tradition, after several years of mendicancy, meditation, and asceticism, he awakened to understand the mechanism which keeps people trapped in the cycle of rebirth. Lord Buddha then traveled throughout the Ganges plain teaching and building a religious community. Lord Buddha taught a middle way between sensual indulgence and the severe asceticism found in the Indian śramaṇa movement. He taught a spiritual path that included ethical training and meditative practices such as jhana and mindfulness. Lord Buddha also critiqued the practices of brahmin priests, such as animal sacrifice.
3. A couple of centuries after his death he came to be known by the title Buddha, which means “Awakened One” or the "Enlightened One". Gautama's teachings were compiled by the Buddhist community in the Suttas, which contain his discourses, and the Vinaya, his codes for monastic practice. These were passed down in Middle-Indo Aryan dialects through an oral tradition. Later generations composed additional texts, such as systematic treatises known as Abhidharma, biographies of Lord Buddha, collections of stories about Lord Buddha's past lives known as Jataka tales, and additional discourses, i.e, the Mahayana sutras.
4. Birth and early life , The earliest Buddhist sources state that Lord Buddha was born to an aristocratic (khattiya) family called Gotama (Sanskrit: Gautama), who were part of the Shakyas, a tribe of rice-farmers living near the modern border of India and Nepal. According to Akira Hirakawa, the Shakya "was an oligarchy with the leaders alternating as head (rajan) of the tribe," and he also notes they were unlikely to have been divided into the four castes. Their capital was Kapilavastu.[note 1] Lord Buddha's father was Śuddhodana, "an elected chief of the Shakya clan". His mother, Māyā, died in his infancy and he was raised by Mahapajapati Gotami as a stepmother. The Buddhist tradition regards Lumbini, in present-day Nepal to be the birthplace of Lord Buddha.
5. The early Buddhist texts contain very little information about the birth and youth of Gotama Buddha.Later biographies developed a dramatic narrative about the life of the young Gotama as a prince and his existential troubles.They also depict his father Śuddhodana as a hereditary monarch of the Suryavansha (Solar dynasty) of Ikṣvāku (Pāli: Okkāka). This is unlikely however, as many scholars think that Śuddhodana was merely a Shakya aristocrat (khattiya), and that the Shakya republic was not a hereditary monarchy.Indeed, the more egalitarian gana-sangha form of government, as a political alternative to Indian monarchies, may have influenced the development of the śramanic Jain and Buddhist sanghas, where monarchies tended toward Vedic Brahmanism.
6. According to later traditional biographies such as the Mahavastu and the Lalitavistara, his mother Māyā was a Koliyan princess. Legend has it that, on the night Gotama was conceived, Queen Māyā dreamt that a white elephant with six white tusks entered her right side, and ten months later Siddhartha (Pāli: Siddhattha, meaning "he who achieves his aim") Gautama was born.
7. The day of Lord Buddha's birth is widely celebrated in Theravada countries as Vesak. Buddha's Birthday is called Buddha Purnima in Nepal, Bangladesh, and India as he is believed to have been born on a full moon day.
8. According to the later biographical legends, during the birth celebrations, the hermit seer Asita journeyed from his mountain abode, analyzed the child for the "32 marks of a great man" and then announced that he would either become a great king (chakravartin) or a great religious leader. Suddhodana held a naming ceremony on the fifth day and invited eight Brahmin scholars to read the future. All gave similar predictions. Kondañña, the youngest, and later to be the first arhat other than Lord Buddha, was reputed to be the only one who unequivocally predicted that Siddhartha would become a Buddha.
9. According to the early Buddhist Texts of several schools, and numerous post-canonical accounts, Gautama had a wife, Yasodhara, and a son, named Rāhula.Besides this, Lord Buddha in the early texts reports that "'I lived a spoilt, a very spoilt life, monks (in my parents’ home)."
10. The legendary biographies like the Lalitavistara also tell stories of young Gautama's great martial skill, which was put to the test in various contests against other Shakyan youths.
11. Renunciation While the earliest sources merely depict Gautama seeking a higher spiritual goal and becoming an ascetic or sramana after being disillusioned with lay life, the later legendary biographies tell a more elaborate dramatic story about how he became a mendicant.
12. The earliest accounts of 's spiritual quest is found in texts such as the Pali Ariyapariyesanā-sutta ("The discourse on the noble quest," MN 26) and its Chinese parallel at MĀ 204. These texts report that what led to Gautama's renunciation was the thought that his life was subject to old age, disease and death and that there might be something better (i.e. liberation, nirvana). The early texts also depict Lord Buddha's explanation for becoming a sramana as follows: "The household life, this place of impurity, is narrow - the samana life is the free open air. It is not easy for a householder to lead the perfected, utterly pure and perfect holy life." the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya and the Mahāvastu all agree that his mother and father opposed his decision and "wept with tearful faces" when he decided to leave.
13. Legendary biographies also tell the story of how Gautama left his palace to see the outside world for the first time and how he was shocked by his encounter with human suffering.The legendary biographies depict Gautama's father as shielding him from religious teachings and from knowledge of human suffering, so that he would become a great king instead of a great religious leader. In the Nidanakatha (5th century CE), Gautama is said to have seen an old man. When his charioteer Chandaka explained to him that all people grew old, the prince went on further trips beyond the palace. On these he encountered a diseased man, a decaying corpse, and an ascetic that inspired him. This story of the "four sights" seems to be adapted from an earlier account in the Digha Nikaya (DN 14.2) which instead depicts the young life of a previous Buddha, Vipassi
14. The legendary biographies depict Gautama's departure from his palace as follows. Shortly after seeing the four sights, Gautama woke up at night and saw his female servants lying in unattractive, corpse-like poses, which shocked him. Therefore, he discovered what he would later understand more deeply during his enlightenment: suffering and the end of suffering.Moved by all the things he had experienced, he decided to leave the palace in the middle of the night against the will of his father, to live the life of a wandering ascetic. Accompanied by Chandaka and riding his horse Kanthaka, Gautama leaves the palace, leaving behind his son Rahula and Yaśodhara. He traveled to the river Anomiya, and cut off his hair. Leaving his servant and horse behind, he journeyed into the woods and changed into monk's robes there, though in some other versions of the story, he received the robes from a Brahma deity at Anomiya.
15. According to the legendary biographies, when the ascetic Gautama first went to Rajagaha (present-day Rajgir) to beg for alms in the streets, King Bimbisara of Magadha learned of his quest, and offered him a share of his kingdom. Gautama rejected the offer but promised to visit his kingdom first, upon attaining enlightenment.
16. Ascetic life and Awakening, All sources agree that the ascetic Gautama practised under two teachers of yogic meditation.According to MN 26 and its Chinese parallel at MĀ 204, after having mastered the teaching of Ārāḍa Kālāma (Pali: Alara Kalama), who taught a meditation attainment called "the sphere of nothingness", he was asked by Ārāḍa to become an equal leader of their spiritual community.However, Gautama felt unsatisfied by the practice because it "does not lead to revulsion, to dispassion, to cessation, to calm, to knowledge, to awakening, to Nibbana", and moved on to become a student of Udraka Rāmaputra (Pali: Udaka Ramaputta). With him, he achieved high levels of meditative consciousness (called "The Sphere of Neither Perception nor Non-Perception") and was again asked to join his teacher. But, once more, he was not satisfied for the same reasons as before, and moved on.
17. Majjhima Nikaya 4 also mentions that Gautama lived in "remote jungle thickets" during his years of spiritual striving and had to overcome the fear that he felt while living in the forests.
18. After leaving his meditation teachers, Gotama then practiced ascetic techniques.[166] An account of these practices can be seen in the Mahāsaccaka-sutta (MN 36) and its various parallels (which according to Analayo include some Sanskrit fragments, an individual Chinese translation, a sutra of the Ekottarika-āgama as well as sections of the Lalitavistara and the Mahāvastu). The ascetic techniques described in the early texts include very minimal food intake, different forms of breath control, and forceful mind control. The texts report that he became so emaciated that his bones became visible through his skin.
19. According to other early Buddhist texts, after realising that meditative dhyana was the right path to awakening, Gautama discovered "the Middle Way"—a path of moderation away from the extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification, or the Noble Eightfold Path. His break with asceticism is said to have led his five companions to abandon him, since they believed that he had abandoned his search and become undisciplined. One popular story tells of how he accepted milk and rice pudding from a village girl named Sujata.
20. Following his decision to stop extreme ascetic practices, MĀ 204 and other parallel early texts report that Gautama sat down to meditate with the determination not to get up until full awakening (sammā-sambodhi) had been reached. This event was said to have occurred under a pipal tree—known as "the Bodhi tree"—in Bodh Gaya, Bihar.
21. Likewise, the Mahāsaccaka-sutta and most of its parallels agree that after taking asceticism to its extremes, Lord Buddha realized that this had not helped him reach awakening. At this point, he remembered a previous meditative experience he had as a child sitting under a tree while his father worked. This memory leads him to understand that dhyana (meditation) is the path to awakening, and the texts then depict Lord Buddha achieving all four dhyanas, followed by the "three higher knowledges" (tevijja) culminating in awakening.
22. Gautama thus became known as the Buddha or "Awakened One". The title indicates that unlike most people who are "asleep", a Buddha is understood as having "woken up" to the true nature of reality and sees the world 'as it is' (yatha-bhutam).A Buddha has achieved liberation (vimutti), also called Nirvana, which is seen as the extinguishing of the "fires" of desire, hatred, and ignorance, that keep the cycle of suffering and rebirth going. According to various early texts like the Mahāsaccaka-sutta, and the Samaññaphala Sutta, a Buddha has achieved three higher knowledges: Remembering one's former abodes (i.e. past lives), the "Divine eye" (dibba-cakkhu), which allows the knowing of others' karmic destinations and the "extinction of mental intoxicants" (āsavakkhaya).
23. According to some texts from the Pali canon, at the time of his awakening he realised complete insight into the Four Noble Truths, thereby attaining liberation from samsara, the endless cycle of rebirth.
24. As reported by various texts from the Pali Canon, Lord Buddha sat for seven days under the bodhi tree "feeling the bliss of deliverance." The Pali texts also report that he continued to meditate and contemplated various aspects of the Dharma while living by the River Nairañjanā, such as Dependent Origination, the Five Spiritual Faculties and Suffering.
25. The legendary biographies like the Mahavastu and the Lalitavistara depict an attempt by Mara, the Lord of the desire realm, to prevent Lord Buddha's nirvana. He does so by sending his daughters to seduce Lord Buddha, by asserting his superiority and by assaulting him with armies of monsters. However Lord Buddha is unfazed and calls on the earth (or in some versions of the legend, the earth goddess) as witness to his superiority by touching the ground before entering meditation. Other miracles and magical events are also depicted
26. According to MN 26, immediately after his awakening, Lord Buddha hesitated on whether or not he should teach the Dharma to others. He was concerned that humans were so overpowered by ignorance, greed, and hatred that they could never recognise the path, which is "subtle, deep and hard to grasp." However, the god Brahmā Sahampati convinced him, arguing that at least some "with little dust in their eyes" will understand it. Lord Buddha relented and agreed to teach. According to Analayo, the Chinese parallel to MN 26, MĀ 204, does not contain this story, but this event does appear in other parallel texts, such as in an Ekottarika-āgama discourse, in the Catusparisat-sūtra, and in the Lalitavistara.
27. According to MN 26 and MĀ 204, after deciding to teach, Lord Buddha initially intended to visit his former teachers, Alara Kalama and Udaka Ramaputta, to teach them his insights, but they had already died, so he decided to visit his five former companions. MN 26 and MĀ 204 both report that on his way to Vārānasī (Benares), he met another wanderer, called Ājīvika Upaka in MN 26. Lord Buddha proclaimed that he had achieved full awakening, but Upaka was not convinced and "took a different path".
28. MN 26 and MĀ 204 continue with Lord Buddha reaching the Deer Park (Sarnath) near Vārānasī , where he met the group of five ascetics and was able to convince them that he had indeed reached full awakening.[188] According to MĀ 204 (but not MN 26), as well as the Theravāda Vinaya, an Ekottarika-āgama text, the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya, the Mahīśāsaka Vinaya, and the Mahāvastu, Lord Buddha then taught them the "first sermon", i.e. the teaching of "the noble eightfold path as the middle path aloof from the two extremes of sensual indulgence and self-mortification." The Pali text reports that after the first sermon, the ascetic Koṇḍañña became the first arahant (liberated being) and the first Buddhist bhikkhu or monastic. Lord Buddha then continued to teach the other ascetics and they formed the first saṅgha: the company of Buddhist monks..
29. Various sources such as the Mahāvastu, the Mahākhandhaka of the Theravāda Vinaya and the Catusparisat-sūtra also mention that Lord Buddha taught them his second discourse at this time, which was the sutra on the characteristic of "not-self" (Anātmalakṣaṇa Sūtra)..
30. The Theravāda Vinaya and the Catusparisat-sūtra also speak of the conversion of Yasa, a local guild master, and his friends and family, who were some of the first converts to the Buddhist community. The conversion of three brothers named Kassapa followed, who brought with them five hundred converts who had previously been "matted hair ascetics," and whose spiritual practice was related to fire sacrifices. According to the Theravāda Vinaya, Lord Buddha then stopped at Gayasisa near Gaya and delivered his third discourse, The Ādittapariyāya Sutta (The Discourse on Fire).
31. After Lord Buddha's community grows to around sixty awakened monks, he instructs them to wander on their own, teach and ordain people into the community, for the "welfare" and "benefit" of the world.
32. The growth of the saṅgha For the remaining 40 or 45 years of his life, Lord Buddha is said to have traveled in the Gangetic Plain, in what is now Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and southern Nepal, teaching a diverse range of people: from nobles to servants, ascetics and householders, murderers such as Angulimala, and cannibals such as Alavaka. According to Schumann, Lord Buddha's wanderings ranged from "Kosambi on the Yamuna (25 km south-west of Allahabad )", to Campa (40 km east of Bhagalpur)" and from "Kapilavatthu (95 km north-west of Gorakhpur) to Uruvela (south of Gaya)." This covers an area of 600 by 300 km. His sangha enjoyed the patronage of the kings of Kosala and Magadha and he thus spent a lot of time in their respective capitals, Savatthi and Rajagaha.
33. Although Lord Buddha's language remains unknown, it is likely that he taught in one or more of a variety of closely related Middle Indo-Aryan dialects, of which Pali may be a standardisation.
34. The sangha traveled through the subcontinent, expounding the Dharma. This continued throughout the year, except during the four months of the Vassa rainy season when ascetics of all religions rarely traveled. One reason was that it was more difficult to do so without causing harm to flora and animal life. The health of the ascetics might have been a concern as well. At this time of year, the sangha would retreat to monasteries, public parks or forests, where people would come to them.
35. The first vassana was spent at Varanasi when the sangha was formed. According to the Pali texts, shortly after the formation of the sangha, Lord Buddha traveled to Rajagaha, capital of Magadha, and met with King Bimbisara, who gifted a bamboo grove park to the sangha.
36. Lord Buddha's sangha continued to grow during his initial travels in north India. The early texts tell the story of how Lord Buddha's chief disciples, Sāriputta and Mahāmoggallāna, who were both students of the skeptic sramana Sañjaya Belaṭṭhiputta, were converted by Assaji. They also tell of how Lord Buddha's son, Rahula, joined his father as a bhikkhu when Lord Buddha visited his old home, Kapilavastu. Over time, other Shakyans joined the order as bhikkhus, such as Buddha's cousin Ananda, Anuruddha, Upali the barber, Lord Buddha's half-brother Nanda and Devadatta. Meanwhile, Lord Buddha's father Suddhodana heard his son's teaching, converted to Buddhism and became a stream-enterer.
37. The early texts also mention an important lay disciple, the merchant Anāthapiṇḍika, who became a strong lay supporter of Lord Buddha early on. He is said to have gifted Jeta's grove (Jetavana) to the sangha at great expense (the Theravada Vinaya speaks of thousands of gold coins).
38. The early texts also mention an important lay disciple, the merchant Anāthapiṇḍika, who became a strong lay supporter of Lord Buddha early on. He is said to have gifted Jeta's grove (Jetavana) to the sangha at great expense (the Theravada Vinaya speaks of thousands of gold coins).
39. Formation of the bhikkhunī order The formation of a parallel order of female monastics (bhikkhunī) was another important part of the growth of Lord Buddha's community. As noted by Analayo's comparative study of this topic, there are various versions of this event depicted in the different early Buddhist texts.
40. According to all the major versions surveyed by Analayo, Mahāprajāpatī Gautamī, Buddha's step-mother, is initially turned down by Lord Buddha after requesting ordination for her and some other women. Mahāprajāpatī and her followers then shave their hair, don robes and begin following Lord Buddha on his travels. Lord Buddha is eventually convinced by Ānanda to grant ordination to Mahāprajāpatī on her acceptance of eight conditions called gurudharmas which focus on the relationship between the new order of nuns and the monks..
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41. According to Analayo, the only argument common to all the versions that Ananda uses to convince Lord Buddha is that women have the same ability to reach all stages of awakening. Analayo also notes that some modern scholars have questioned the authenticity of the eight gurudharmas in their present form due to various inconsistencies. He holds that the historicity of the current lists of eight is doubtful, but that they may have been based on earlier injunctions by Lord Buddha. Analayo also notes that various passages indicate that the reason for the Buddha's hesitation to ordain women was the danger that the life of a wandering sramana posed for women that were not under the protection of their male family members (such as dangers of sexual assault and abduction). Due to this, the gurudharma injunctions may have been a way to place "the newly founded order of nuns in a relationship to its male counterparts that resembles as much as possible the protection a laywoman could expect from her male relatives."
42. Later years According to J.S. Strong, after the first 20 years of his teaching career, Lord Buddha seems to have slowly settled in Sravasti, the capital of the Kingdom of Kosala, spending most of his later years in this city.
43. As the sangha grew in size, the need for a standardized set of monastic rules arose and Lord Buddha seems to have developed a set of regulations for the sangha. These are preserved in various texts called "Pratimoksa" which were recited by the community every fortnight. The Pratimoksa includes general ethical precepts, as well as rules regarding the essentials of monastic life, such as bowls and robes.
44. In his later years, Lord Buddha's fame grew and he was invited to important royal events, such as the inauguration of the new council hall of the Shakyans (as seen in MN 53) and the inauguration of a new palace by Prince Bodhi (as depicted in MN 85). The early texts also speak of how during Lord Buddha's old age, the kingdom of Magadha was usurped by a new king, Ajatasattu, who overthrew his father Bimbisara. According to the Samaññaphala Sutta, the new king spoke with different ascetic teachers and eventually took refuge in Lord Buddha. However, Jain sources also claim his allegiance, and it is likely he supported various religious groups, not just Lord Buddha's sangha exclusively.
45. As Lord Buddha continued to travel and teach, he also came into contact with members of other śrāmana sects. There is evidence from the early texts that Lord Buddha encountered some of these figures and critiqued their doctrines. The Samaññaphala Sutta identifies six such sects.
46. The early texts also depict the elderly Buddha as suffering from back pain. Several texts depict him delegating teachings to his chief disciples since his body now needed more rest.23] However, Lord Buddha continued teaching well into his old age.
47. One of the most troubling events during Lord Buddha's old age was Devadatta's schism. Early sources speak of how Lord Buddha's cousin, Devadatta, attempted to take over leadership of the order and then left the sangha with several Buddhist monks and formed a rival sect. This sect is said to have also been supported by King Ajatasattu. The Pali texts also depict Devadatta as plotting to kill Lord Buddha, but these plans all fail. They also depict Lord Buddha as sending his two chief disciples (Sariputta and Moggallana) to this schismatic community in order to convince the monks who left with Devadatta to return.
48. All the major early Buddhist Vinaya texts depict Devadatta as a divisive figure who attempted to split the Buddhist community, but they disagree on what issues he disagreed with Lord Buddha on. The Sthavira texts generally focus on "five points" which are seen as excessive ascetic practices, while the Mahāsaṅghika Vinaya speaks of a more comprehensive disagreement, which has Devadatta alter the discourses as well as monastic discipline.
49. At around the same time of Devadatta's schism, there was also war between Ajatasattu's Kingdom of Magadha, and Kosala, led by an elderly king Pasenadi. Ajatasattu seems to have been victorious, a turn of events Lord Buddha is reported to have regretted.
50. The main narrative of Lord Buddha's last days, death and the events following his death is contained in the Mahaparinibbana Sutta (DN 16) and its various parallels in Sanskrit, Chinese, and Tibetan. According to Analayo, these include the Chinese Dirgha Agama 2, "Sanskrit fragments of the Mahaparinirvanasutra", and "three discourses preserved as individual translations in Chinese".
51. The Mahaparinibbana sutta depicts Lord Buddha's last year as a time of war. It begins with Ajatasattu's decision to make war on the Vajjian federation, leading him to send a minister to ask Lord Buddha for advice. Lord Buddha responds by saying that the Vajjians can be expected to prosper as long as they do seven things, and he then applies these seven principles to Lord Buddhist Sangha, showing that he is concerned about its future welfare. The Buddha says that the Sangha will prosper as long as they "hold regular and frequent assemblies, meet in harmony, do not change the rules of training, honor their superiors who were ordained before them, do not fall prey to worldly desires, remain devoted to forest hermitages, and preserve their personal mindfulness." He then gives further lists of important virtues to be upheld by the Sangha.
52. The early texts also depict how Lord Buddha's two chief disciples, Sariputta and Moggallana, died just before Lord Buddha's death. The Mahaparinibbana depicts Lord Buddha as experiencing illness during the last months of his life but initially recovering. It also depicts him as stating that he cannot promote anyone to be his successor. When Ānanda requested this, the Mahaparinibbana records his response as follows:
53. Ananda, why does the Order of monks expect this of me? I have taught the Dhamma, making no distinction of “inner” and “ outer”: the Tathagata has no “teacher’s fist” (in which certain truths are held back). If there is anyone who thinks: “I shall take charge of the Order”, or “the Order is under my leadership”, such a person would have to make arrangements about the Order. The Tathagata does not think in such terms. Why should the Tathagata make arrangements for the Order? I am now old, worn out . . . I have reached the term of life, I am turning eighty years of age. Just as an old cart is made to go by being held together with straps, so the Tathagata's body is kept going by being bandaged up . . . Therefore, Ananda, you should live as islands unto yourselves, being your own refuge, seeking no other refuge; with the Dhamma as an island, with the Dhamma as your refuge, seeking no other refuge. . . Those monks who in my time or afterwards live thus, seeking an island and a refuge in themselves and in the Dhamma and nowhere else, these zealous ones are truly my monks and will overcome the darkness (of rebirth).
54. After traveling and teaching some more, Lord Buddha ate his last meal, which he had received as an offering from a blacksmith named Cunda. Falling violently ill, Lord Buddha instructed his attendant Ānanda to convince Cunda that the meal eaten at his place had nothing to do with his death and that his meal would be a source of the greatest merit as it provided the last meal for a Buddha. Mettanando and von Hinüber argue that Lord Buddha died of mesenteric infarction, a symptom of old age, rather than food poisoning.
55. After traveling and teaching some more, Lord Buddha ate his last meal, which he had received as an offering from a blacksmith named Cunda. Falling violently ill, Lord Buddha instructed his attendant Ānanda to convince Cunda that the meal eaten at his place had nothing to do with his death and that his meal would be a source of the greatest merit as it provided the last meal for a Buddha. Mettanando and von Hinüber argue that Lord Buddha died of mesenteric infarction, a symptom of old age, rather than food poisoning.
56. The precise contents of Lord Buddha's final meal are not clear, due to variant scriptural traditions and ambiguity over the translation of certain significant terms. The Theravada tradition generally believes that Lord Buddha was offered some kind of pork, while the Mahayana tradition believes that Lord Buddha consumed some sort of truffle or other mushroom. These may reflect the different traditional views on Buddhist vegetarianism and the precepts for monks and nuns. Modern scholars also disagree on this topic, arguing both for pig's flesh or some kind of plant or mushroom that pigs like to eat.[note 13] Whatever the case, none of the sources which mention the last meal attribute Lord Buddha's sickness to the meal itself
57. As per the Mahaparinibbana sutta, after the meal with Cunda, Lord Buddha and his companions continued traveling until he was too weak to continue and had to stop at Kushinagar, where Ānanda had a resting place prepared in a grove of Sala trees. After announcing to the sangha at large that he would soon be passing away to final Nirvana, Lord Buddha ordained one last novice into the order personally, his name was Subhadda. He then repeated his final instructions to the sangha, which was that the Dhamma and Vinaya was to be their teacher after his death. Then he asked if anyone had any doubts about the teaching, but nobody did.[244] The Buddha's final words are reported to have been: "All saṅkhāras decay. Strive for the goal with diligence (appamāda)" (Pali: 'vayadhammā saṅkhārā appamādena sampādethā')
58. As per the Mahaparinibbana sutta, after the meal with Cunda, Lord Buddha and his companions continued traveling until he was too weak to continue and had to stop at Kushinagar, where Ānanda had a resting place prepared in a grove of Sala trees. After announcing to the sangha at large that he would soon be passing away to final Nirvana, Lord Buddha ordained one last novice into the order personally, his name was Subhadda. He then repeated his final instructions to the sangha, which was that the Dhamma and Vinaya was to be their teacher after his death. Then he asked if anyone had any doubts about the teaching, but nobody did. The Buddha's final words are reported to have been: "All saṅkhāras decay. Strive for the goal with diligence (appamāda)" (Pali: 'vayadhammā saṅkhārā appamādena sampādethā')
59. He then entered his final meditation and died, reaching what is known as parinirvana (final nirvana, the end of rebirth and suffering achieved after the death of the body). The Mahaparinibbana reports that in his final meditation he entered the four dhyanas consecutively, then the four immaterial attainments and finally the meditative dwelling known as nirodha-samāpatti, before returning to the fourth dhyana right at the moment of death.
60. According to the Mahaparinibbana sutta, the Mallians of Kushinagar spent the days following Lord Buddha's death honoring his body with flowers, music and scents. The sangha waited until the eminent elder Mahākassapa arrived to pay his respects before cremating the body.
61. Lord Buddha's body was then cremated and the remains, including his bones, were kept as relics and they were distributed among various north Indian kingdoms like Magadha, Shakya and Koliya. These relics were placed in monuments or mounds called stupas, a common funerary practice at the time. Centuries later they would be exhumed and enshrined by Ashoka into many new stupas around the Mauryan realm. Many supernatural legends surround the history of alleged relics as they accompanied the spread of Buddhism and gave legitimacy to rulers.
62. According to various Buddhist sources, the First Buddhist Council was held shortly after Lord Buddha's death to collect, recite and memorize the teachings. Mahākassapa was chosen by the sangha to be the chairman of the council. However, the historicity of the traditional accounts of the first council is disputed by modern scholars.
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