Buddhist Suttas — SBE Vol. 11 (Clarendon Press, 1881) page scans

not one brother who has any doubt or misgiving as to the Buddha, or the truth, or the path, or the way ! For even the most backward, Ananda, of all these five hundred brethren has become converted, and is no longer liable to be born in a state of suffering, and is assured of final salvation V

10. Then the Blessed One addressed the brethren, and said, ' Behold now, brethren, I exhort you, saying, " Decay is inherent in all component things ! Work out your salvation with diligence ! " '

This was the last word of the Tathagata !

11. Then the Blessed One entered into the first

1 Compare above, Chap. II, § 7. By 'the most backward/ according to Buddhaghosa, the Blessed One referred to Ananda, and he said this to encourage him.

vi. mahA-parinibbana-sutta. 115 • stage of deep meditation \ And rising out of the first stage he passed into the second. And rising out of the second he passed into the third. And rising out of the third stage he passed into the fourth. And rising out of the fourth stage of deep meditation he entered into the state of mind to which the infinity of space is alone present 2 . And passing out of the mere consciousness of the infinity of space he entered into the state of mind to which the infinity of thought is alone present. And passing out of the mere consciousness of the infinity of thought he entered into a state of mind to which nothing at all was specially present. And passing out of the consciousness of no special object he fell into a state between consciousness and unconsciousness. And passing out of the state between consciousness and unconsciousness he fell into a state in which the consciousness both of sensations and of ideas had wholly passed away.

12. Then the venerable Ananda said to the venerable Anuruddha : ' O my Lord, O Anuruddha, the Blessed One is dead ! '

' Nay ! brother Ananda, the Blessed One is not dead. He has entered into that state in which both sensations and ideas have ceased to be ! '

13. Then the Blessed One passing out of the state in which both sensations and ideas have ceased to be, entered into the state between consciousness and unconsciousness. And passing out of the state between consciousness and unconsciousness he entered into the state of mind to

1 CrMna, the full text and an explanation of which will be found in the translator's 'Buddhism,' pp. 174-176.

2 Compare above, Chap. Ill, §§ 37-42.

I 2

Il6 THE BOOK OF THE GREAT DECEASE. CH.

which nothing at all is specially present. And passing out of the consciousness of no special object he entered into the state of mind to which the infinity of thought is alone present And passing out of the mere consciousness of the infinity of thought he entered into the state of mind to which the infinity of space is alone present. And passing out of the mere consciousness of the infinity of space he entered into the fourth stage of deep meditation. And passing out of the fourth stage he entered into the third.

sness of the infinity of thought he entered into the state of mind to which the infinity of space is alone present. And passing out of the mere consciousness of the infinity of space he entered into the fourth stage of deep meditation. And passing out of the fourth stage he entered into the third. And passing out of the third stage he entered into the second. And passing out of the second he entered into the first And passing out of the first stage of deep meditation he entered into the second. And passing out of the second stage he entered into the third. And passing out of the third stage he entered into the fourth stage of deep meditation. And passing out of the last stage of deep meditation he immediately expired.

14. When the Blessed One died there arose, at the moment of his passing out of existence, a mighty earthquake, terrible and awe-inspiring : and the thunders of heaven burst forth.

15. When the Blessed One died, Brahm& Sahampati, at the moment of his passing away from existence, uttered this stanza :

' They all, all beings that have life, shall lay
Aside their complex form — that aggregation
Of mental and material qualities,
That gives them, or in heaven or on earth,
Their fleeting individuality !
E'en as the teacher — being such a one,

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Unequalled among all the men that are,
Successor of the prophets of old time,
Mighty by wisdom, and in insight clear —
Hath died 1 !'

16. When the Blessed One died, Sakka, the king of the gods, at the moment of his passing away from existence, uttered this stanza:

' They're transient all, each being's parts and powers,

Growth is their nature, and decay.

They are produced, they are dissolved again :

And then is best, when they have sunk to rest 2 ! '

1 Brahmd, the first cause, the highest result of Indian theological speculation, the one God of the Indian Pantheists, is represented as using expressions full of deep allusions to the most characteristic Buddhist doctrines. The Samussaya is the result of the temporary collocation of the 'aggregations' (khandha) of mental and material qualities which give to each being (bhuto, that is, man, animal, god, ghost, fairy, or what not) its outward and visible shape, its individuality. L ok a is here not the world in our sense, but the ' locality ' in the Buddhist universe which such an individual occupies until it is dissolved. (Comp. Chap. II, §§ 14, 34.) Brahma appears therefore as a veritable Vibha^avâdi.

2 On this celebrated verse see below the Introduction to Mah&- Sudassana Sutta. It must be the original of the first verse in the Chinese work, Fa Kheu Pi Hu (Beal, Dhammapada, p. 32), though it is there so changed that every clause has lost its point.

'Whatever exists is without endurance.

And hence the terms 44 flourishing " and "decaying."

A man is born, and then he dies.

It must be the original of the first verse in the Chinese work, Fa Kheu Pi Hu (Beal, Dhammapada, p. 32), though it is there so changed that every clause has lost its point.

'Whatever exists is without endurance.

And hence the terms 44 flourishing " and "decaying."

A man is born, and then he dies.

Oh, the happiness of escaping from this condition!' The very meaning which is here the most essential connotation of sahkhari is lost in the phrase 'whatever exists/ By a misapprehension of the, no doubt, difficult word D ha mm a, which, however, never means 4 term/ the second clause has lost its point. And by a grammatical blunder the third clause in the Chinese confines the doctrine, erroneously, to man. In a Chinese tale, called

Il8 THE BOOK OF THE GREAT DECEASE. CH.

17. When the Blessed One died, the venerable Anuruddha, at the moment of his passing away from existence, uttered these stanzas :

' When he who from all craving want was free,
Who to NirvS^as tranquil state had reached,
When the great sage finished his span of life,
No gasping struggle vexed that steadfast heart !

All resolute, and with unshaken mind,
He calmly triumphed o'er the pain of death.
E'en as a bright flame dies away, so was
His last deliverance from the bonds of life 1 ! '

18. When the Blessed One died, the venerable Ananda, at the moment of his passing away from existence, uttered this stanza :

' Then was there terror !
Then stood the hair on end !
When he endowed with every grace —
The supreme Buddha — died 2 ! '

Ngan shih niu, translated by Mr. Beal, in the Indian Antiquary for May, 1880, the following verses occur; and they are possibly another reflection of this stanza :

'All things that exist are transitory.

They must of necessity perish and disappear;

Though joined together, there must be separation;

Where there is life there must be death.'

1 Aetaso Vimokho. Kena£i dhammena an£vara»a-vimokho sabbaso apa##atti-bha*vupagamo, says Buddhaghosa; that is, 'the deliverance which is free from the restraint of each and every mental quality completely vanishing away* (dhamm£ being here = sa««a and vedana and sankhdra 4 ; see 'Buddhism/ pp. 91, 92). See also below, p. 153.

2 In these four stanzas we seem to have the way in which the death of the Buddha would be regarded, as the early Buddhist thought, by four representative persons — the exalted God of the theologians ; the Jupiter of the multitude (allowing in the case of

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19 \ When the Blessed One died, of those of the brethren who were not yet free from the passions, some stretched out their arms and wept, and some fell headlong on the ground, rolling to and fro in anguish at the thought : ' Too soon has the Blessed One died ! Too soon has the Happy One passed away from existence ! Too soon has the Light gone out in the world ! '

But those of the brethren who were free from the passions (the Arahats) bore their grief collected and composed at the