“Mahākāśyapa let out a long sigh, said a few verses, and circumambulated the pyre seven times. After Mahākāśyapa had seen the Buddha’s remains the pyre self-ignited. They had tried to ignite the remains several times but had been unable to do so. Now, the remains naturally ignited themselves.”
“This third nirvana is called the “final nirvana of the relics.” Until that time, the relics of the Buddha are to be regarded as his living presence, infused with all of his marvellous qualities. The relics of the Buddha are, essentially, the Buddha.”
INTRODUCTION
For the full moon day today, I offer an introduction and review (with original photos) of my recent pilgrimage visit to see the Buddha’s relic, housed in the National Museum in New Delhi, India. Last weekend, I was invited to a beautiful light art show at the Swiss embassy in Delhi, but before that I visited the National Museum in New Delhi, India to see the Shakyamuni Buddha’s relics that are housed there. I have seen different Buddha’s relics exhibited in other parts of India before, such as Bodh Gaya and Sarnath, but this was the first time I had seen the ones in New Delhi. I have been wanting to see them for a couple of years now, after discovering that some of the relics recovered and excavated at the site called Piprāhwā, Uttar Pradesh, India (identified as Kapilvastu, the home town of the Buddha) were exhibited there. However, due to the COVID lockdown and closure of the museum I was unable to visit until now.
This brief review of the exhibit first gives a little historical background to the distribution and preservation of the Buddha’s relics after he passed away in India, followed by some information about the site where these relics were discovered, Piprāhwā and some photos of other relics discovered there.
Then, there is a brief review of the Museum exhibits and relics, sharing some original photos I took there. Finally, I conclude with some prophesies about the relics called the ‘third nirvana’, when they are no longer properly revered and preserved.
One thing is for certain, whether or not one believes in these prophesies, the Buddha’s relics are a divine and priceless jewel in the crown of Indian and Buddhist historical, cultural and spiritual heritage. So, if one has an opportunity to see them in India, what greater blessing and show of light could there be than that?
For more articles on this website about other sacred places in India, Nepal and Bhutan, see here.
Music? Lovely rendition of Buddha Shakyamuni mantra, and more contemporary Bones by Imagine Dragons, ‘there’s magic in my bones.’ and Priceless by Rascalz…’not everything can be bought or sold, certain things in this life money don’t control.’
May this spread the blessings of the Buddha’s magical bones to all and lead us all to full awakening!
Written and compiled by Adele Tomlin, 3rd November 2022. Copyright.
The Buddha’s Passing Away and self-ignition of his remains
According to historians, and in recent teachings on the Buddha’s parinirvana and the cremation the Buddha’s remains and relics (Śarira) were divided into eight tribes/peoples to avoid conflict. In a recent online teaching (2021), written up here, HH 17th Karmapa (2021) explained:
“Before the Buddha passed away, he told his students they did not need to worry or get involved about managing the remains of his body, saying “Don’t get fooled by that. You monastics should strive at the true purpose”. He was telling them they need to be diligent about practice. He also said: “You do not need to worry that you will not have a teacher after I have passed away. The dharma and Vinaya I have taught will be the teacher who shows the path. So, you have to listen to them.”
In another online teaching in August 2022, the 17th Karmapa elaborated on what happened to the Buddha’s remains shortly after he passed away, in particular how two of Buddha’s main students Mahākāśyapa and Ananda dealt with them:
“After the Buddha passed into nirvana in a grove of sāla trees in Kuśinagara, the Mallas of Kuśinagara first bathed his body and then wrapped it in a shroud made of new, clean cloth. They then wrapped the body in an additional 500 or so cloths. The Mallas put the remains inside an iron casket anointed with scented water. After that had been sealed, they made another casket inside which they put the iron casket, and they stacked many sweet-smelling logs around and underneath the wooden casket.
At that time, the leader of the Mallas tried to light the pyre with a candle, but it would not catch, so the fire went out. The Malla princes also tried to light the pyre again, but the fire also went out.
Ananda said to the Mallas, “There is no point in trying to do this. You do not need to try so hard. The gods keep putting out your fire.”
They asked Ananda, “Venerable one, why have the gods put out our fire?”
Ananda replied, “Mahakāśyapa and five hundred bhikshus are currently traveling from Pāvā to Kuśinagara. When the Buddha passed into parinirvana, Mahākāśyapa was not near, he was traveling between the two and hoped he could see the Buddha’s remains before they were cremated. Because of that wish, the gods know what Kāśyapa is thinking and keep putting out your fire.”
When they heard that, they said, “Venerable Ananda, if that is so, then we will wait a while, just as the gods wish.” They did not cremate the remains but waited for Mahākāśyapa.
When Mahākāśyapa and the five hundred bhikshus arrived in Kuśinagara, they crossed the Hiraṇyavatī river outside the city and went to the Makuṭabandhana—this was either a stupa or a monastery. There they met Ananda. Immediately Mahākāśyapa asked, “Ananda, if the Buddha’s remains have not been cremated, we would like to see the Buddha’s remains.”
“We have not yet cremated the Buddha’s remains,” Ananda said, “But seeing them is a bit difficult, because the Buddha’s remains have not been left out in the open. They have been bathed and wrapped in a clean cotton shroud. Outside of that, they wrapped an additional five hundred shrouds. After being wrapped, it was placed in a coffin made of metal, anointed with scented water, and then placed inside a wooden coffin. Beneath that, many tree branches of different scents have been spread out. All the preparations for the cremation today are ready. So, it is very difficult to see the Buddha’s face now because it had been wrapped up in many layers.”
When Mahākāśyapa came near to the pyre for the cremation, the coffin naturally opened on its own, and one of the Buddha’s feet fell out. Mahākāśyapa saw that the Buddha’s foot had been soiled and immediately said to Ananda, “The Buddha was so beautiful and had a stainless complexion the colour of gold. Who soiled his feet in such a way?”
Ananda replied, “When the Buddha passed away there were many women who came to see the Buddha’s remains—they were not very careful. They were crying when they prostrated to the Buddha, so their hands were wet with tears, and they were also wearing kohl on their eyes, so their hands became dirty, and they dirtied his foot when they touched it.”
Mahākāśyapa was not happy about that, but prostrated to the Buddha’s foot. After that, all the bhikshus, bhikshunis, male and female lay practitioners, gods and humans and everyone prostrated to the Buddha’s feet. After that, the Buddha’s foot was no longer visible, and had gone back into the cremation box.
Mahākāśyapa let out a long sigh, said a few verses, and circumambulated the pyre seven times. After Mahākāśyapa had seen the Buddha’s remains the pyre self-ignited. They had tried to ignite the remains several times but had been unable to do so. Now, the remains naturally ignited themselves.”
Care and Distribution of the Buddha’s relics
According to the Mahāparinibbāṇa Sutta, after Buddha’s parinirvana in Kushinagar, the remains of the Buddha were cremated at that location. Those who took care of the Buddha’s remains were the Mallās of Kushinagara. They offered flowers and scent and eventually cremated his remains. The relics were then apportioned among eight different tribes or countries, and at one point it seemed like there may be a dispute about them. It is said that originally his ashes were to go only to the Shakya clan, to which the Buddha belonged. However, six other clans and a king demanded the relics of the Buddha. In order to resolve this dispute, a Brahmin named Drona divided the ashes of the Buddha into eight portions. The Bulis of Allakappa; the Koliyas of Ramagrama; the Brahmins of Vethadipa; the Mallas of Pava; the Mallas of Kushinagar; Ajatasattu, king of Magadha; the Sakyas of Kapilavastu; and the Licchavis of Vaishali,each got a vase, Those who received a vase of relics built a stupa in their own lands.
The Aśokāvadāna (Narrative of Ashoka) narrates how Ashoka redistributed Buddha’s relics across 84,000 stupas, with the distribution of the relics and construction of the stupas performed by Yakshas. Many of the remains were taken to other countries. When the Chinese pilgrims Faxian (337 – 442 A.D) and Xuanzang (7th Century) visited India centuries later, they reported most of the ancient sites were in ruin. The relics found at Piprāhawa are said to have been buried there during the time of Ashoka.
19th Century Discovery of the Buddha’s relics in Piprāhawa (Kapilavastu), India
Piprāhwā is a small village in the Terai region (lowland region) that lies south of the outer foothills of the Himalayas, the Siwālik Hills, and north of the Indo-Gangetic Plain (District Basti of Uttar Pradesh, North-West of India). In 1898, a British landowner, William Claxton Peppé (1852-1937) excavated a large mound on his estate in Piprāhwā, which turned out to be a Buddhist brick stūpa. These have since been authenticated as completely genuine and from 500 BCE. An official website about them can be viewed here. The images are stunningly beautiful, moving and worthy of veneration. The site has been identified with Kapilvastu, the home-town of the Buddha Sakyamuni.
This was the first time that relics of the Buddha had been found in India. In the National Geographic documentary ‘Bones of the Buddha’, historian Charles Allen talks about the find, which can be watched for free on Youtube. The film explains how the discovery happened, and that nothing had been found like it before in India, or since.
Allen may be wrong about saying the jewels in the small urn were offerings though. It is highly likely they were sacred relics produced from the Buddha’s cremation and/or bones. This is a well-documented phenomena in Tibetan Buddhism, and enlightened and realised practitioners are renowned for doing this when the bodies are cremated.
The film also confirms that the urn and inscription (in Brahmi not Sanskrit) were made 150 years after the Buddha passed away and yet the relics were those of the Buddha. After another archaeological dig at the site in the 1970s, an even older burial was found underneath which was from the time of the Buddha and was most likely the place where the Shakyas had originally buried the relics at the time of his passing. Researchers say that the stone coffer casket, containing the urn was most likely created by Ashoka and added into the burial site to give due honour to the relics.
For more images and details about the Piprāhwā site and relics discovered there, see this website article here: JEWEL RELICS AND BONES OF SHAKYAMUNI: A DEADLY MEAL, FINAL ADVICE AND PASSING AWAY .
According to the records of the Union Ministry of Culture, several explorations were done there. An Archaeological Survey of India excavation of the stupa in 1971-77 uncovered two more steatite relic caskets containing 22 sacred bone relics. These are now housed in the National Museum, in New Delhi.
The National Museum exhibit – relics and Buddhist art
Entry to the National Museum is 20 INR for Indians (500 INR for foreigners). A big price hike for tourists but totally worth it. The Buddha’s relics at the National Museum are housed in one large room in a series of rooms of the section called Buddhist Art at the National Museum. The other exhibits include stunning specimens of Buddhist art in stone, bronze, terracotta, stucco, wood and painted scrolls from Nepal, Tibet, Central Asia, Myanmar, Java and Cambodia. In particular, there are images of Kapardin Buddha from Abhichchatra, Buddha-pada (footprints) from Nagarjunaknda, in Andhra Pradesh and Buddha’s life scenes from Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh and ritualistic objects from the Trans-Himalayan region. There are other examples of Buddhist art from the Maurya, Gandhara, Kushana, Ishvaku, Gupta eras and more.
The 20 bone relics, which are said to be parts of the skull, on display at the National Museum are part of the 22 bone fragments that were discovered by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in the 1970s in two separate caskets made of soapstone. The largest piece is about 3 X 5 centimeters. The other two pieces of these bone fragments are on display at the National Museum in Kolkata.
These bone fragments have been placed in a pavilion made of gold that was presented as a gift to the museum by the royal Thai government in 1997.
Walking into the room, one’s eyes are immediately drawn to the golden light of the spectacular Thai-style pagoda temple, housing the relics at the top. There are no other objects in the room, other than some information on the walls and images of the relics. It felt like being in the presence of Buddha and the devotional urge to prostrate to the relics automatically arose and so i did. I also did several circumambulations and mental aspirations. The Indian guards kept coming into the room to see what I was up to but let me be, and I was almost magnetised to it and did not want to leave. I would have happily spent hours there.
In any case, here are some photos I took of the room, the relics and the caskets, as well as some of the other exhibits in the Museum, please enjoy them and may you also feel the blessed energy of them, even if only virtually.
The Ashoka rock edict and other art
Another highlight of the National Museum exhibit is the huge Ashokan stone edict relic outside the museum in the gardens. This huge stone contains ancient calligraphy engraving of Brahmi script and remarkably can be touched by the hand for those who seek that kind of blessing from it.
The third and final nirvana of the Buddha’s relics
According to Buddhist belief, there will come a time in the future when the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha will disappear from the world and the relics will no longer be honoured. At that time, it is said the relics enshrined in stupas around the world will break out of their reliquaries and magically return to Bodh Gaya, where they will assemble into the resplendent body of the Buddha, seated in the lotus posture under the Bodhi tree, emitting rays of light that illuminate 10,000 worlds. The gods will worship them one last time and they will ignite into flame and disappear into the sky. This third nirvana is called the “final nirvana of the relics.” Until that time, the relics of the Buddha are to be regarded as his living presence, infused with all of his marvellous qualities. The relics of the Buddha were, essentially, the Buddha.
In the Nandimitravadana translated by Chinese scholar-master, Xuanzang it is said that the Buddha’s relics will be brought to parinirvana by sixteen great arhats and enshrined in a great stupa. That stupa will then be worshipped until it sinks into the earth down to the golden wheel underlying the universe. The relics are not destroyed by fire in this version but placed in a final reliquary deep within the earth, perhaps to appear again.
One thing is for certain, whether or not one believes in these prophesies, the Buddha’s relics are a divine and priceless jewel in the crown of Indian and Buddhist historical, cultural and spiritual heritage. So, if one has an opportunity to see them in India, what greater blessing and show of light could there be than that?
Further Reading/Sources
National Museum in New Delhi, India
Relics associated with Buddha – Wikipedia
Dakini Translations and Publications མཁའ་འགྲོ་མའི་ལོ་ཙཱ་བའི་འགྱུར་དང་འགྲེམས་སྤེལ། 
Thanks for remembering about XVI Karmapa parinirvana anniversary of 5 Nov and about Buddha relicts.
How is going on project concerning Tara thangka with four additional female Buddhas to which project I contributed donation ? Thx.J.