“It is better to live for a single day free from arising and disintegrating than live for a hundred years not free from arising and disintegrating.”
“If you memorize the Sutras incorrectly, it is like an elephant getting stuck in quicksand.” — Ānanda’s advice to a monk
Introduction/Summary
For the full moon today, here is a summary and transcript Day 8 of the Origins of Secret Mantra teachings, the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa spoke about the parinirvāṇa of another main disciple of Buddha, and ‘inheritor of the teachings’ Ānanda who was chosen by the first ‘inheritor’ Mahākāśyapa to inherit/take custody of the teachings before he passed away.
In the Summer 2022 teachings, the 17th Karmapa gave extensive teachings on the life of Ānanda, before and after Buddha passed away, see here. In brief, Ānanda was personally chosen by the Buddha to be his attendant and served him for 25 years. He was also renowned as having the best memory and could remember all 84 000 teachings the Buddha gave and was praised by Buddha for his eight inconceivable qualities. He was also renowned for persuading the Buddha to admit nuns into the sangha, after being requested to do so by Buddha’s step-mother and aunt, Mahāprajāpatī Gautamī and five hundred Shakya women.
The 17th Karmapa explained that there are three parts to his teaching :
- Ānanda passing on the inheritance of the teachings to Śāṇavāsa
- What caused Ānanda to pass away: the mistaken recitation of a verse
- The parinirvāṇa of Ānanda
Again, the 17th Karmapa compared and explained the source texts from the different traditions, the Pāli canon, Chinese and Tibetan canon, including the 7th century Chinese monk, Xuanzang’s crucial account of it.
After explaining why Ananda entrusted the teachings to Śāṇavāsa (as correctly predicted by Mahākāśyapa) before passing away, the 17th Karmapa shared the moving story of Ānanda’s hearing a monk reciting mistaken words and ensuing disrespect by the monk towards him when he corrected him. This was the ’cause’ that led Ānanda (at 120 years old) to despair that his advice was no longer heeded and it was time for him to pass away.
To avoid future conflict over his remains in the region, Ānanda decided to pass away in the middle of the river Ganges (according to most accounts in the Buddhist Canon). He manifested an island in the middle of the river, levitated very high in the air, spontaneously combust into fire and split his body into two pieces that fell on either side of the river, so that the two huge royal military camps on either side of the river would each get half of them. The selfless compassion and wisdom of Ānanda’s ‘last act’ is sad, moving, funny and amazing. It caused all the people there to wail and grieve for several months and they built stupas as receptacles for remains there.
The 17th Karmapa concluded the teaching by making his own observations on the differences between the parinirvāṇa of Ānanda and Mahākāśyapa, and the differences in their personalities and how the society viewed them both at that time. Although in terms of Dharma, Mahākāśyapa was extremely learned and respected by all beings, including Nagas and Gods, Ānand was more ‘popular’ in human terms due to his being ‘handsome’, sociable, outgoing, helping the nuns and so on.
This personally left me pondering the not so ‘positive’ side of being popular, such as the increased levels of attachment in men and women for ‘their teacher’, and the conflict and suffering of such heated emotions and attachment. I remembered Milarepa’s song as to why he wanted to die alone.
Overall, in terms of other personal observations, the 17th Karmapa for the first time in Tibetan Buddhist history, as with his previous Summer 2022 teachings, has provided the first Tibetan ‘critical edition’ (in academic terms) commentary, using original source texts in Pāli, Sanskrit, Tibetan and Chinese on the history and development of Original/Early Buddhism.
After this teaching, it was suddenly announced that there would be a change in the schedule of the Summer 2024 teachings, due to ‘another programme’ but it would start again on 4th September. A reminder also about all the challenges the 17th Karmapa faces, as well as the major responsibility as supreme head of Karma Kagyu in Tibet and in India, Nepal, Asia and globally, with all the main Karma Kagyu nunneries and monasteries under his supreme guidance. As well as the recent passing of his father, Karma Dondrub, and teachers, Thrangu Rinpoche and Khenpo Tsultrim Rinpoche and health issues. So, these teachings are yet another extraordinary example of the 17th Karmapa’s amazing qualities and activities. Not only unparalleled in Karma Kagyu but within any other main Tibetan Buddhist lineage.
In this article, I provide a full transcript (with only light edits for repetition and errors). As visual illustrations, I also share (with permission) some more photos and details from the Indian explorer and researcher, Deepak Anand’s remarkable research and journey to uncover the exact location of Ānanda’s parinirvana in India and the two stupas built on either side of the river Ganges. Many people in that region and in India are hoping that the Bihar government will soon make these two sites of Ānanda and Mahākāśyapa’s parinirvāṇa as major pilgrimage sites, in the same way that Bodh Gaya is, although that has yet to happen!
The story of the disrespect and arrogance shown by a simple Buddhist monk (and his teacher) towards the elderly Ānanda (one of the most learned and devoted of Buddha’s Arhat students) made me wonder how the 17th Karmapa must feel when he has advised his followers many times not to eat slaughtered animals (for various reasons) and yet so many of them still do. One can only hope that as the 17th Karmapa is still young, compared to Ānanda’s 120 years, he will be patient and tolerant of the blatant disrespect and active harm he has had to bear ever since he was recognised in Tibet, not only from Karma Kagyu followers, but other lineage teachers and followers, and not take an early parinirvāṇa! As the Karmapa said about Mahākāśyapa, people often only remember someone properly when they have gone. In Ānanda’s case, his followers were ready to tear each other apart over ownership of his remains, Ānanda thus teared apart his body instead, and they literally cried him a river of tears when he had gone.
Music? Water Down the Ganges by Manish Vyas with Prem Joshua, Ganga by Ricky Kej and Cry Me A River by Barbara Streisand.
Written, compiled and transcribed by Adele Tomlin, 19th August 2024.
Transcript of Origins of Secret Mantra teachings
by 17th Karmapa (Day 8, 2024)
“The other day, I spoke in brief about the parinirvāṇa of the inheritor, Mahakashyapa so today I will speak in general terms about the parinirvāṇa of the second inheritor of the teachings, Ānanda.
. There are three parts to the story of the parinirvāṇa:
- Ānanda passing on the inheritance of the teachings to Śāṇavāsa
- Mistaken recitation while Ānanda was strolling
- The parinirvāṇa of Ānanda.
This is the account of the parinirvāṇa of Ānanda, or the account of his realization. So the first part is the story of Ānanda passing his role to Śāṇavāsa and transmitting the teachings to him.
1. Śāṇavāsa: the person to whom Ānanda entrusted the teachings
When talking about the ‘inheritors of the teachings’ or the ‘inheritors of the teacher’ you could say for a certain period of time after the passing of the Buddha Shakyamuni, there is a tradition of passing the custody of the teachings from one person to the next.
So the Buddha passed the teachings to Mahākāśyapa who transmitted the teachings to Ānanda. So who did Ānanda transmit the teachings to? He transmitted them to Śāṇavāsa, and who was he? I mentioned him the other day. In brief, Śāṇavāsa was the son of a merchant, and when he grew up, he went on an ocean voyage. In ancient times in India, many merchants went on ocean voyages in order to gather many different types of jewels and precious stones. So this is the tradition and he crossed the ocean and safely managed to return. When he returned he buried all his treasure in a treasury and then went to the Bamboo Grove monastery. This means a Bamboo Grove near Rajgir. It is historically the first Monastery to be offered to the Buddhist sangha as a place to stay. The person who offered it was King Bimbisara. So the Bamboo Grove is a place for the sangha to stay near Rajgir and Śāṇavāsa went there.
Ānanda was pacing back and forth outside the temple. Usually, we say “I’m outside for a stroll’ (in Tibetan ‘cham cham dro gi yin’ ). I think this is the same here, the word here ja-gag (བྱ་གག in Tibetan) means to walk back and forth without any particular focus or aim. It became a type of walking meditation. So, Ānanda was going for a stroll outside of the temple at Bamboo Grove and when Śāṇavāsa saw Ānanda he immediately prostrated at his feet and said “because of the compassion of the three jewels, I crossed the great ocean and was able to return safely from my voyage. So, I’d like to offer a five year long Dharma festival for the sangha and Buddha.”
What he means by five-year Dharma Festival is a large Festival of making offerings once a year for five years. That is called a five year Dharma festival. Śāṇavāsa had crossed the ocean and returned with many different Jewels. His merchant trade had gone very well and also because of the kindness of the three jewels he was not harmed or endangered during his ocean voyage. So as a celebration of that he wanted to hold an offering festival once a year for five years.
He asked him where the Buddha was and Ānanda told him that he had passed into Nirvana. As soon as Śāṇavāsa heard that the Buddha had passed away, he fainted, fell to the ground and they sprinkled him with water and revived him. Then, he continued to ask where is the Venerable Shariputra, Ānanda responded that he had also passed into Nirvana. Then he asked where Maugdallyana and Mahākāśyapa were, and Ānanda told him they had all passed away. When Śāṇavāsa heard this answer then he became very unhappy was distressed. Before he had left on his ocean voyage, the teacher the Buddha, as well as his great disciples were still alive. Yet when he returned, the Buddha and his great disciples had passed away and he was very distracted. Also, he had promised to hold the five-year Dharma Festival of making offerings every year. We have a similar custom of offering a large meal every year to the sangha.
When this five annual Dharma festival was completed, the inheritor Ānanda said to Śāṇavāsa: “ You have served the Bhagavan’s teachings materially, now the time has come for you to serve the Dharma.” So Śāṇavāsa said: “ how can I be generous with the Dharma?” Ānanda said “it’s best if you go forth in the teachings of the Bhagavan and become ordained.” Śāṇavāsa immediately promised to do so and went forth as a monk. Śāṇavāsa had been predicted by Mahākāśyapa before he passed away who had told Ānanda that he should pass the teachings to him. So Ānanda encouraged Śāṇavāsa to go forth and become a monk and gave him complete ordination through the motion of four parts of the request. After becoming fully ordained, Śāṇavāsa touched the Earth and said: “ From today on, until the end of this life, I shall wear hemp robes.” This is basically a type of fibre cloth. So Śāṇavāsa said he would not wear the nicer types of fabric and would only wear the hemp robes, like a type of oath that he would remain within the qualities of training in purity.
Śāṇavāsa was extremely sharp and intelligent, he was very clever with a very clear mind. Just by hearing Dharma teachings once he could remember them. So for this reason Śāṇavāsa was able to memorize all of the 84,000 teachings that Ānanda had heard from the Buddha and memorize them. So Śāṇavāsa also memorized all the teachings exactly as had heard them from Ānanda, attained the three awarenesses and knew the three baskets of the teaching as well. So the person whom Ānanda entrusted the teachings to was Śāṇavāsa. It is taught like that.
2. The causes for Ānanda’s parinirvāṇa: the mistaken recitation by a monk
The second point is the mistaken recitation of the word ‘white crane’ and the circumstances that led to Ānanda passing into parinirvāṇa. The main circumstance is that someone mistakenly recited a verse.
What it says in the Tibetan translation of the Vinaya finer points of discipline, it is also in Chinese, is that when Ānanda was staying with the sangha at Bamboo Grove, there was a fully ordained monk who was reciting a verse. As I said before, in the olden days the teacher would recite the verse and then the student would repeat it, this way of learning. This is what is called reciting the text, this particular repeating in order to memorize it. So this monk was reciting a stanza and said:
“It is better to live a single day and see a white crane, than live a hundred years and not see a white crane.”
Anyway, it is white crane or duck, but it’s speaking about a white waterbird. The meaning is, if a person lives for 100 years they may never see a white crane, so if someone lives a single day and sees a white crane, this is better than it would be for that 100-year-old person who never saw one. This is kind of strange actually, the question of seeing a white crane or not as being important. When Ānanda heard the monk recite the verse like this, he went to that monk, and he said: “Son, the Bhagavan didn’t say that, you are reciting it incorrectly. This is what the Bhagavan said:
“It is better to live for a single day free from arising and disintegrating than live for a hundred years not free from arising and disintegrating.”
Maybe because it is in the Indian language of that time, there’s probably something similar between the words for white crane and birth and perishing. So perhaps it is that sort of recitation mistake. So Ānanda told him it does not mean white crane, it means arising and disintegrating. That instead of living 100 years not free of arising and disintegrating, living a single day free from arising and disintegrating is far better. That is the advice he gave.
Two types of people who criticise Buddhist teachings according to Ānanda
In addition, Ānanda said: “there are two types people in the world that will criticise the Buddhist teachings and Buddhism. The first type of people are those who are angry and have no faith and are short-tempered. So not only do they not have any faith, they are very angry and hateful people. So this sort of angry people will criticize the teachings or Buddhism.
The other group are those who have faith but they misunderstand and mis explain the teachings. So these people misunderstand, and then also criticize the Buddhist teachings and sacred Dharma. So, if you recite the sutras incorrectly, it is like an elephant getting stuck in quicksand. In other words, it is basically wasting and ruining yourself. There is no real benefit. It will destroy your own self. The reason is because you don’t have the intelligence to understand the teachings. If that’s how it happens then it is like destroying yourself, there’s no point to it. Other than that, if you have a misunderstanding then it’s like eating poison. It is not beneficial and also harmful, like eating poison. Therefore, he said:
“Those experts with intelligence, based on their listening, practice the authentic Dharma correctly, eliminating the afflictions and doubt and reaching liberation.”
Here expert (khepa in Tibetan) means people who are intelligent. This means they listen to the sutras and understand the meaning of the Sutra properly and heard it correctly. Then practicing it properly, they eliminate the afflictions and doubt and eventually reach liberation. So this is the advice that Ānanda gives to the monk.
After he listened to what Ānanda told him, the monk went to his Abbot, his teacher and told him. His teacher told the monk he should not listen to Ānanda because Ānanda has grown old, and all bent over and decrepit, so he’s no longer able to remember things in his mind and says all sorts of things, and is reliable so you cannot really believe him too much. So just recite exactly as you did before, you shouldn’t really believe what Ānanda said.” This is what the teacher said to the monk. He probably said that because he did not want to admit that he had taught a student in improperly. So he didn’t say “oh I was mistaken” If he had said that, then it would be a little bit embarrassing for him, so instead he said “I’m not mistaken or wrong, it’s Ānanda who’s mistaken, he is very old and his memory is unreliable, you cannot believe him.” So this is the instruction the Khenpo gave the monk student.
Ānanda’s sadness at the monk and teacher not following his advice
“After Ānanda had given the advice, the monk went and studied it again and again and so Ānanda went to see whether the way the monk was reciting or not was as he had advised. Yet, the monk was reciting the text exactly as before, he hadn’t changed it at all. As he hadn’t changed it at all, Ānanda was a little bit unhappy about this and went to him and said: “Son, didn’t I tell you that the Bhagavan didn’t say it like that, so why are you still reciting it the same way?” The monk told him what his teacher had advised him.
When he said that to Ānanda, then Ānanda thought: “ I just don’t know what to say”. He thought to himself: “If I speak to that monk directly and he won’t even listen to me, there’s nothing else I can do. It is like in the past, great beings Shariputra, Mahakashyapa, Maugdallyana probably also wouldn’t have been able to do much else. Not only that Shariputra and all the rest have already all passed away. The Buddha Bhagavan was very compassionate because of the virtue from that the sacred Dharma will remain a thousand years.” So, he thought to himself: “If I remain here, it is not going to benefit, so I think I need to pass away.”
What he said was: “the old ones have all passed away, the new ones do not agree with them, I shall remain in solitude like a bird born from an egg.” So Ānanda was very sad because all of his old friends had passed away, the new students did not go along with advice, so here alone, I’m just like a bird who’s being born from an egg. When a bird is born from an egg, it comes out all alone right. So it means: “I need to just remain alone.” So, Ānanda said this, and many other such verses that showed his sadness. These were the circumstances that made him decide that he needed to pass into parinirvāṇa.
So, the person who he entrusted the teachings to was Śāṇavāsa. Ānanda told him:
“The Bhagavan entrusted the teachings to Mahākāśyapa before passing away. Mahākāśyapa then entrusted them to me, and now I have entrusted the teachings to you. Now I will pass into Nirvana so you must always protect these teachings, protect them well.
In the future in the city of Marutha, there is a mountain called Munda and a merchant on that mountain has a son, Tanathapata. In the Tibetan translation, it says Tanatha Pata, as if there are two sons but the Chinese sources only mention one son. In any case, there’s a merchant in Marutha whose children will build a temple there. Then the children will become the patrons of the Temple. There is a prediction by Buddha Bhagwan like this. Which says in the land of Marutha, there’s an incense seller Gupta, who will have a son named Upagupta. In the future you must ordain him and make him a monk. The Buddha predicted that 100 years after his parinirvāṇa, there will be a Buddha without any signs and that Upagupta will in the future become a Buddha is the prediction or the prophecy. So you need to find him and ordain him.”
In this way Ānanda entrusted the teachings to Śāṇavāsa who promised and committed to do exactly as Ānanda had said. This shows the circumstances why Ānanda wanted to pass away and the events that happened.
The parinirvāṇa of Ānanda: according to the Northern/Tibetan tradition
“The third point (on the slide) is the actual parinirvāṇa of Ānanda. How Ananda passed into Nirvana is described in the Mūlasarvāstivāda and Tibetan tradition Vinaya finer points of discipline. After Ānanda had entrusted the teachings to Śāṇavāsa what he thought to himself was:
“If I pass away in Vaiśālī, or pass away in Magadha then the people in Vaiśālī will not have any opportunity to get the remains, and if they don’t get them, there may be conflict there. If I pass away there though, then the King Ajātaśatru of Magadha will not give the people of Vaiśālī any of my remains or relics. If I pass away in Vaiśālī then the people of Vaiśālī will not give any of the relics from my body. So, what I need to do, is pass away in the middle of the river Ganges, which is right in between Vaiśālī and Magadha.”
So Ānanda decided he was going to pass away in the centre of the river Ganges and went to the river. Then, at that point King Ajātaśatru had a dream. So normally the King has a parasol held above his head and he dreamt that the staff of the parasol had broken. When he dreamt this, he immediately woke up in fright and as soon as he woke up the doorkeeper then came and told him that the inheritor Ānanda has sent a message that he will pass into parinirvāṇa.
So when the gatekeeper said this, King Ajātaśatru then fainted. They sprinkled water on him and he was able to be revived. So when he recovered consciousness, the King immediately said: “Where will the venerable Ānanda pass away? Śāṇavāsa told him he had gone in the direction of Vaiśālī. He didn’t say that he was going to pass away there, he just said he’s gone in that direction.
So the King and his army with the four divisions was a huge army, and they all put on their armour, got their weapons and all went to the banks in the direction of Vaiśālī, to the river. At the same time, the gods who lived in Vaiśālī, they are the local deities and protectors. They said to the Vaishali people, Ānanda has decided that he is going in that direction. So this is what the gods of Vaishali said to the people. The people of Vaiśālī are called the Licchavis and they also prepared their armies and came to the other side of the bank of the Ganges river.
So on one side, the nearest side, there is King Ajātaśatru with his army and on the other side there was the Licchavis people of Vaiśālī with their army. Ānanda was on a boat and he had come to the middle of the Ganges river. At that point King Ajātaśatru bowed his head to Ānanda’s feet. Basically, he probably took a boat to where Ānanda was and prostrated to him and said: “if you think you need to pass away, then please leave your remains here for us for our sake.” Then the people of Vaiśālī also prostrated from afar and they said: “please leave your remains with us.” they asked.
So Ānanda thought was: “If I pass away in the city of Magadha then the Licchavis will be very hurt and if I leave my body in Vaiśālī then the king of Magadha will be really upset. So there’s nothing I can do. So what I’m going to do is, I am going to have half of my remains to King Ajātaśatru, and half of it to the Licchavis of Vaiśālī. If I do this then they’ll both have support for faith and they’ll be able to make offerings to it.”
The sage and five hundred taking ordination: the midday monks
Ānanda was about to pass away and at this point the great Earth shook in six ways and just before he passed away in the middle of the Ganges river, suddenly a sage with a retinue of 500 disciples came to see Ānanda. By miraculous power, he flew up into the air and went over to Ānanda and requested him to ordain them as monks, and Ānanda accepted.
So the sage had 500 students still on the banks and thought “if only everyone can come together with me.” At that moment, he thought about the 500 disciples, even though they didn’t have miraculous powers because of Ānanda thinking about them, they were immediately able to go right there. When they got to the centre of the river, Ānanda emanated an island in the middle of the river and gave them all full ordination together. When that was completed, they finally had to recite the text three times. On the first recitation, they probably achieved the result of irreversibility, and the third time, they achieved the level of an Arhat.
When they took ordination and achieved Arhatship, the place where they had gone forth was in the middle of the river and the time was in the middle of the day. So, some of them were called mid-river, and some people were called midday (Madhyadhanti/Nyima Gungpa). They were given these names, and became ordained and attained Arhatship. They then prostrated at Ānanda’s feet and said:
“In the past, the Bhagavan brought the wandering mendicant, Subhadra. He was the last person who the Bhagavan Buddha had ordained before the Buddha passed away. However, he passed away before the Buddha passed away, so similarly we also would like to enter parinirvāṇa first before you do. We cannot bear to watch you passing into parinirvāṇa, so we will pass away first.”
Ānanda said:
“The Bhagavan entrusted the teachings to Mahākāśyapa before passing away, and Mahākāśyapaa entrusted the teachings to me, so I’m going to pass away soon. So, you need to protect these teachings. In particular, the Buddha predicted that in the future in Kashmir, the requisites are such places to stay are easy to get. Kashmir will be a good place to meditate and get what you need. So the place of Kashmir would be the best for those people who practice Samten/ Jnana meditation. Also, the Bhagavan predicted that 100 years after his passing, there will be a fully ordained monk, called Madhyadhanti (Nyima-Gyungpa) ‘middle of the day’, who will spread the teachings in Kashmir. So you all have to go to Kashmir and spread the teachings there.”
This is the prediction that he made. So Madhydhanti/Nyima Gungpa (midday) probably means one of the 500 students of this sage, who became fully ordained and were called ‘midday’. Anyway, this what Ānanda said.
So, the 500 monks made this commitment. First of all, they said “we cannot watch you pass away and so before you pass away we’re going to pass into Nirvana.” However, Ānanda told them it was not right to do that because then they cannot go to Kashmir. There is a prophecy by the Buddha that they will go and spread the teachings of Kashmir and so they had to go and spread the teachings there. I think that this is related to the Sarvāstivāda sect because the main seed, the hub of the Sarvāstivāda teachings is Kashmir. So this prophecy of Kashmir is probably connected to the fact that it’s from a Sarvāstivāda teaching.
After Ānanda gave the prediction to the ‘mid-river’ monks, his blessed body displayed various miracles, like water and fire. So, the people of Vaiśālī got half his body and King of Magadha got half. So the Lechavis built a Stupa for them in Vaiśālī and put the relics in it. The King of Magadha also did that in Pataliputra. As I mentioned the other day, it was the King’s son who moved the capital to Paliputra, and it was here they built a stupa for the relics there. Generally, this is the account in our Northern Tradition scriptures, and the Tibetan tradition, of the parinirvāṇa of Ānanda.
The Southern tradition’s account of Ānanda’s parinirvāṇa: the place where no-one ever died
Within the scriptures of the Southern Tradition, there is a commentary on the Dhammapada and the discussion of Ānanda’s parinirvāṇa is included here. First the transition to the parinirvāṇa, first there is a quotation in the text, it’s a quotation from the Jataka Tales. So in the Pāli Jataka Tales, among the 547 previous lives of the Buddha, in the 166th life is that of Upasala, translated in Tibetan as the Life of the Nearby House (Upasala), it says:
“ The 14,000 nearby homes will all be burnt, there is no place where there is no birth and death.”
The question is there any place where people haven’t ever died? No, there is not. So, the commentary quotes this verse. The explanation it gives is that when people died in ancient times, they had a custom of burying corpses. So if one looks to see if there is any place on the Earth where no one had ever died, there is no such place. However, the inheritor Ānanda was different, because he passed into parinirvāṇa where no person had ever died before. How is it that Ānanda passed away in a place where no other person had ever died? This is what I heard, it said.
In the tradition it said that when Ānanda passed away he was 120 years old. He was examining his lifespan to see how much longer he would remain. This is similar to what we had in Tibet previously, we would go to Lama and ask them to predict the length of how long one would live. We would ask them to give a prediction of how long our lives would be. It is similar to that. So when he was 120 years old, he examined how much longer he would live and saw that he would pass into parinirvāṇa. So he announced that he will pass into parinirvāṇa in seven days. He told everyone publicly and spread it widely.
When he made the announcement there is a river called the Rohini. The people who lived on the far side and the near side of the river, when they heard of this situation, the people on the near side said: “we have venerated the inheritor Ānanda highly many times, so the place where he passes into Nirvana is going to be on our side.” However, those on the far side said: “we have venerated the inheritor of the teachings, Ānanda highly and helped him quite a bit, so he’s definitely going to pass away where we live.” This is what they also said.
So, Ānanda heard what they were saying on both sides of the river, and thought:
“There are people on the near side and the far side of the river, who have all have really helped and venerated me quite a bit. I cannot say they didn’t venerate me or help me. So, if I pass away on the near side of the river the people on the far side of the river will not get any relics. So, the people on the far side, in order to get some of the remains will fight with the people on the near side of the river. So that’s one danger. Likewise, if I pass away on the far side of the river, the people on the near side of the river will cross the river and fight with the people. So whether they have a fight, the main cause of it, comes down to me alone. So, in order for them to remain in peace, in order for there to be no fighting, I need to figure out a way to do this alone.”
So Ānanda told them:
“The people on the near side of the river have venerated me. and the people on the far side have also venerated me and helped me quite a lot. So for that reason there’s no one who hasn’t venerated, served or helped me. You have all been very kind to me, so those on the near side gather there, and those on the far side gather there, and wait there.”
Seven days later, Ānanda went to the middle of the Rohini river and displayed supernatural powers. He levitated seven palm trees high above the river. Palm trees are quite tall trees, right? Then, he sat cross-legged there and taught the Dharma to everyone gathered there. After he gave the Dharma teaching, he said: “my remains will be split in two parts, half will fall on the far side of the river and half will fall on the near side.”
He spoke these words of truth and then at that moment while he sitting cross-legged, he entered the absorption of inexhaustible fire. This is one of the types of samadhis or meditation, the absorption of inexhaustible fire. So immediately without anyone else lighting it, he burst into flames. His body just naturally combusted into fire, and then the relics split into two parts. One half fell on the far side, one fell on the near side.
So, Ānanda passed away, his remains were burnt by this natural fire and people on both sides got the relics. When they saw that, everyone was very sad about this. They wailed and said that it felt like the Earth was going to split into two. There weren’t even that many people who were wailing and lamenting at the time the Buddha Bhagavan passed away. So it was even more heart- breaking, even more affecting than the wails lamenting the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa. This was not wailing just one day or one month. For four months, everyone from all directions grieved and shed tears. They said that: “if there are any inheritors of the teachings like Ānanda, then like any regent of the teacher if there were some of them like this then there’s no different than if the teacher left. But now we’ve been separated from our teacher. So, in the past even though the teacher was not there, they felt like Ānanda was no different than if the Buddha was there. Now we have really lost our teacher.” This is the account in the Southern Tradition commentary on the Dhammapada from the Pāli Tradition.
Tang Xuanzang’s account of Ānanda’s passing and the two stupas built either side of the river
“There is also the account of Tang Xuanzang who went to India during the seventh century and recorded everything he saw on his way with detailed notes. This is what is called the Great Tang Records on the Western Regions, a very well-known text. In Tibetan, we call it the The Travelogues of Tangzang (Tangzang Lam-Yig) . This is really the Great Tang Records of the Western Regions. Within this text, when Xuanzang was going to India he writes that he saw a place where Ānanda’s remains had been split into two. I will show this text, I made a rough translation into Tibetan from the Chinese.
This is from the seventh volume of the Great Tang Records. I will not read every word for verbatim but it says:
“Travelled 30Li (10kms approximately) from the Swetapur temple and arrived at the south side. On the north side of the river, so on both sides of the river, there’s a place where there’s a stupa on the north and a stupa on the south. These stupas are where the noble Ānanda divided his remains into two parts, they say. Who was Ānanda? Ānanda was the cousin on his father’s side. The Buddha’s brother’s son. He was a cousin of the father and was very learned and had achieved the dharani of never forgetting. He had very wide knowledge of all areas of knowledge. After the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa, he succeeded Mahakashyapa in protecting the teachings and guiding students .
One day when Ānanda was walking through a forest, he saw a monk reciting Buddhist sutras and the monk was mixing up the order and pronouncing the words improperly. When he heard this and we remembered many events about the past. Such as when the Buddha had been present, how fortunate he had been and had a very strong feeling in his mind. Eventually, he approached the monk and wanted to correct the monk’s mistakes. This was his an idea but the novice just kind of laughed and said: ” Elder, you’re old now, you’re saying all sorts of stupid stuff. My teacher is very wise and he’s really in the prime of his life. He taught me exactly like this directly. So my teacher is the best of scholars, it’s not possible that there could be any mistakes.”
So Ānanda just didn’t know what to say and went out and kind of sighed and said: “I am old but I would like to stay longer in the world for the sake of all sentient beings to uphold the true Dharma. But if sentient beings are so obscured by thick obscurations, that they won’t listen to my instruction staying longer is futile, I should enter Nirvana soon. So first of all I am old but I’d still like to stay a little bit longer in this world this is what I think. However, people are so incredibly obscured, even if I give them any instruction there’s no benefit to it. So instead it is probably better for me to pass into Nirvana.”
So then Ānanda left Magadha for Vaishali. Once he was in the middle of the river then the king of Magadha heard that Ānanda had departed and he really felt very attached to Ānanda and thought that’s not okay. If he doesn’t go and he rushed there with an army of several hundred thousand. So basically, he left with like tens of thousands of soldiers and they immediately went there on the Southern Bank of the Ganges river. They made up an encampment and stayed there. At the same time the king of Vaishali heard that Ānanda was arriving, so he felt really joyful and sad at the same time. So he immediately led also several hundred troops to come and welcome Ānanda. So they came from the North Bank of the river and they made an encampment there.
So on both sides, there were tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of troops facing each other. Their banners were you know obscuring the sun, there was such a huge military presence there. So then he was afraid that these two countries Vaishali and Magadha might fight and kill each other. He had the thought there was a danger that they do this. So in order that there not be such a fight, Ānanda rose up from the boat levitated in the air and displayed many supernatural powers and right there he entered Nirvana. As soon as he did that his body was immediately consumed by natural fire and then once again his remains half of them remained on the Southern Bank and the other half fell on the Northern bank. So the king of Magadha and the king of Vaishali, each got a half. When they got them then all the armies cried out in grief and they reserved their respective countries and they built stupas and made offerings.
So, during the time of Tang Xuanzang’s trip to India he saw these stupas on the northern and southern banks of the river and said this is the place where Ānanda’s remains were divided into two.
Summary: the differences in the textual sources/traditions and between the parinirvanas of Ānanda and Mahakashyapa
“Next, I will give a conclusion to the account of Ānanda’s parinirvana. As I said before, the part of noble Ānanda this story or the account of this is described in both in the Southern and the Northern Transmissions of Buddhism. It is clear in the scriptures of all three traditions. In the northern tradition it includes the Mulavastarvada finer points of discipline, the Life of King Ashoka and the sutras of King Ashoka. Also, as I mentioned the other day, the Lives of the Inheritors/Successors’. Also, Tang Xuanzang in the Great Tang Records of the Western Regions. The parinirvana is mentioned in these texts. As for the scriptural sources of the Southern tradition, it’s the commentary on the Dhammapada. In the Tibetan tradition, the main source is the finer points of discipline and also Je Taranatha’s History of Buddhism in India.
If we compare the accounts in these different texts then there are a couple of points that we can really clearly understand.
- The first of these is that in the sources from the Northern and the Tibetan traditions what it says is that the location of Ānanda’s parinirvana is said to be the river Ganges. While in the Southern tradition it is the river Rohini , these days near present day Gorakhpur. I’m not sure if that’s the one. However, it is generally accepted that he passed away on the Ganges river. So when Xuanzang traveled through India it was accepted at that time that it was on the Ganges River. However, the southern tradition commentary on the Dhammapada, it says that that he passed away on the Rohini river. So there’s a little bit of difference in terms of where he passed into parirnirvana, and where his relics were divided.
- The second point is that according to the sources from the northern Tibetan Traditions mentions the King and how they had the conflict over the relics. The Southern tradition only says basically the people on the near and far side of the river, but it doesn’t mention the King’s name or the people of Vaishali at all. The similiarity is speaking about the two sides of rivers. So, in that respect they are same, but in the southern tradition other than that it really does not give much detail.
- The third point is that in the text from the Northern and the Tibetan Traditions the division of the river, the building stupas and making offerings are all mentioned. Whereas in the southern tradition’s account none of that is said. The Southern tradition speaks about the grief that everyone felt about Ānanda’s death but it doesn’t mention building a stupas or making offerings or anything like that.
So, in terms of these three points there are differences. But fundamentally the account of Ānanda’s parinirvana basically agree. Likewise, even though there’s some difference between the Northern and Tibetan traditions and the Southern tradition they are generally all in agreement.
What can we see about the situation of the parinirvana of Ānanda?
The next point is about the differences between Mahākāśyapa and Ānanda’s parinirvāṇa. What are the particular points about Ānanda’s parinirvāṇa? There are several things we can understand.
- The first point is that while Ānanda was alive many people considered him to be very important and when he passed into Nirvana there were many people who really wanted to watch him do that. We can clearly understand this.
- The second is that in order to fulfill many people’s wishes, Ānanda divided his remains into two parts and gave them to both sides. This is actually very unique. In the past the Buddha’s remains had been spread into eight parts. As the account says the relics and remains were cremated and were divided into eight and given to the different regions. So, this also shows how important Ānanda was and how he was considered like the Buddha.
- The third point is that people recognized Ānanda as being like the Buddha and thought of him as the substitute/regent of Buddha. That’s the other thing we can see.
- Similarly, the fourth point, is the manner of Ānanda’s parinirvāṇa illustrates the great responsibility he had taken on in leading the Sangha after the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa. Whether we speak about five, or seven or even more inheritors of the teachings, among these several different inheritors of the teachings Mahākāśyapa was of course extremely important, but Ānanda was even better known than him, and had a greater status and more people who liked him in society.
- The fifth point is that we can understand the type of connection that Ānanda had with the society at that time. Ānanda was someone who got along with everyone. Within the sangha of monks and nuns, many people liked him. Many Kings and members of the public liked him, both men and women. Everyone really loved Ānanda from one perspective he was actually if you saw him, he was very handsome, as they say in English. He was very charismatic and really good-looking. He had very beautiful eyes. So, for this reason whether you’re a man or woman or whoever, they were attracted to him. When people said Ānanda is coming then everyone got very happy. When he taught the Dharma, no one was ever bored. In this respect, these days, socially he was someone who’s very good at making connections between people.
What can we learn about the situation from the parinirvana of Mahākāśyapa?
- First, when we think about the account of Mahākāśyapa, what we can see from that, is there is a large distance between him and the society of his time. There weren’t many people who were rushing to see him when he passed away. Ānanda knew Mahākāśyapa was going to pass away at the mountain and that he went to an empty, unpopulated place and passed away there. This shows that there is a distance between him and the Society of the time. I think the reason for this is he actually usually enjoyed being isolated. He always stayed alone, and didn’t really seem to enjoy making connections with people. In this respect, there’s a distance, but in terms of the Dharma, he was actually considered very highly. He went to the land of the Nagas, to the land of the Gods who all showed him great respect. Also, the way he blessed his remains so they would remain until the time that Maitreya comes and so, his students could come there. In terms of the Dharma Mahākāśyapa is extremely significant and it shows he is an important figure.
2. Another point is that the account of Mahākāśyapa’s parinivana and the example of Ānanda primarily teaches us about the situation in terms of the religion. They do not really speak about the influence on the actual social conditions of the society. Of course, there are a few such as King Ajatashatru, but Mahākāśyapa’s parinivana did not have as much of an effect on society as Ānanda’s it seems.
What can we know in relation to the accounts of the lives and parnirvāṇa of Ānanda and Mahākāśyapa?
1. The first point is these accounts are all from a later time, from the period of the schools of Nikāya Buddhism they were taught during that period and then passed down from then. Even so, they do show us the actual situation the Buddhist s after the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa to a certain degree.
2. The second point this shows is that the form of the content of the accounts shows the situation of the internal situation of the Buddha s likewise the mutual connections within the Sangha. For example, one could say there are two factions but you can also see the connection between the two and you can understand a fair amount about it from these accounts.
The most important point here today, was during the life of Ānanda and his parinirvāṇa, there were many people who really liked him. At the end, they were almost ready to have a war over his relics and what this shows is how much people were attached to him. Both sides, whether they’re from Magadha or from Vaishali, everyone really loved Ānanda and this shows how significant he was. This shows how Ānanda was really different from anyone else.
Whereas Mahākāśyapa’s character was that he always spent his time in solitude and did not make a lot of connections with other people and meditated on samadhi and remained practicing austerities. So that is his character. For that reason, when he passed away he went to an empty place and passed away. Mahākāśyapa did not pass away in the middle of hundreds of people where everyone could see. So, the people didn’t have such a strong feeling about him, that’s the main difference.”