Part 36 - Kusināgara as Buddha’s Last Repose

Then the Buddha said to Venerable Ānanda: “Come, Ānanda, let us go to the sal grove of the Malla princes where the road bends to Kusināgara town, on yonder bank of the Hiraññavati river.”

“Very well, Venerable Sir,” Ānanda assented, Then the Buddha, accompanied by a large body of bhikkhus, reached (at last) the sal grove of the Malla princes where the road bends to Kusināgara town on the further bank of the Hiraññavati river. There, He said to the Ānanda: “Ānanda, lay the couch with its head to the north between the twin sal trees. Ānanda, I am weary, and wish to lie down.”

“Very well, Venerable Sir,” assented Ānanda, and laid the couch with its head to the north between the twin sal trees, And the Buddha lay down on His right side in a noble posture, with His left foot above the right foot, placed slightly beyond it, with mindfulness and clear comprehension. (Some noteworthy points may be presented at this point.)

On this journey from Pāvā to Kusināgara, a very large body of bhikkhu-disciples, almost beyond count, had gathered around the Buddha because from the time the news of His imminent passing away had gone out of the small village of Veḷuva, all bhikkhus living at various places, who had come to the Buddha, did not disperse.

The Twin Sal Trees

In the Sal grove of the Malla princes where the couch for the Buddha was laid, there were two fine rows of sal trees at the north (where the head of the couch was placed) and at the south. Amidst these two rows, there were a pair of sal trees at the opposite ends of the couch whose roots, branches and foliage were intertwined so that they were referred to as twin sal trees. There was a couch used by the Malla princes in the sal grove and it was the couch that the Buddha commanded Ānanda to be laid for him, and which was duly complied with.

The Buddha’s Exhaustion

“Ānanda, I am weary, and wish to lie down.” The significance of these words may be considered in the light of the Buddha’s natural physical might, which was equal to the strength of a thousand crore of ordinary elephants, equivalent to that of ten Chaddanta white elephants, or that of ten thousand crores of average men. All that marvellous might drained down with the dysentery, like the water poured down into a funnel filter, after the Buddha had eaten Cunda’s food. The distance from Pāvā to Kusināgara was a mere three gāvuta (three quarters of a yojana, a yojana variously taken as seven and half to twelve and half miles), yet the Buddha had to make twenty-five pauses on His journey. At the end of the last leg of His journey, on entering the Sal grove at sunset, He was overwhelmed by the ailments. Hence, His admission of uneasiness and need to lie down, was an ominous signal to the world that He was as good as dead.

The Buddha’s Choice of Kusināgara as His last repose

Here one might be tempted to ask: “Why did the Buddha take as much trouble to get to Kusināgara? Were not other places fit to be His last repose?” The answer is, there was no place which was actually unfit for that great occasion. But there were three reasons for the Buddha in choosing this insignificant town of Kusināgara as the place of His last repose. He saw the following three eventualities and considered:

i) “If I were to pass away at any place other than Kusināgara, there would be no occasion to discourse on the Mahāsudassana Sutta. This long discourse which took two sessions of recitals at the Council and which revealed that even as of a human being as, when the Buddha, was a Buddha-to-be, one could enjoy divine (celestial) glory on earth, would find a fitting setting only at Kusināgara. The discourse would kindle the interest of the hearers to do good deeds.

ii) “If I were to pass away at some place other than Kusināgara, Subhadda, the wandering ascetic, would get no opportunity of meeting Me. In which case it would be utter loss for him. For he was fit to be enlightened only by a Buddha and not by a Buddha’s disciple. That ascetic Subhadda would be there at Kusināgara, he would be putting (intelligent) questions to Me, and at the end of My answers to his questions, he would embrace the Doctrine, learn the method of practice for developing Insight, and would become the last arahat during My lifetime.

iii) If I were to pass away elsewhere, there would be bloodshed over the scramble for the relics of the Tathāgata. In Kusināgara, Brahmin Dona would be able to prevent such a catastrophe and the distribution of the relics would be effected peacefully."

These were the three reasons why the Buddha took so much trouble to get to Kusināgara.

The Sal Trees and Celestial Beings honoured The Buddha

As the Buddha lay there on the couch, the twin Sal trees burst forth into full bloom, though it was not the flowering reason, and in adoration of the Buddha, rained blossoms, continuously scattering them over His body.

Also, celestial mandāvara flowers fell from the sky, continuously scattering themselves over the body of the Buddha, signifying the adoration of the Buddha by the celestial beings.

Also, celestial sandalwood powder fell from the sky, continuously scattering themselves over the body of the Buddha, signifying the adoration of the Buddha by the celestial beings.

And, celestial music wafted in the sky, celestial melodies resounded in the air above, in adoration of the Buddha.

The Best Way of honouring The Buddha

Then the Buddha said to the Venerable Ānanda:

“Ānanda, the twin Sal trees burst forth into full bloom though it was not the flowering season, and in adoration of the Tathāgata, rain blossoms, continuously scattering them over the body of the Tathāgata.

“Also, celestial mandāvara flowers fall from the sky, continuously scattering themselves over the body of the Tathāgata, signifying the adoration of the Tathāgata by the celestial beings.

“Also, celestial sandalwood powder fall from the sky, continuously scattering themselves over the body of the Tathāgata, signifying the adoration of the Tathāgata by the celestial beings.

“And, celestial music wafts in the sky, celestial melodies resound in the air above, in adoration of the Tathāgata.

“Ānanda, all these forms of adoration cannot be called sufficient acts of honour, esteem, reverence, adoration or worship of the Tathāgata. Ānanda, the bhikkhu or bhikkhunī, or the male lay disciple, or the female lay disciple, who practices according to the Doctrine leading to the Supramundane, who conducts himself correctly in the practice, and who leads a righteous life, by such follower of the Tathāgata, only is the Tathāgata best honoured, esteemed, revered, adored, and worshipped.

“Accordingly, Ānanda, train yourselves diligently with a firm resolve to practice according to the Doctrine leading to the Supramundane; conduct yourselves correctly in the practice, and lead a righteous life.”

(Herein, the Sal trees raining down their blossoms should be understood as acts of adoration by the guardian spirits of those trees by shaking the branches.

“Mandāravaflowers bloom in the Nandā Lake (in the Tāvatiṃsa Deva realm).” The leaf of the plant is about the size of an umbrella, and the pollen collects in each flower is as much as a basketful. Not only mandārava flowers, but also other celestial flowers, such as the Coral flower and other celestial flowers, were strewn down by the devas who dwell around the regions at the walls of the Cakkavāḷa, Tāvatiṃsa Deva realm and Brahmā Loka so that there was a continuous sprinkling of celestial flowers.

Likewise, “celestial sandalwood” here should be understood to represent various other kinds of scented wood not only from deva realm but from realms of nāgas, garudas, and other foreign lands of the human world, as well as all kinds of exotic natural scents in various forms, such as gold dust, silver powders, minerals, rocks, etc. In short, all the sentient worlds, celestial as well as terrestrial, were joined in sprinkling scented dust of all descriptions continuously onto the reclining Buddha at Kusināgara.

“Celestial music” also represents a universal symphony played by musicians of all the sentient worlds extending to ten-thousand world-systems, including devas, nāgas, garudas and human beings, that sounded in the sky of the world-system.

The Celestial Garland of exceedingly Large Size

“Celestial melodies resounded in the air above”: Behind the statement lies a touching story. It concerns Varuṇa and Vāraṇa devas who have exceedingly long life spans. These devas, on learning that the deva who was the Buddha-to-be was going to be reborn in the human world, started making a garland for presentation to the Buddha-to-be on the day of His conception. Before they had finished making the garland they heard the news that the Buddha-to-be was conceived in the human mother’s womb. So when other devas asked them for whom the garland was being made, they said: “Our garland is not finished yet, so it has to be present to the Bodhisatta on the day he is born.”

Again, when they learnt that the Bodhisatta was already born, the garland-making devas said: “Well, we will present it to the Bodhisatta on the day of his Renunciation.” When, after twenty-nine years of life in the human world, the Buddha-to-be renounced the world, the garland-makers heard the news and said: “We will present it to the Buddha on His day of Enlightenment.” Then after six years of the Bodhisatta’s great Endeavour and the news of his Enlightenment reached the garland-making devas, they said: “We will present it to the Bhagavā on the day of the first sermon.” After forty-nine days satta sattāha (seven various dwellings in absorption at seven different places) of samāpatti, when the first sermon was delivered at the Migadāvana forest, the garland-making devas said: “Well, we will present it to the Bhagavā on the day the Bhagavā displays the Twin Miracle.” When the news that the Twin miracle had taken place reached the garlandmakers, they thought of offering the garland when (after three months) the Buddha had descended from the Tāvatiṃsa Deva realm. And when the news of the Buddha’s descent from the Tāvatiṃsa realm was received also, they thought of offering the garland on the day the Buddha relinquished His life-maintaining thought-process. But by that day the garland was still not finished, and so they said: “The garland is still not finished; we will honour the Bhagavā with it on the day of His passing away.”

Now that the latest news of the Buddha lying on His deathbed reached the garlandmakers and that at the third watch of that very night the Buddha would be passing away, the Varuṇa devas and Varaṇa devas exclaimed, quite bewildered: “How is that? Just today the Bodhisatta is known to be conceived in his mother’s womb; just today he is born; just today he has renounced earth and home; just today the Bhagavā has attained Enlightenment; just today He has delivered His first sermon; just today He has displayed the Twin Miracle; just today He has descended from the Tāvatiṃsa Deva realm; just today He has relinquished the life-maintaining thought-process, and just today He is about to pass away! Should He not have tarried till breakfast time the next day? It is just too soon, too early, for such a great personage who has fulfilled the Ten Perfections supremely and has attained Buddhahood to pass away now.”

Thus murmuring mournfully, the Varuna devas and the Vāraṇa devas came before the Buddha bringing with them the great garland, still unfinished, together with more flowers to go into its making. But they could not find any place in this world-system amidst the celestial crowds who had already gathered so that they were obliged to recede to the edge of the world-system, and had to keep the great garland hanging in the air above. Then those devas ran about the rim of the world-system holding on another’s hands or embracing one another, all the while contemplating the noble attributes of the Triple Gem, and singing devotional songs on the thirty-two marks of the great man, the six-hued aura of the Buddha, the Ten Perfections, the five-hundred-and-fifty existences of the Bodhisatta, and the Fourteen Knowledges of the Buddha; and singing the refrain at the end of each song, “O, the Bhagavā with such great following and fame! O, the Bhagavā with such great following and fame!” All these beautiful melodies were coming from these great devas so that celestial music resounded in the air above.)

Even while the Buddha was lying there, on the couch, He saw the great gathering of devas and Brahmās which filled the entire world-system, from the earth’s surface to the brim of this world-system and from its brim to the Brahmā-world. On seeing the zeal with which they were honouring the Buddha, the Buddha said the above words to the Venerable Ānanda. After mentioning the marvellous modes of worshipping the Buddha by the celestial beings (of the ten thousand world-systems), the Buddha pointed out that the material offerings (āmisa-pūjā) were not sufficient in themselves as the best way of doing honour to the Buddha, but that only following and practising the Doctrine is the best honour done to the Buddha. In saying these words, the Buddha also implied ‘that since the very beginning when, having been endowed with the eight factors required of a fullfledged Bodhisatta (as Recluse Sumedhā), He had aspired to Buddhahood at the feet of Buddha Dīpaṅkarā, lying face downward in the marsh, offering himself to be used by the

Buddha and his company of four hundred thousand arahats, all His fulfilling of the Perfections over four asaṅkhyeyyas and a hundred-thousand kappas, were not for the purpose of being honoured by the celestial world with these flowers, perfumes and music, but was solely for the purpose of being honoured by His disciples following His Teaching, which is the best way of doing honour to Him.’

(Herein, it might be asked: “It is usual for the Bhagavā to extol offering of as insignificant an object as a sesame flower, unless the offering is made with a consciousness of the Buddha’s attributes, then the benefit accruing from the offering would be infinite. Yet in this case (of the Varuṇa devas and Vāraṇa devas) why did the Bhagavā not welcome their offering (of the great garland)?”

The answer is that the Buddha had in mind the true interest of the vast multitudes, and also the perpetuation of the Teaching. Here is the explanation: The Doctrine lays down the three-fold training of sīla, samādhi, paññā. If offering of material things were allowed too freely, then, in future, the disciples of the Buddha might neglect the practice of samādhi and paññā, they would neglect the practice of Insight meditation; the bhikkhu-disciples would preach the merits of offerings of flowers and fragrant things and offering other material things only. Offering of material things cannot maintain the Teaching consisting essentially of the threefold Training even for one breakfast period. Indeed, thousands of splendid monasteries or thousands of splendid stupas cannot maintain the Teaching. These material donations merely lead only to mundane welfare.

It is the right practice of the Dhamma only, that truly counts as honouring the Buddha. Indeed it is so. The Buddha desires for honouring Him by practising the Dhamma (dhamma-pūjā). For, by right practice alone can the Teaching be perpetuated. That was the reason why the Buddha extolled the practice of the Dhamma. (This is not the negation of the merit of material offerings.)