Part 1 - Uttering of Stanzas after Buddha’s Passing Away

When the Buddha passed away, there occurred simultaneously a great earthquake, so terrible as to cause the body hair to rise and gooseflesh to appear on the skin. Rumblings (of celestial big drums) reverberated in the sky.

When the Buddha passed away, at the moment of His passing away, Brahmā Sahampati uttered this stanza:

Sabbe va nikkhi pissanti
Bhūtā loke samussayaṃ
Yattha etādiso satthā
Loke appaṭipuggalo
Tathāgato balapatto
Sambuddho parinibbuto

In this transient word
Even such an incomparable person
As the Self-Enlightened Tathāgata,
The Teacher of devas, humans and Brahmās,
Endowed with Ten Powers,
Has to pass away.
All beings in this world,
When the time of death is due,
Must lay down this body,
A composite of mental and physical phenomena.

When the Buddha passed away, at the moment of His passing away, Sakka, King of Devas, uttered this stanza:-

Anicca vata saṅkhārā
Uppādavaya dhammino
Upajjhitvā nirujjhanti
Tesaṃ vūpasamo sukho

Impermanent indeed are all conditioned things.
They are in the nature of arising and dissolution.
Having arisen; they cease to be.
The realization of Nibbāna on their utter cessation
Is blissful peace.

When the Buddha passed away, at the moment of His passing away, the Venerable Anuruddhā uttered this stanza:—

Nāhu, assāsapassāso
Thita citassa tādino
Anejo santimārabbha
Yaṃ kālamakarī Muni.

(Friend bhikkhus!)
The Great Sage, Lord of the three worlds,
Free of craving for existence,
Has ended His span of life,
Intent on the peace of Nibbāna.
No more breathing in or out is there.

Asallīnena cittena
Vedānaṃ ajjhavāsayi
Pajjo tasseva Nibbānaṃ
Vimokkho cetaso ahu

Of Him who was steadfast.
Against the Storm of worldly conditions.
(Friend bhikkhus!)
Our Teacher endured the physical pain with fortitude.
Like the extinction of a flame when the fuel is exhausted,
His mind has attained total liberation from all bonds.

When the Buddha passed away, at the moment of His passing away, the Venerable Ānanda uttered this stanza which aroused emotional religious Awakening:

Tadāsi ya bhiṇsanakaṃ
Tadāsi lomahāṃsanaṃ
Sabhā kāra va rūpete
Sambuddhe parinibbate.

At the moment of the passing away of our Teacher,
Endowed with glorious qualities,
There was a terrifying earthquake.
Then at that moment, there occurred the hair-raising, goose flesh causing earthquake (of six fold intensity)."

When the Buddha passed away, those bhikkhus, who had not been able to abandon attachment and anger, i.e. the Stream-Enterers and the Once-returners wailed with their arms upraised; they flung themselves down, rolled in all directions, all the while lamenting: “All too soon has the Bhagava realized Parinibbāna! All too soon has the Well-spoken one realized Parinibbāna! All too soon has the possessor of the Eye of Wisdom vanished from the world!”

But those bhikkhus who had abandoned attachment and anger, i.e. the Never-Returners, bore the event with fortitude in the keen contemplation that “all conditioned things are impermanent by nature, and hence, how would it be possible to find any permanence in this conditioned nature?”

Then the Venerable Anuruddha said to the bhikkhus:

“Enough, friend bhikkhus, do not grieve, nor weep. Had not the Bhagavā previously expounded to you that it is the very nature of things most near and dear to us that we must part with them somehow, even while we are living, or when death divides us, or when we are of different planes of existence? Friends, in this matter, how could one expect anything that has the nature of arising, of appearing, of being conditioned, and of dissolution, not to disintegrate? It is not possible for anyone to wish so.

“Friends, the devas are reproachful, saying, even if the Venerable ones cannot bear with it, how could they give comfort to others?”

At these words of the Venerable Anuruddha, the Venerable Ānanda asked:

“But Venerable Anuruddha, according to your observation, what is the state of mind that is present in the devas and Brahmās?”

“Friend Ānanda, the devas who remain in the sky are standing there (as if there was firm ground to stand on, having transformed the sky into firm ground by their divine power), and are wailing with dishevelled hair, their arms upraised, they fling themselves down, rolling (on the fancied ground) in all directions, all the while lamenting: ‘All too soon has the Bhagavā realized Parinibbāna! All too soon has the Well-spoken one realized Parinibbāna! All too soon has the Possessor of the Eye of Wisdom vanished from the world!’

“Friend Ānanda, the devas who remain on the earth are standing on the ground (transforming the natural earth into supportable ground for their bodies of subtle corporeality), and are wailing with dishevelled hair, their arms upraised, they fling themselves down, rolling on the ground in all directions, all the while lamenting: ‘All too soon has the Bhagavā realized Parinibbāna! All too soon has the Wellspoken one realized Parinibbāna! All too soon has the Possessor of the Eye of Wisdom vanished from the world!’

“But those devas who are free from sensual attachment bear the event with fortitude, contemplating that ‘all conditioned things are impermanent by nature, and hence how would it be possible to find any permanence in this conditioned nature?’ ”

Then the Venerable Anuruddha and the Venerable Ānanda spent the rest of the small hours of the night in religious discourse. They discussed the omnipresence of Death: “Friend, Death has no shame even to snatch away such a great unrivalled Teacher of the three worlds. How should any common beings expect any shame from Death? He would take away anyone without shame.” Thus they were talking Dhamma and soon it was dawn.

Then the Venerable Anuruddha said to Venerable Ānanda: “Go, friend Ānanda, enter Kusināra and tell the Malla princes: ‘O Vaseṭṭhas, the Bhagavā has passed away. Do now what you deem fitting?’ ”

“Very well, Venerable Sir,” Ānanda assented and he went into Kusināra accompanied by a bhikkhu.

At that time the Malla princes were engaged in a meeting at the Council Hall, discussing the details needed in connection with honouring the Buddha who had passed away, such as flowers and incense to be arranged, seating places for the bhikkhu-sangha, offering of food, etc. Then the Venerable Ānanda went to the Council Hall and said to them: “O Vaseṭṭhas, the Bhagavā has passed away. Do now as you deem fitting.”

On hearing the news from the Venerable Ānanda, the Malla princes, their sons and daughters, their daughter-in-laws, and their wives were grief-stricken, and sick at heart, and wailed, their hair dishevelled, their arms upraised; they flung themselves down rolling (on the floor) in all directions, all the whole lamenting: “All too soon has the Bhagavā realized Parinibbāna! All too soon has the Well-spoken one realized Parinibbāna! All too soon has the Possessor of the Eye of Wisdom vanished from the world!”