The Gospel of BuddhaBuddhismScripture SelectionEnglish (compiled from Pali and Sanskrit sources)ShareThe Gospel of Buddha 97Paul Carus (1894) - EnglishMoreVersion - 1 availablePaul Carus (1894)LanguageEnglishEspañol‹The Gospel of Buddha 1The Gospel of Buddha 2The Gospel of Buddha 3The Gospel of Buddha 4The Gospel of Buddha 5The Gospel of Buddha 6The Gospel of Buddha 7The Gospel of Buddha 8The Gospel of Buddha 9The Gospel of Buddha 10The Gospel of Buddha 11The Gospel of Buddha 12The Gospel of Buddha 13The Gospel of Buddha 14The Gospel of Buddha 15The Gospel of Buddha 16The Gospel of Buddha 17The Gospel of Buddha 18The Gospel of Buddha 19The Gospel of Buddha 20The Gospel of Buddha 21The Gospel of Buddha 22The Gospel of Buddha 23The Gospel of Buddha 24The Gospel of Buddha 25The Gospel of Buddha 26The Gospel of Buddha 27The Gospel of Buddha 28The Gospel of Buddha 29The Gospel of Buddha 30The Gospel of Buddha 31The Gospel of Buddha 32The Gospel of Buddha 33The Gospel of Buddha 34The Gospel of Buddha 35The Gospel of Buddha 36The Gospel of Buddha 37The Gospel of Buddha 38The Gospel of Buddha 39The Gospel of Buddha 40The Gospel of Buddha 41The Gospel of Buddha 42The Gospel of Buddha 43The Gospel of Buddha 44The Gospel of Buddha 45The Gospel of Buddha 46The Gospel of Buddha 47The Gospel of Buddha 48The Gospel of Buddha 49The Gospel of Buddha 50The Gospel of Buddha 51The Gospel of Buddha 52The Gospel of Buddha 53The Gospel of Buddha 54The Gospel of Buddha 55The Gospel of Buddha 56The Gospel of Buddha 57The Gospel of Buddha 58The Gospel of Buddha 59The Gospel of Buddha 60The Gospel of Buddha 61The Gospel of Buddha 62The Gospel of Buddha 63The Gospel of Buddha 64The Gospel of Buddha 65The Gospel of Buddha 66The Gospel of Buddha 67The Gospel of Buddha 68The Gospel of Buddha 69The Gospel of Buddha 70The Gospel of Buddha 71The Gospel of Buddha 72The Gospel of Buddha 73The Gospel of Buddha 74The Gospel of Buddha 75The Gospel of Buddha 76The Gospel of Buddha 77The Gospel of Buddha 78The Gospel of Buddha 79The Gospel of Buddha 80The Gospel of Buddha 81The Gospel of Buddha 82The Gospel of Buddha 83The Gospel of Buddha 84The Gospel of Buddha 85The Gospel of Buddha 86The Gospel of Buddha 87The Gospel of Buddha 88The Gospel of Buddha 89The Gospel of Buddha 90The Gospel of Buddha 91The Gospel of Buddha 92The Gospel of Buddha 93The Gospel of Buddha 94The Gospel of Buddha 95The Gospel of Buddha 96The Gospel of Buddha 97The Gospel of Buddha 98The Gospel of Buddha 99The Gospel of Buddha 100›Chapter XCVII: The Buddha'S Final Entering Into NirvānaThe Gospel of Buddha 97ListenPlay this chapter in spoken English.Save chapterListen to chapter1Then the Mallas, with their young men and maidens and their wives, being grieved, and sad, and afflicted at heart, went to the Upavattana, the sāla grove of the Mallas, and wanted to see the Blessed One, in order to partake of the bliss that devolves upon those who are in the presence of the Holy One. 2And the Blessed One addressed them and said: 3"Seeking the way, ye must exert yourselves and strive with diligence. It is not enough to have seen me! Walk as I have commanded you; free yourselves from the tangled net of sorrow. Walk in the path with steadfast aim. 4"A sick man may be cured by the healing power of medicine and will be rid of all his ailments without beholding the physician. 5"He who does not do what I command sees me in vain. This brings no profit. Whilst he who lives far off from where I am and yet walks righteously is ever near me. 6"A man may dwell beside me, and yet, being disobedient, be far away from me. Yet he who obeys the Dharma will always enjoy the bliss of the Tathāgata's presence." 7Then the mendicant Subhadda went to the sāla grove of the Mallas and said to the venerable Ānanda: "I have heard from fellow mendicants of mine, who were deep stricken in years and teachers of great experience: 'Sometimes and full seldom to Tathāgatas appear in the world, the holy Buddhas.' Now it is said that to-day in the last watch of the night, the final passing away of the samana Gotama will take place. My mind is full of uncertainty, yet have I faith in the samana Gotama and trust he will be able so to present the truth that I may become rid of my doubts. O that I might be allowed to see the samana Gotama!" 8When he had thus spoken the venerable Ānanda said to the mendicant Subhadda: "Enough! friend Subhadda. Trouble not the Tathāgata. The Blessed One is weary." 9Now the Blessed One overheard this conversation of the venerable Ānanda with the mendicant Subhadda. And the Blessed One called the venerable Ānanda, and said: "Ānanda! Do not keep out Subhadda. Subhadda may be allowed to see the Tathāgata. Whatever Subhadda will ask of me, he will ask from a desire for knowledge, and not to annoy me, and whatever I may say in answer to his questions, that he will quickly understand." 10Then the venerable Ānanda said to Subhadda the mendicant: "Step in, friend Subhadda; for the Blessed One gives thee leave." 11When the Blessed One had instructed Subhadda, and aroused and gladdened him with words of wisdom and comfort, Subhadda said to the Blessed One: 12"Glorious Lord, glorious Lord! Most excellent are the words of thy mouth, most excellent! They set up that which has been overturned, they reveal that which has been hidden. They point out the right road to the wanderer who has gone astray. They bring a lamp into the darkness so that those who have eyes to see can see. Thus, Lord, the truth has been made known to me by the Blessed One and I take my refuge in the Blessed One, in the Truth, and in the Order. May the Blessed One accept me as a disciple and true believer, from this day forth as long as life endures." 13And Subhadda, the mendicant, said to the venerable Ānanda: "Great is thy gain, friend Ānanda, great is thy good fortune, that for so many years thou hast been sprinkled with the sprinkling of discipleship in this brotherhood at the hands of the Master himself!" 14Now the Blessed One addressed the venerable Ānanda, and said: "It may be, Ānanda, that in some of you the thought may arise, 'The word of the Master is ended, we have no teacher more!' But it is not thus, Ānanda, that you should regard it. It is true that no more shall I receive a body, for all future sorrow has now forever passed away. But though this body will be dissolved, the Tathāgata remains. The truth and the rules of the order which I have set forth and laid down for you all, let them, after I am gone, be a teacher unto you. When I am gone, Ānanda, let the order, if it should so wish, abolish all the lesser and minor precepts." 15Then the Blessed One addressed the brethren, and said: "There may be some doubt or misgiving in the mind of a brother as to the Buddha, or the truth, or the path. Do not have to reproach yourselves afterwards with the thought, 'We did not inquire of the Blessed One when we were face to face with him.' Therefore inquire now, O brethren, inquire freely." 17Then the venerable Ānanda said to the Blessed One: "Verily, I believe that in this whole assembly of the brethren there is not one brother who has any doubt or misgiving as to the Buddha, or the truth, or the path!" 18Said the Blessed One: "It is out of the fullness of faith that thou hast spoken, Ānanda! But, Ānanda, the Tathāgata knows for certain that in this whole assembly of the brethren there is not one brother who has any doubt or misgiving as to the Buddha, or the truth, or the path! For even the most backward, Ānanda, of all these brethren has become converted, and is assured of final salvation." 19Then the Blessed One addressed the brethren and said: "If ye now know the Dharma, the cause of all suffering, and the path of salvation, O disciples, will ye then say: 'We respect the Master, and out of reverence for the Master do we thus speak?'" 20The brethren replied: "That we shall not, O Lord." 22"Of those beings who live in ignorance, shut up and confined, as it were, in an egg, I have first broken the eggshell of ignorance and alone in the universe obtained the most exalted, universal Buddhahood. Thus, O disciples, I am the eldest, the noblest of beings. 23"But what ye speak, O disciples, is it not even that which ye have yourselves known, yourselves seen, yourselves realised?" 24Ānanda and the brethren said: "It is, O Lord." 25Once more the Blessed One began to speak: "Behold now, brethren," said he, "I exhort you, saying, 'Decay is inherent in all component things, but the truth will remain forever!' Work out your salvation with diligence!" This was the last word of the Tathāgata. Then the Tathāgata fell into a deep meditation, and having passed through the four jhānas, entered Nirvāna. 16When the Blessed One entered Nirvāna there arose, at his passing out of existence, a mighty earthquake, terrible and awe-inspiring: and the thunders of heaven burst forth, and of those of the brethren who were not yet free from passions some stretched out their arms and wept, and some fell headlong on the ground, 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 of the world gone out!" 27Then the venerable Anuruddha exhorted the brethren and said: "Enough, my brethren! Weep not, neither lament! Has not the Blessed One formerly declared this to us, that it is in the very nature of all things near and dear unto us, that we must separate from them and leave them, since everything that is born, brought into being, and organized, contains within itself the inherent necessity of dissolution? How then can it be possible that the body of the Tathāgata should not be dissolved? No such condition can exist! Those who are free from passion will bear the loss, calm and self-possessed, mindful of the truth he has taught us." 28And the venerable Anuruddha and the venerable Ānanda spent the rest of the night in religious discourse. 29Then the venerable Anuruddha said to the venerable Ānanda: "Go now, brother Ānanda, and inform the Mallas of Kusinārā saying, 'The Blessed One has passed away: do, then, whatsoever seemeth to you fit!'" 30And when the Mallas had heard this saying they were grieved, and sad, and afflicted at heart. 31Then the Mallas of Kusinārā gave orders to their attendants, saying, "Gather together perfumes and garlands, and all the music in Kusinārā!" And the Mallas of Kusinārā took the perfumes and garlands, and all the musical instruments, and five hundred garments, and went to the sāla grove where the body of the Blessed One lay. There they passed the day in paying honor and reverence to the remains of the Blessed One, with hymns, and music, and with garlands and perfumes, and in making canopies of their garments, and preparing decorative wreaths to hang thereon. And they burned the remains of the Blessed One as they would do to the body of a king of kings. 32When the funeral pyre was lit, the sun and moon withdrew their shining, the peaceful streams on every side were torrent-swollen, the earth quaked, and the sturdy forests shook like aspen leaves, whilst flowers and leaves fell untimely to the ground, like scattered rain, so that all Kusinārā became strewn knee-deep with mandāra flowers raining down from heaven. 33When the burning ceremonies were over, Devaputta said to the multitudes that were assembled round the pyre: 34"Behold, O brethren, the earthly remains of the Blessed One have been dissolved, but the truth which he has taught us lives in our minds and cleanses us from all error. 35"Let us, then, go out into the world, as compassionate and merciful as our great master, and preach to all living beings the four noble truths and the eightfold path of righteousness, so that all mankind may attain to a final salvation, taking refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha." 36And when the Blessed One had entered into Nirvāna, and the Mallas had burned the body with such ceremonies as would indicate that he was the great king of kings, ambassadors came from all the empires that at the time had embraced his doctrine, to claim a share of the relics; and the relics were divided into eight parts and eight dāgobas were erected for their preservation. One dāgoba was erected by the Mallas and seven others by the seven kings of those countries, whose people had taken refuge in the Buddha. ‹Previous chapterThe Gospel of Buddha 96Next chapterThe Gospel of Buddha 98›Similar passagesBy tradition and source labelFind similarCompare selectedCompare with similarAsk Deep ThoughtSelect passages to search for parallels.Tap any verse to select it, then compare selected passages or ask Deep Thought. Public domain