The discourse opens in a very historical setting, with the Magadhan King Ajàtasattu, who is in his capital Ràjagaha, declaring that he intends to destroy the Vajjian Republic, which lay on the lands on the opposite bank of the River Gaïgà, which formed the Northern boundary of his own Kingdom.

According to the Commentary there had been a long-running dispute over the trade that was being conducted along the Gaïgà, which the Vajjians had won out on, but which was making the Magadhan King more and more hostile. Ajàtasattu, reflecting that it is not wise to enter into war without hearing what the wise have to say on the matter, sent one of his Chief Ministers, Vassakàra, to inform the Buddha of his plans, and to listen to whatever he says.

Vassakàra therefore approaches the Buddha, who was living on the nearby Vulture's Peak Mountain, and explains the King's intentions. The Buddha doesn't answer Vassakàra direct, but instead turns to his faithful attendant ânanda, and asks whether the Vajjians `assemble regularly and frequently, carry out their Vajjian duties unanimously, do not establish new laws or cut off old laws, honour their elders, do not coerce their women and girls, honour the Vajjian shrines, and have made good arrangements in regard to the lawful protection of the Worthy Ones'. <sup>01</sup> ânanda replies that they do all these things, and the Buddha declares that as long as they do `growth is to be expected for the Vajjians and not decline'.

Vassakàra understands through this that the Vajjians cannot be defeated through war but `only through diplomacy or the breaking of the alliance', and he thereupon withdraws. It appears from the Commentary that within 4 years the Magadhan King did in fact manage to divide the Vajjians and overcome them, mainly thanks to the intrigues of his Minister Vassakàra.

After his departure the Buddha asks ânanda to assemble all the monks living around Ràjagaha, and when they have come he instructs them with a parallel teaching to the one he had given regarding the Vajjians: ⁰² the Saïgha should `assemble regularly and frequently, carry out their Community duties unanimously, not establish new laws or cut off old laws, honour the elder monks, not come under the influence of craving, have desire for forest dwellings, and attend to the ways of mindfulness'. In which case `growth is to be expected for the Saïgha and not decline'. It is noticeable that throughout the discourse the Buddha shows concern time and again that the Sàsana and Saïgha which he has founded are well-established and will be able to survive his passing.

The Buddha then enumerates five more sets of conditions that will have the same effect. I have argued elsewhere ⁰³ that these conditions do not appear to be original to the text, so there is no need to list them again here. At the end of this section though it is said the Buddha taught in summary form Virtue, Concentration and Wisdom. The details are not set out, but this statement is inserted at the end of his stay in each of the places he visited, and may be taken as a summary of the kind of teachings the Buddha gave everywhere, but which have not been recorded in detail here.

The Buddha then leaves the Magadhan capital and begins his final tour of the Middle Country. He passes through Ambalaññhikà, ⁰⁴ and on to Nàëanda, where he meets with one of his Chief Disciples Ven. Sàriputta. Although we shall have to discuss this matter later, it appears that this is the last recorded meeting between the two of them. Here Ven. Sàriputta roars his lion's roar (sãhanàda), and proclaims his faith in the Buddha and his teaching.

The Buddha then moves on to Pàñaligàma, which was at that time being built up by the Magadhan Ministers Sunãdha and Vassakàra to ward off the Vajjians. The site was situated on the bank of the Gaïgà, facing the rival nation who were just over the waters. ⁰⁵ After instructing the householders of Pàñaligàma in the benefits of virtue, and accepting a meal prepared by the Chief Ministers, the Buddha crossed over the Gaïgà, entered the Vajjian lands, and made his way up to Koñigàma where he taught the Four Noble Truths.

From there he went to Nàdika where ânanda questioned him at length about the people, lay and monastic, who had attained Path and Fruit in that small village. The Buddha answers, and also teaches a way in which anyone can be sure he has attained at least the first stage of Stream-Entry (Sotàpatti). After leaving Nàdika the Buddha walked on to the Vajjian capital Vesàlã, where he took up residence in the pleasure park of the courtesan Ambapàli.

When she hears that the Buddha is residing there she comes and invites him and the Saïgha for a meal on the morrow, which the Buddha accepts. The Licchavãs, who were the largest clan in the Vajjian Republic, also try to invite the Buddha to a meal, but are distressed to find that the meal has already been given to the courtesan. At the end of the meal Ambapàlã donates the park to the Buddha for the use of the Community.

By this time the Rainy season is approaching, and the Buddha withdraws from the immediate vicinity of Vesàlã, to the nearby village of Beluvà, which is where he spent his last Rains Retreat. It is here that the Buddha fell seriously ill, ⁰⁶ but he determined to suppress it until he has had time to address the Community on various matters.

The Buddha then rises from the illness and gives his famous teaching that he has no esoteric and exoteric teaching and that ânanda ⁰⁷ should `live with yourself as an island, yourself as a refuge, with no other refuge, with the Teaching as an island, the Teaching as a refuge, with no other refuge', and explains that this means attending to the ways of mindfulness.

The Missing Months

At this point we come to the end of the second chapter for recitation (bhàõavàra). We now come to a problem in the narrative, which has been progressing smoothly so far. As noted above, according to the Commentary, the Buddha fell ill about 10 months before the Vesàkha Full Moon day, which is the traditional date for the Final Emancipation.

In the next Chapter we find the Buddha entering Vesàlã for alms, and immediately afterwards going to Càpàla Shrine with Ven. ânanda, which is where the Buddha gives up the life-process (àyusaïkhàra), and announces that in 3 months he will attain Final Emancipation. We therefore have a lacuna in the history of about 7 months.

The Commentary inserts here another itinery of the Buddha, unrecorded in this discourse, whereby he goes to Sàvatthã and has a last meeting with Ven. Sàriputta, who returns to his home village of Nàëaka and dies of dysentry in the room of the house where he was born. The Buddha then travelled down to Nàëaka and had a Shrine (Cetiya) built for the relics.

The Commentary says he then went to Ràjagaha where Ven. Mahàmoggallàna had attained Final Emancipation after being murdered by bandits, and the Buddha had a Shrine built for his relics in the Great Monastery (Veëuvana) in Ràjagaha.

After that he is said to have gone to Ukkàcelà in the Vajjian lands ⁰⁸ which is where the Ukkàcelasutta was delivered, ⁰⁹ From there he is said to have walked back to Vesàlã, which is where the following episode in the discourse takes place.

I believe the reason for this proposed itinery is the need to reconcile the material found in the discourses. In the Satipaññhànasaüyutta (SN 47.13) it is recorded that following Ven. Sàriputta's Final Emancipation his attendant novice Cunda took his bowl and robes back to Sàvatthã and presented them to the Buddha; in the following discourse (Ukkàcelasutta) the Buddha speaks about the Community being empty (asuÿÿà) now that his two Chief Disciples had passed away.

However, the Commentarial account is difficult to reconcile with the traditional dates. According to the Commentary Ven. Sàriputta attained Final Emancipation on the Full Moon night of Kattika (November), which is one month after the first Rains Retreat closes. There is no reason to believe that the Buddha broke his last Rains Retreat, so the time-scale would be at most one month for the Buddha to walk to Sàvatthã, about 400 kilometres from Vesàlã, and for Ven. Sàriputta to walk back to Nàëaka, just north of Ràjagaha, about 500 kilometres from there. Given the great distances involved this doesn't seem to be possible.

Because of this I make here what I hope is a more plausible suggestion. We can imagine that the Buddha completed the Rains Retreat in mid-October, and that he would have stayed in the vicinity of Vesàlã for the Kathina celebrations. Indeed, it is almost certain that he would not have left before these were concluded.

He may then have heard that Ven. Sàriputta had passed away and decided to walk back to Nàëaka, about 90 kilometres away. This may have taken more than a fortnight, so it may be that even on the way he heard that Ven. Mahàmoggallàna had also passed away. After the burial and the building of the Shrines the Buddha started to return to Vesàlã, stopping at Ukkàcelà where he spoke the above mentioned discourse.

The distance from Ukkàcelà to Vesàlã is only about 40 kilometres, and wouldn't have taken more than a week to walk, but we cannot say that the Buddha proceeded there straight after the discourse. This would therefore be quite a reasonable way to account for the missing months, and it could account for the discourse given at Ukkàcelà, but unfortunately not for the one about the novice Cunda bringing the bowl and robes to Sàvatthã.

Other possible ways to account for the missing months would be if the traditional dates of either the Buddha or his two Chief Disiples (or both) were incorrect, or if the Buddha didn't leave Beluva until February, but this hardly solves the problem as there would still be a gap of a number of months in the story at this point, which can not be accounted for.

There is a difficulty, however, even with the revised itinery proposed above because it it is difficult to understand why such important events as the passing away of the two Chief Disciples and the building of Shrines for them would have been left out of the discourse, which it appears is intended to trace the last year of the Buddha's life, if they had been remembered by the Elders at the First Council. It is unfortunate indeed that the events that took place during that time seem to have been lost by the tradition forever, as we have no sure way of reconstructing the events now.

At Vesàlã (Chapter 3)

If the tradition that the Buddha attained Final Emancipation at Vesàkha is correct the next Chapter opens around the time of Màgha Full Moon day in January-February. The Buddha, after returning from alms-round in Vesàlã, tells ânanda that they will go to the Càpàla Shrine for the day. Here the Buddha three times tells ânanda that anyone who had developed the four Paths to Power could live on for the lifespan, but ânanda doesn't understand that this is an opportunity to request the Buddha to do so, and lets the chance go by.

Next the Buddha is visited by the wicked Màra, who reminds the Buddha that previously ¹⁰ he had stated that he would attain Final Emancipation once his Community and lay-disciples were established in the teaching, and Màra assures him that that now is the case, and urges him to pass away. Eventually the Buddha tells Màra not to be concerned about this, he has already determined that he will attain Final Emancipation in three months time.

With that declaration there is an earthquake and ânanda approaches the Buddha and asks him what it is that has occasioned the great quake? The Buddha explains the eight reasons for earthquakes, which include his relinquishment of the life-process and, anticipating what is to come, his attainment of Final Emancipation. ¹¹

The Buddha then explains to ânanda the whole story of his meetings with Màra, and his giving up the life-process that day, at which ânanda tries to persuade the Buddha to live on. The Buddha asks him why he makes the request, and ânanda responds that he has heard the Buddha saying that anyone who had developed the four Paths to Power could live on for the lifespan. The Buddha then blames him for not making the request earlier and says that it is not possible for him to do so now, and reminds him of just how many times he had told him, both in the Vajjian lands and in Magadhà about this, but at each occasion ânanda had failed to make the request. ¹²

Vesàlã to Kusinàrà (Chapters 4-5)

The Buddha and ânanda return to Vesàlã and to the Great Wood (Mahàvana), where the Buddha asks his attendant to gather together all the monks who are living in the vicinity of the city, and after they have assembled he teaches them what later came to be known as the 37 Things on the Side of Awakening (Bodhipakkhiyadhammà). He then announces to the Community that he will attain Final Emancipation in three months time.

The Buddha and ânanda, together with a great Community of monks then set out from Vesàlã and travel by stages to Bhaõóagàma, where he teaches the Four Noble Things which, because they have not been penetrated both the Buddha and everyone else have been wandering along in Saüsàra for so long. ¹³

From Bhaõóagàma they travel on to Hatthigàma, Ambagàma, Jambugàma, and Bhoganagara. ¹⁴ There the Buddha taught the Four Great Referrals and how to distinguish what was his real Teaching and Discipline from what has been wrongly remembered by examining the consistency of the teaching with what is known to have been taught by him.

After leaving Bhoganagara they travel up to Pàvà where the Buddha stays in Cunda the Smith's Mango Wood. When he hears that the Buddha has arrived Cunda goes, hears an unreported Teaching from the Buddha, and invites him and the Saïgha to a meal of the following day, which the Buddha accepts.

It is after this meal that the Buddha goes down with dysentry again. Even though he was ill still he decides to press on to Kusinàrà, which is a distance of about 7 kilometres from Pàvà. An odd story is inserted here concerning one Pukkusa Mallaputta, who tells how âëàra Kàlàma was once sitting in meditation when five hundred wagons went by, but he didn't notice them. The Buddha replies that once he was sitting in meditation when a fierce storm blew up but he didn't notice the storm at all. Pukkusa declares that the former faith he had in âëàra has been lost and he now places his faith in the Buddha, and he presents the Buddha and ânanda with a pair of golden robes, but the robes loose their gleam when placed alongside the Buddha's skin, which is glowing unusually bright, as this is the night he will attain Final Emancipation. ¹⁵

The narrative continues with the Buddha assuring ânanda that Cunda is not to be blamed for serving the last meal that the Buddha ever partook off, rather, he states, that that will be for his benefit for a long time.

At Kusinàrà (Chapters 5-6)

They carry on until they reach Kusinàrà and the Sal Wood at Upavattana. There the Buddha lies down on a couch. While lying in the lion's posture the Divinities come and worship him, and the Buddha asks Ven. Upavàõa to step aside so they can get to see him for the last time. The Buddha tells ânanda about the four pilgrimage centres ¹⁶ that can be visited by those having faith, which is followed by some miscellaneous Teachings, including an instruction on how to deal with his body when he has gone.

The Buddha praises ânanda's wonderful qualities, and declared that all Buddhas had, and will have, similar attendents. ânanda requests the Buddha not to attain Final Emancipation in this small town, but the Buddha tells him that Kusinàra actually has a glorious past, and relates the Mahàsudassanasuttaü at this point. ¹⁷ The Buddha then sends ânanda into Kusinàrà to announce to the villagers that he will attain Final Emancipation that very night. ânanda returns with them and has them worship the Buddha for one last time.

At this point a wanderer Subhadda arrives and asks permission to see the Buddha as he needs to clear his doubts. ânanda refuses but the Buddha overhears the conversation and tells him to allow Subhadda to come. He initially asks the Buddha about the Teachings of the other famous teachers of his day, but the Buddha puts this aside and assures him about his own Teaching, and Subhadda becomes the last direct disciple of the Buddha.

After giving some last instructions to ânanda, the Buddha asks if there is anyone in the gathering who has any doubts about the Teaching, but none of them do, as `even the least among them' (ânanda himself) has attained the first Path and Fruit. He then speaks his famous last words, urging his disciples to `strive on with heedfulness'.

The Buddha then passes through the various absorptions (jhàna) forwards, backwards and forwards again, and after emerging from the fourth absorption he attains Final Emancipation (parinibbàna). ânanda goes and informs the villagers and they come and start to prepare the funeral. The preparations continue for seven days, before they are ready for the cremation.

Eventually they take the body out for cremation, but are unable to do so, because the Divinities will not allow it while Ven. Mahàkassapa is still on the way, as he wishes to pay his last respects to the body. Once this is accomplished the pyre catches fire by itself.

The Mahàparinibbànasuttaü ends with the story of how the relics were distributed. It is worthy of note here that although the relics were taken to three capital cities, Kapilavatthu, Vesàlã, and Ràjagaha, none were taken to Sàvatthã, which is where the Buddha had done most of his teaching. It may be that the Kosalans were simply unaware of what had happened in the Mallan country.