14.4 The Story about the Edler Ānanda’s Question about the Observance Day

14.4 The Story about the Edler Ānanda’s Question about the Observance Day
Ānandatthera-Uposathapañhavatthu

Dhp 183-185

CST4: Ānandattherapañhavatthu

Burlingame: How Did the Seven Buddhas Keep Fast-Day?

Elder Ānanda asked the Buddha to explain how the previous Buddhas had kept the Observance Day; he explained that although they held them after different lengths of time, the verses they recited were always the same, and he recited them.

Cast: Elder Ānanda, Buddha Vipassī, Buddha Sikhi, Buddha Vessabhu, Buddha Kakusandha, Buddha Koṇāgamana, Buddha Kassapa

Keywords: Previous Buddhas, Discipline

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“Not doing anything wicked,” this Dhamma teaching was given by the Teacher while he was in residence at Jetavana with reference to a question asked by Elder Ānanda.

We are told that as the elder sat in his day-quarters, he thought to himself: “The Teacher has described the mothers and fathers of the Seven Buddhas, their length of life, the tree under which they got Awakening, their company of disciples, their Chief Disciples, and their principal supporter. All this the Teacher has described. But he has said nothing about their mode of observance of the Observance Day. Was their mode of observance of the Observance Day the same as now, or was it different?” Accordingly he approached the Teacher and asked him about the matter.

Now in the case of these Buddhas, while there was a difference of time, there was no difference in the verses they employed. The Sambuddha Vipassī kept the Observance Day every seven years, but the admonition he gave in one day sufficed for seven years. Sikhi and Vessabhu kept Observance Day every six years; Kakusandha and Koṇāgamana, every year; Kassapa, the One of Ten Strengths, kept the Observance Day every six months, but the admonition of the latter sufficed for six months. For this reason the Teacher, after explaining to the elder this difference of time, {3.237} explained that their observance of the Observance Day was the same in every case. “These are the very verses they employed in giving admonition,” he said, quoting the following verses: [30.61]

183. Sabbapāpassa akaraṇaṁ, kusalassa upasampadā,
sacittapariyodapanaṁ - etaṁ Buddhāna’ sāsanaṁ.

Not doing anything wicked
undertaking of what is good,
purification of one’s mind
is the teaching of the Buddhas.

184. Khantī paramaṁ tapo titikkhā,
Nibbānaṁ paramaṁ vadanti Buddhā,
na hi pabbajito parūpaghātī,
samaṇo hoti paraṁ viheṭhayanto.

Patience is the supreme austerity,
Nibbāna is supreme say the Buddhas,
for one gone forth does not hurt another,
nor does an ascetic harass others.

185. Anupavādo anupaghāto, pātimokkhe ca saṁvaro,
mattaññutā ca bhattasmiṁ, pantañ-ca sayanāsanaṁ,
adhicitte ca āyogo - etaṁ Buddhāna’ sāsanaṁ.

Not finding fault and not hurting,
restraint by the regulations,
knowing the right measure of food,
living in a remote dwelling,
devotion to meditation
is the teaching of the Buddhas.