Where did Lord Gautama Buddha spend the 45 rains retreats?

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Where did Lord Gautama Buddha spend the 45 rains retreats?

By Dr. Ari Ubeysekara

Introduction

Buddhism consists of the teaching of Lord Gautama Buddha who lived in Northern India during the sixth and fifth centuries BC. The Buddha aspirant (Bodhisatta) was born as Prince Siddhārtha Gautama in a region of the Indian sub-continent which is supposed to be the present day Lumbini in Nepal. He was born on the full moon day of May in the year 563 BC. His father was King Suddhodana, an elected chief of the Sakya clan whose kingdom was in North India somewhere around India-Nepal border with its capital named Kapilavatthu. His mother was Queen Mahāmāyā who was the daughter of the head of Koliya clan whose kingdom was nearby with its capital called Devadaha. Prince Siddhartha enjoyed the education and the luxuries that were available to a royal prince at that time and at the age of sixteen, he married his cousin named Yasodharā. At the age of 29, having become disenchanted with human suffering, Prince Siddhārtha left the domestic life to become a homeless ascetic with the intention of searching for a way out of human suffering.

Ascetic Gautama practised severe austerity and self-mortification following the belief prevalent in India at that time that severe austerity and self-mortification will help one to find the way to end human suffering and attain enlightenment. During that time, he was supported by five ascetic companions. After six years, he realised through personal experience that neither self-mortification he experienced as an ascetic nor indulgence in sensual pleasures he experienced during his princely life, has helped him to find the way to end human suffering. With that realisation, he decided to follow the Middle Path (Majjhima Patipadā), which was to become one of the salient features of his teaching.

Then, sitting under a Bodhi tree (Ficus religiosā) at the place presently known as Bodh Gaya in India, ascetic Gautama meditated on in and out breathing (ānāpānasati) with the firm resolution; “Though only my skin, sinews and bone remain, and my blood and flesh dry up and wither away, yet will I never stir from this seat until I have attained full enlightenment.” At the age of 35, six years after renouncing the domestic life in search of the path to end human suffering and an end to the cycle of death and rebirth, ascetic Gautama gained enlightenment as a Sammā Sambuddha on the full moon day of the month of May. Two months later, on the full moon day of the month of July, the Buddha delivered the first sermon called “Dhammachakkappavattana sutta” meaning “Turning of the Wheel of Truth”, to the five previous ascetic companions in the Deer Park near Varanasi. In this sermon, the Buddha emphasized the need to follow the Middle Path avoiding the two extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification, explained the four Noble Truths and discussed the Noble Eight-fold Path that needs to be cultivated in order to escape from the cycle of birth and death.

The four Noble Truths

  1. The truth of universal suffering (dukkha sacca)
  2. The truth of the origin of suffering (samudaya sacca)
  3. The truth of the cessation of suffering (nirodha sacca)
  4. The path leading to the cessation of suffering (magga sacca)

The path leading to the cessation of suffering is known as the Middle Path or the Noble Eight-fold Path.

The Noble Eight-fold Path

  1. Right view (sammā ditthi)
  2. Right intention (sammā sankappa)
  3. Right speech (sammā vācā)
  4. Right action (sammā kammantha)
  5. Right livelihood (sammā ājīva)
  6. Right effort (sammā vāyāma)
  7. Right mindfulness (sammā sati)
  8. Right concentration (sammā samādhi) (1)

Throughout the 45 years of the Buddha’s ministry from enlightenment at the age of 35 to passing away at the age of 80, Gautama Buddha through compassion for other beings, travelled from place to place mainly in North Eastern India, teaching the path out of human suffering to a diverse range of people including kings and rulers, followers of other religions and ordinary people from all walks of life.

Rains retreats (vas)

Though the Buddha did much travelling on preaching tours in order to teach the Buddhist doctrine, the Buddha used to stay in one residence during the rainy season. The rainy season lasts for three to four months from June/July to October/November, and as the Buddha stayed in one place during this period as a retreat, it came to be known as the “Rains retreat.” The ascetics belonging to other religious sects in India also had a tradition of spending the rainy season between the months of July and October in one place. For example, in Jain religion the disciples were instructed not to walk from village to village and to stay in one place during the rainy season, as many living beings appear at the surface of the ground and also seeds spring up due to the rains. Later on, the Buddha made it a disciplinary rule that the Buddhist monks and nuns should also stay in one residence during the rainy season. During the rains retreat, the monks and nuns can continue with their normal activities including going out on alms rounds and to attend to the devotees but, they cannot stay out overnight unless under some  special circumstances. They can utilize the three months of the rains retreat to intensify their spiritual practice such as learning and reading the scriptures and meditation.

Lord Gautama Buddha’s 45 rains retreats

During the 45 years from the enlightenment at the age of 35, to the passing away at the age of 80, the Buddha spent 45 rains treats at various places in Northern India. Though they are not described as a list of Buddha’s rains retreats anywhere in the Buddhist scriptures, looking through the Buddhist literature, it is most likely that the Buddha may have spent the 45 rains retreats at the following places.

1st rains retreat

Two months following enlightenment as the Samma Sambuddha on the full moon day of the month of May, the Buddha delivered the first sermon to the five previous ascetic companions named Kondañña, Bhaddiya, Vappa, Mahānāma and Assaji at Isipatana Deer Park near Varanasi. It was delivered on the full moon day of the month of July, which happened to be the beginning of the rainy season. After listening to the Buddha’s first sermon, one of the five ascetics named Kondañña realised the teaching immediately and attained the first stage of enlightenment called Stream Enterer (Sotāpañña). Eventually all the five ascetics attained enlightenment as Arahants after listening to the Buddha’s second discourse on the not-self characteristic (Anatta Lakkhana Sutta), and became the first five members of the Buddhist monastic community called Sangha. The Buddha, accompanied by those five disciple monks, spent the first rains retreat at Isipatana Deer Park near Varanasi, going for the alms round in the nearby city of Varanasi.

2nd, 3rd and 4th rains retreats  

From Varanasi, the Buddha travelled to Rajagaha, the capital of the ancient Magadha kingdom, as King Bimbisāra had made a request to visit his city whenever the Buddha attained enlightenment. After listening to the Buddha’s teaching, the king attained the first stage of Stream Enterer (Sotāpañña), and donated his pleasure garden Bamboo Grove to the Buddha, which later came to be known as the Veluvana monastery. It was the first monastery that was donated to the Buddha. The Buddha, accompanied by the monks, spent the 2nd , 3rd and the 4th rains retreat at the Veluvana monastery in Rajagaha, going for the alms round in the city of Rajagaha.

While the Buddha was staying in the city of Rajagaha, two friends named Upatissa and Kolitha attained the first stage of enlightenment (Sotāpañña) after listening to a brief sermon by Arahant Assaji, one of the five disciples who became Arahants at Isipathana. Soon, both of them attained Arahanthood and were appointed as the Buddha’s two chief disciples (aggasāvaka) named Arahant Sāriputta and Arahant Mahā Moggallāna.

5th rains retreat

The Buddha spent the 5th rains retreat at a monastery with pinnacles and finials called Kūtāgāra hall (Kūtāgāra sala) which was situated in the great wood (Mahāvana) in Vesāli, going for the alms round in the city of Vesāli. Vesāli was the capital city of the kingdom of the Lichchavi kings which was situated in the present state of Bihar in India. At the time of the Buddha, it was a large city with a large community of rich and prosperous people.

It is recorded that while the Buddha was at Vesāli, the Buddha got the news that King Suddhodana, Buddha’s father, was acutely ill. The Buddha visited Kapilavaththu and delivered a sermon to King Suddhodana following which the king gained enlightenment as an Arahant and passed away a few days later. It was also during this retreat that Mahā Prajāpati Gotami, Buddha’s foster mother, and 500 Sakyan ladies shaved their head and wearing yellow robes walked from Kapilavaththu to Vesāli requesting to be ordained as Buddhist nuns.  With some support from Venerable Ānanda, Buddha’s chief attendant, they managed to get the Buddha to agree to ordain them thus forming the order of Buddhist nuns (Bhikkunī sāsana).

6th rains retreat

The Buddha is believed to have spent the 6th rains retreat at a monastery in the Chaya forest in the vicinity of Mankula mountain. There is no reliable information to identify the exact geographical location of the Chaya forest. According to some sources, the Buddha is said to have performed the twin miracle (yamakapātihāra) for the second time during this season, but more commonly, it is believed that the second twin miracle was performed in Savatti during the seventh year following the Buddha’s enlightenment.

7th rains retreat

The Buddha spent the 7th rains retreat in the Tāvatimsa heaven (heaven of the thirty three gods), preaching the higher doctrine of the Buddha (Abhidhamma) to an assembly of deities. The assembly of deities included the Buddha’s late mother who passed away seven days after  childbirth and was born as a divine being in the Tusita heaven.

8th rains retreat

The Buddha spent the 8th rains retreat in the Bhesakalā forest near the city of Sumsumāragiri in the Bhagga country. Sumsumāragiri was the capital city of Bhagga and it is said that the city was named Sumsumāragiri because when it was being built, a crocodile (sumsumāra) made a noise from a nearby lake. The devoted couple often mentioned in the Buddhist literature, Nakulapitā and his wife Nakulamātā used to live in Sumsumāragiri. They had become Stream Enterers (Sotāpañña) after listening to the Buddha’s teaching and used to visit the Buddha whenever the Buddha was residing there. There are several discourses in the collection of the discourses, which contain conversations between the Buddha and this couple.

9th rains retreat

The Buddha spent the 9th rains retreat at the Ghositārāma monastery in Kosambi, going for the alms round in the city of Kosambi. Kosambi was the capital city of the Vatsa kingdom in ancient India. During the time of the Buddha, it was a prosperous city where several wealthy businessmen lived. One of those wealthy businessmen, a banker named Ghosita, donated the Ghositārāma monastery to the Buddha and hence it’s name. The Buddha had visited Kosambi and stayed at the Ghositārāma monastery on numerous occasions. At one time, when the Buddha was staying there, a dispute arose between two monks, one expert in discipline (Vinaya), and one in the teaching (Dhamma), which led to widespread disputes and quarrels between two groups of monks. They did not heed to the Buddha’s advice to stop quarrelling.

10th rains retreat

The Buddha spent the 10th rains retreat in the Pārileyyaka forest near Kosambi. When the two groups of monks at the Ghositārāma monastery did not heed the Buddha’s advice and continued with their quarrelling and fighting, the Buddha retired to the Pārileyyaka forest and spent the 10th rains retreat there. It is said that during this rains retreat, the Buddha was attended to by an elephant and a monkey. At the end of the rainy season, the monks stopped their disputes mainly because the lay devotees stopped offering alms to the monks as they were concerned about the Buddha’s departure due to the disputes among the monks. When the Buddha returned to Sāvatti following the rains retreat, the monks visited the Buddha and begged pardon from the Buddha.

11th rains retreat

The Buddha spent the 11th rains retreat in a brahmin village called Ekanāla which was situated near Dakkhinagiri, to the south of Rajagaha in the ancient Magadha Kingdom. It was while staying in this village that the Buddha delivered the sermon called Kasībhāradvāja sutta to the brahmin farmer named  Kasībhāradvāja. According to this discourse recorded in the Samyutta Nikāya, the brahmin became a lay disciple of the Buddha after listening to the Buddha’s teaching. (2)

12th rains retreat

The Buddha spent the 12th rains retreat at a place called Verañja. A brahmin named Verañja had earlier approached the Buddha and asked a number of questions from the Buddha. He was very satisfied with the answers that he received from the Buddha and invited the Buddha and the monks to spend the rains retreat at Verañja. But when the Buddha and the monks arrived at Verañja, the brahmin had forgotten all about his invitation to the Buddha. As a result, during this rains retreat, the Buddha and the monks had to survive on very coarse food offered by some horse merchants. As it was a custom of the Buddha to take leave of whoever had invited the Buddha to stay at a particular place, the Buddha visited the brahmin Verañja at the end of the rains retreat. Brahmin Verañja acknowledged his failure to attend to the needs of the Buddha and the monks during the rains retreat and offered alms and robes to them on the following day.

13th rains retreat

The Buddha spent the 13th rains retreat on the Cāliya Mountain near the city of Cāliya. During this rains retreat, Venerable Meghiya was the Buddha’s personal attendant. While doing his alms round in the village of Jantu, Venerable Meghiya was attracted to a mango grove near a river which he thought was an ideal location to practise meditation. Following a number of requests, the Buddha gave him permission to go and meditate there, but he could not meditate properly as his mind was filled with thoughts of sensual desire, ill-will and harm. When he reported this to the Buddha, the Buddha described the qualities that would help a meditator to meditate properly, which are recorded in the Meghiya sutta of the Anguttara Nikāya. (3)

14th rains retreat

The Buddha spent the 14th rains retreat at the Jetavana monastery in Sāvatti, visiting the city of Sāvatti for the alms round. During this time, Venerable Rāhula who was the son of the Buddha in lay life, received his higher ordination (upasampadā) as he had reached the age of 20 years by then.

15th rains retreat

The Buddha spent the 15th rains retreat at the Nigrodha monastery in Kapilavatthu, visiting the city of Kapilavatthu for the alms round. Kapilavatthu was in the country of the Sākyans and the Buddha’s father King Suddhodana was an elected chief of the Sākyans. It was at the palace of King Suddhodana in Kapilavatthu, that the Buddha grew up as Prince Siddhartha and lived there until the renunciation at the age of 29. When the Buddha visited Kapilavatthu for the first time after enlightenment on the invitation of King Suddhodana, Nigrodhārāma monastery was donated to the Buddha.

16th rains retreat

The Buddha spent the 16th rains retreat in the city of Ālavi. Ālavi was an ancient kingdom of Northern India which was situated between Sāvatti, the capital city of the Kosala Kingdom and Rajagaha, the capital city of the Magadha Kingdom. At Ālavi, the Buddha visited the residence of a demon called Ālavaka, who was challenging and hostile to the Buddha initially, but after listening to the Buddha’s answers to several questions that he asked the Buddha, he became a follower of the Buddha. Their meeting and the conversation is recorded in the Ālavaka sutta of the Samyutta Nikāya. (4)

17th rains retreat

The Buddha spent the 17th rains retreat at the Veluvana monastery in Rajagaha, visiting the city of Rajagaha for the alms round. It was while the Buddha was staying at the Veluvana monastery that the famous courtesan named Sirimā, who was the sister of the king’s physician Jīvaka, died. The Buddha attended her funeral and demonstrated to the people as to how while she was alive, her clients were ready to pay a lot of money to enjoy her services, but when she is dead, no one offered to take her dead body even when it was offered free. Then the Buddha recited the following verse which is recorded as the 147th verse of the Dhammapada (Sayings of the Buddha in verse.)

“Passa cittakataṁ bimbaṁ,
  arukāyaṁ samussitaṁ,
  aturaṁ babusaṇkappaṁ,
  yassa natthi dhuvaṁ thiti.”

“Look at this decked body,

  a mass of sores, a heaped up entity,

  diseased, full of thoughts,

  which has nothing stable or firm.” (5)

18th and 19th rains retreats

The buddha spent the 18th and 19th rains retreats on the Cāliya Mountain near the city of Cāliya, visiting the village named Jantu for the alms round.

20th rains retreat

The Buddha spent the 20th rains retreat at the Veluvana monastery in Rajagaha, visiting the city of Rajagaha for the alms round.

21st to 44th rains retreats

According to the Buddhist literature, the Buddha is believed to have spent the 24 rains retreats from the 21st to the 44th rains retreat in the city of Sāvatti. It was the capital city of the ancient kingdom of Kosala, and it’s ruler King Pasenadi had become a disciple and a strong supporter of the Buddha. Out of those 24 rains retreats, the Buddha has stayed at the Jetavana monastery during 18 rainy seasons and at the Pubbārāma monastery during six rainy seasons.

Jetavana monastery

Sudatta was a merchant banker in the city of Sāvatti. He was better known by his nickname “Anāthapindika” rather than Sudatta because of his generosity towards the poor, the destitute and the unprotected people. When he met the Buddha for the first time in Rajagaha and listened to the Buddha’s teaching, he became a Stream Enterer (Sotāpañña), which is the first of the four stages of enlightenment. Anāthapindika asked the Buddha whether he can build a monastery in Sāvatti and offer it so that the Buddha and the order of monks can reside there when they visit Sāvatti and the Buddha accepted his offer. He found a secluded park in Sāvatti which was quiet enough for the Buddha to reside and was also accessible for the devotees to visit. It belonged to a prince named Jeta, from whom he bought it for a large sum of money.

Anāthapindika spent even more of his money to build the Jetavana monastery consisting of living cells, dining hall, store rooms, toilets, wells to provide water, meeting halls, ponds, walkways etc. When the construction of the monastery was completed, he invited the Buddha and the order of monks to visit Sāvatti and on the advice of the Buddha, Anāthapindika donated the monastery dedicating it to the community of Sangha of the four quarters, present and future. Altogether, the Buddha is said to have spent 19 rains retreats including the 14th rains retreat, at the Jetavana monastery, where the Buddha has delivered numerous discourses to various audiences. In the Buddhist scriptures, whenever the Jetavana monastery is mentioned as the Buddha’s residence at the time of delivering a particular discourse, it is referred to as the Jetavana, Anathapindika’s monastery (Jetavane Anāthapindikassa ārāme).

Pubbārāma monastery

The Buddha had a wealthy female devotee in Sāvatti named Visākhā, who had become a Stream Enterer (Sotāpañña) at the tender age of seven years after listening to a sermon by the Buddha. She moved to Sāvatti after marrying a young man from a wealthy non-Buddhist family in Sāvatti. Eventually she was able to get her in-laws too, to become devotees of the Buddha. She often visited the Buddha at the Jetavana monastery and during one of those visits, she had removed her priceless jewelled cloak known as “Mahalata” and given it to her maid servant to keep it. After listening to a discourse by the Buddha, they left the monastery but the maid servant forgot to collect the cloak where she had left it.

Next day when it was brought to her by some monks, she refused to take it back as she thought it was not correct to take something back which was left in the monastery and handled by the monks. She decided to sell it and use the proceeds to build a monastery and donate it to the Buddha and the order of monks and nuns. Her jewelled cloak was priceless and there was no one in Sāvatti who was rich enough to buy it. So, Visākhā decided to buy it herself and use the money to build a monastery at the Eastern side of Jetavana monastery. She built a monastery consisting of  two stories, each story consisting of five hundred individual living cells, and donated it to the Buddha and the order of monks and nuns. The monastery was known as the Pubbārāma, Pūrvārāma, Migāramāthu Prasādaya as well as the Eastern monastery. While resident in Sāvatti, on each day, the Buddha is believed to have alternated between the Jetavana monastery and the Pubbārāma monastery spending the day or the night at each place. Out of the 25 rains retreats that the Buddha is believed to have spent in Sāvatti, six rains retreats were  spent at the Pubbārāma monastery.

45th rains retreat

The Buddha spent the 45th and the last rains retreat in a village called Veluva or Beluva situated near Vesāli. The Buddha decided to spend the rains retreat in Veluva itself and instructed the accompanying monks to spend their rains retreat in groups in different places around Vesāli. During this rains retreat, the Buddha developed a deadly illness accompanied by severe pains which the Buddha controlled with the Buddha’s mental power and determination. Then addressing Venerable Ānanda, the chief attendant, the Buddha gave the advice that everyone should be a refuge to oneself seeking no external refuge.

“Ānanda, be islands unto yourselves, refuges unto yourselves, seeking no external refuge; with the Dhamma as your island, the Dhamma as your refuge, seeking no other refuge.”

It was also in Veluva that the Buddha announced to an assembly of monks that the Buddha will pass away (Parinibbāna) in three months. (6)

References

  1. Bhikkhu Bodhi 1999, Dhammacakkappavattana sutta, The Connected Discourses of the Buddha, A Translation of the Samyutta Nikāya, Wisdom Publications.
  2. Bhikkhu Bodhi 1999,  Kasībhāradvāja sutta, The Connected Discourses of the Buddha, A Translation of the Samyutta Nikāya, Wisdom Publications.
  3. Bhikkhu Bodhi 2012, Meghiya sutta, The Numerical Discourses of the Buddha, Anguttara Nikāya, Wisdom Publications.
  4. Bhikkhu Bodhi 1999,  Ālavaka sutta, The Connected Discourses of the Buddha, A Translation of the Samyutta Nikāya, Wisdom Publications.
  5. https://www.tipitaka.net/tipitaka/dhp/verseload.php?verse=147
  6. Walshe, Maurice (1987), Mahāparinibbāna sutta in “Thus Have I Heard”, The Long Discourses of the Buddha, Dīgha Nikāya, Wisdom Publications, London.

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