<p>The passage appears only found in the Maha-parinibbana Sutta: Last Days of the Buddha, which is unusual, given it appears not mentioned in the various other suttas or in the <a href="https://suttacentral.net/pli-tv-kd1/en/brahmali?lang=en&amp;layout=plain&amp;reference=none&amp;notes=none&amp;highlight=true&amp;script=latin" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Vinaya</a> about the Buddha's enlightenment, at  Uruvela, on the bank of the Nerañjara River.</p>
<blockquote>
<ol start="42">
<li><p>&quot;There was a time, Ananda, when I dwelt at Uruvela, on the bank of the Nerañjara River, at the foot of the goatherds' banyan-tree, soon
after my supreme Enlightenment. And Mara, the Evil One, approached me,
saying: 'Now, O Lord, let the Blessed One come to his final passing
away! Let the Happy One utterly pass away! The time has come for the
Parinibbana of the Lord.'</p>
</li>
<li><p>&quot;Then, Ananda, I answered Mara, the Evil One, saying: 'I shall not come to my final passing away, Evil One, until my bhikkhus and
bhikkhunis, laymen and laywomen, have come to be true disciples —
wise, well disciplined, apt and learned, preservers of the Dhamma,
living according to the Dhamma, abiding by appropriate conduct and,
having learned the Master's word, are able to expound it, preach it,
proclaim it, establish it, reveal it, explain it in detail, and make
it clear; until, when adverse opinions arise, they shall be able to
refute them thoroughly and well, and to preach this convincing and
liberating Dhamma.</p>
</li>
<li><p>&quot;'I shall not come to my final passing away, Evil One, until this holy life taught by me has become successful, prosperous,
far-renowned, popular, and widespread, until it is well proclaimed
among gods and men.'</p>
</li>
<li><p>&quot;And again today, Ananda, at the Capala shrine, Mara, the Evil One, approached me, saying: 'Now, O Lord, bhikkhus and bhikkhunis,
laymen and laywomen, have come to be true disciples of the Blessed One
— wise, well disciplined, apt and learned, preservers of the Dhamma,
living according to the Dhamma, abiding in the appropriate conduct,
and having learned the Master's word, are able to expound it, preach
it, proclaim it, establish it, reveal it, explain it in detail, and
make it clear; and when adverse opinions arise, they are now able to
refute them thoroughly and well, and to preach this convincing and
liberating Dhamma.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p>&quot;'And now, O Lord, this holy life taught by the Blessed One has become
successful, prosperous, far-renowned, popular and widespread, and it
is well proclaimed among gods and men. Therefore, O Lord, let the
Blessed One come to his final passing away! Let the Happy One utterly
pass away! The time has come for the Parinibbana of the Lord.'</p>
<ol start="46">
<li><p>&quot;And then, Ananda, I answered Mara, the Evil One, saying: 'Do not trouble yourself, Evil One. Before long the Parinibbana of the
Tathagata will come about. Three months hence the Tathagata will
utterly pass away.'</p>
</li>
<li><p>&quot;And in this way, Ananda, today at the Capala shrine the Tathagata has renounced his will to live on.&quot;</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p><a href="https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.16.1-6.vaji.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Maha-parinibbana Sutta: Last Days of the Buddha</a> or in brief <a href="https://suttacentral.net/an8.70/en/sujato?lang=en&amp;layout=plain&amp;reference=none&amp;notes=none&amp;highlight=true&amp;script=latin" rel="nofollow noreferrer">AN 8.70</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Buddha's reluctance to teach to prompt Brahma's request: <a href="https://www.accesstoinsight.org/ati/tipitaka/mn/mn.026.than.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MN 26</a> or in brief <a href="https://suttacentral.net/sn6.1/en/sujato?lang=en&amp;layout=plain&amp;reference=none&amp;notes=none&amp;highlight=true&amp;script=latin" rel="nofollow noreferrer">SN 6.1</a></p>
<p>Buddha's reluctance to ordain women: <a href="https://suttacentral.net/an8.51/en/sujato?lang=en&amp;layout=plain&amp;reference=none&amp;notes=none&amp;highlight=true&amp;script=latin" rel="nofollow noreferrer">AN 8.51</a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-05-19T05:45:43.183Z
2024-05-19T08:54:47.753Z
2024-05-19T08:54:47.753Z
Dhamma Dhatu
<p>I came across this statement made by Ajahn Brahm:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>After he became enlightened under the banyan tree, Mara came to him and said, ‘Okay, you’re enlightened, I admit it. Now don’t go teaching, it’s just too burdensome. Just enter parinibbana now, just disappear.’ The Buddha said, ‘No, I will not enter parinibbana. I will not leave this life until I have established the bhikkhu sangha, bhikkhuni sangha, laymen, and laywomen Buddhists: the four pillars of Buddhism.’ Forty-five years later, at the Capala Shrine, Mara came again and said, ‘You’ve done it! There are lots and lots of bhikkhunis enlightened, lots of bhikkhus enlightened, great laymen and laywomen Buddhists . . . so keep your promise,’ and [the Buddha] said, ‘Okay, in three months, I’ll enter parinibbana.’
What those two passages from the suttas demonstrate is that it was the Buddha’s mission; it was why he taught—to establish those four pillars of the sangha.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I wonder what passages he's referring to? I understood the Buddha's immediately-post-enlightenment stance on teaching to have been a little more reluctant than this puts it, and ditto with his stance on an order of nuns.</p>

<the-buddha><texts><teaching>
Explaining a remark made by Ajahn Brahm
# Explaining a remark made by Ajahn Brahm

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-05-18)

I came across this statement made by Ajahn Brahm:

> After he became enlightened under the banyan tree, Mara came to him and said, ‘Okay, you’re enlightened, I admit it. Now don’t go teaching, it’s just too burdensome. Just enter parinibbana now, just disappear.’ The Buddha said, ‘No, I will not enter parinibbana. I will not leave this life until I have established the bhikkhu sangha, bhikkhuni sangha, laymen, and laywomen Buddhists: the four pillars of Buddhism.’ Forty-five years later, at the Capala Shrine, Mara came again and said, ‘You’ve done it! There are lots and lots of bhikkhunis enlightened, lots of bhikkhus enlightened, great laymen and laywomen Buddhists . . . so keep your promise,’ and [the Buddha] said, ‘Okay, in three months, I’ll enter parinibbana.’
> What those two passages from the suttas demonstrate is that it was the Buddha’s mission; it was why he taught—to establish those four pillars of the sangha.

I wonder what passages he's referring to? I understood the Buddha's immediately-post-enlightenment stance on teaching to have been a little more reluctant than this puts it, and ditto with his stance on an order of nuns.

**Tags:** the-buddha, texts, teaching


---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2024-05-19. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

The passage appears only found in the Maha-parinibbana Sutta: Last Days of the Buddha, which is unusual, given it appears not mentioned in the various other suttas or in the [Vinaya](https://suttacentral.net/pli-tv-kd1/en/brahmali?lang=en&layout=plain&reference=none¬es=none&highlight=true&script=latin) about the Buddha's enlightenment, at Uruvela, on the bank of the Nerañjara River.

> 42. "There was a time, Ananda, when I dwelt at Uruvela, on the bank of the Nerañjara River, at the foot of the goatherds' banyan-tree, soon
>     after my supreme Enlightenment. And Mara, the Evil One, approached me,
>     saying: 'Now, O Lord, let the Blessed One come to his final passing
>     away! Let the Happy One utterly pass away! The time has come for the
>     Parinibbana of the Lord.'
> 43. "Then, Ananda, I answered Mara, the Evil One, saying: 'I shall not come to my final passing away, Evil One, until my bhikkhus and
>     bhikkhunis, laymen and laywomen, have come to be true disciples —
>     wise, well disciplined, apt and learned, preservers of the Dhamma,
>     living according to the Dhamma, abiding by appropriate conduct and,
>     having learned the Master's word, are able to expound it, preach it,
>     proclaim it, establish it, reveal it, explain it in detail, and make
>     it clear; until, when adverse opinions arise, they shall be able to
>     refute them thoroughly and well, and to preach this convincing and
>     liberating Dhamma.
> 44. "'I shall not come to my final passing away, Evil One, until this holy life taught by me has become successful, prosperous,
>     far-renowned, popular, and widespread, until it is well proclaimed
>     among gods and men.'
> 45. "And again today, Ananda, at the Capala shrine, Mara, the Evil One, approached me, saying: 'Now, O Lord, bhikkhus and bhikkhunis,
>     laymen and laywomen, have come to be true disciples of the Blessed One
>     — wise, well disciplined, apt and learned, preservers of the Dhamma,
>     living according to the Dhamma, abiding in the appropriate conduct,
>     and having learned the Master's word, are able to expound it, preach
>     it, proclaim it, establish it, reveal it, explain it in detail, and
>     make it clear; and when adverse opinions arise, they are now able to
>     refute them thoroughly and well, and to preach this convincing and
>     liberating Dhamma.
>
> "'And now, O Lord, this holy life taught by the Blessed One has become
> successful, prosperous, far-renowned, popular and widespread, and it
> is well proclaimed among gods and men. Therefore, O Lord, let the
> Blessed One come to his final passing away! Let the Happy One utterly
> pass away! The time has come for the Parinibbana of the Lord.'
>
> 46. "And then, Ananda, I answered Mara, the Evil One, saying: 'Do not trouble yourself, Evil One. Before long the Parinibbana of the
>     Tathagata will come about. Three months hence the Tathagata will
>     utterly pass away.'
> 47. "And in this way, Ananda, today at the Capala shrine the Tathagata has renounced his will to live on."
>
> [Maha-parinibbana Sutta: Last Days of the Buddha](https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.16.1-6.vaji.html) or in brief [AN 8.70](https://suttacentral.net/an8.70/en/sujato?lang=en&layout=plain&reference=none¬es=none&highlight=true&script=latin)

Buddha's reluctance to teach to prompt Brahma's request: [MN 26](https://www.accesstoinsight.org/ati/tipitaka/mn/mn.026.than.html) or in brief [SN 6.1](https://suttacentral.net/sn6.1/en/sujato?lang=en&layout=plain&reference=none¬es=none&highlight=true&script=latin)

Buddha's reluctance to ordain women: [AN 8.51](https://suttacentral.net/an8.51/en/sujato?lang=en&layout=plain&reference=none¬es=none&highlight=true&script=latin)


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