Maha Buddhavamsa - The Bodhisatta's Stay at the Seven Places

Maha Buddhavamsa
The Great Chronicle of The Buddhas
by Tipitakadhara Mingun Sayadaw

Edited and Translated by
U Ko Lay and U Tin Lwin

Chapter Eight

The Bodhisatta's Stay at the Seven Places

(1) The week on the throne (Pallanka-sattaha).

After attaining Buddhahood in this way, as the first waning day of the month of Vesakha newly broke, the Buddha breathed forth a solemn utterance of joy (udana), and while sitting cross-legged on the Aparajita Throne, he conceived an idea thus:

"In order to win this Aparajita Throne, I have moved from one birth to another over the period of four asankhyeyya and a hundred thousand aeons, fulfilling the ten Perfections several times in a unique manner. For four asankhyeyya and a hundred thousand aeons, in order to possess this Aparajita Throne, many a time have I cut off and given away my ornamented head; many a time-have I taken out and given away my two eyes and my heart; many a time have I given away my son such as Jali, my daughter such as Kanhajina and wife such as Maddi to those who asked for them as slaves. This is the Throne on which I have completely overcome the fivefold Mara. It is also a highly auspicious and glorious seat. While remaining on this seat all my wishes including the one to become a Buddha have been fulfilled. I will not get up yet from this Throne which I owe so much."

Thus the Buddha spent seven days on the Throne engaging in the fourth Jhana that led up to the Fruition of Arahantship the attainments of which numbering more than a hundred thousand crores.
Engaging thus in the Jhana for the whole first waning day of the month of Vesakha, the Buddha enjoyed the bliss of emancipation, vimutti (Bliss of Arahantship). During the first watch of the night of the first waning Vesakha moon, he contemplated the Doctrine of Paticcasamuppada (Dependent Origination) thus: "Avijja paccaya sankhara", "Because of ignorance (avijja), three kinds of mental formations (sankharas), namely, wholesome mental formations (punnabhisankhara), unwholesome mental formations (apunnabhisankhara) and static mental formations (ananjabhisankhara) arise. Beginning in this way the Buddha went on contemplating in forward order the process in which the round of suffering arose. Again he contemplated: "avijjaya tv'eva asesaviraganirodho sankhara nirodho", "Because of the complete cessation of ignorance by not arising through the Path of Arahantship, the three kinds of mental formations, namely, wholesome, unwholesome and static formations cease (by not arising)." Beginning thus the Buddha went on contemplating in backward order the process in which the round of suffering ceased.

(Here it should be particularly noted that, though the Buddha had clearly understood all the Doctrines, he contemplated only the Doctrine of Paticcasamuppada both in forward and backward orders because, when he took up Insight Meditation, he did so by initially reflecting on this Doctrine and also because this Doctrine is very subtle, deep and hard to discern.)

When the Buddha repeatedly reflected on this Doctrine in both forward and backward orders, he understood more and more, clearer and clearer, the process of the rise of suffering in samsara in forward order that, on account of the causes such as ignorance, etc., there arose incessantly the effects such as mental formation, etc.; in like manner the Buddha also understood the process of the cessation of samsaric suffering in backward order that, on account of the causes such as the cessation of ignorance, etc., (by not arising) there ceased the effects which were the cessation of mental formation, etc., (by not arising). This led to the continuous appearance in the Buddha of a series of such mental impulsions as Maha-kriya somanassasahagata nanasampayutta asankharika javana preceded by joyful satisfaction, piti in the heart.
When a vessel is filled with butter or oil up to its brim, the surplus will overflow; similarly, when the vessel of the Buddha's heart was filled with the oil of rapture preceded by the increasingly distinct knowledge of the Doctrine, the Buddha uttered an udana verse as thought it overflowed his heart:

Yada have patubhavanti dhamma
atapino jhayato brahmanassa
Athassa kankha vapayanti sabba
Yato pajanati sahetudhammam.

When the thirty two Constituents of Englightenment (Bodhipakkhiya Dhammas) appeared vividly in the mental continuum of an Arahant, who has rid himself of all that is evil, who is endowed with right exertion to heat up one thousand five hundred defilements, whose meditation is steadfast and keen to the extent of reaching the Path of Appana Jhana, by reflecting on the characteristics of impermanence, unsatisfactoriness and non-substantiality of various samatha objects such as breathing-out and breathing-in and of both material and mental aggregates; then on account of the vivid appearence of the thirty two Constituents of Englightment, he thoroughly knows the aggregate of suffering comprising ignorance, etc., as the causes and mental formations, etc., as the effects. On discerning clearly this Doctrine of Paticcasamuppada, all the doubts regarding the Doctrines or all the sixteen doubts regarding mind and matter that would occur in the three phases of time (past, present and future) owing to the ignorance of the Doctrine of Paticcasamuppada disappear in the mental continuum of that Arahant just as dewdrops vanish with the onset of sun heat.

When the middle watch of night came, the Buddha contemplated the Doctrine of Paticcasamuppada repeatedly in forward and backward orders throughout the watch. When he was contemplating, his knowledge of Nibbana, the cessation of the cause became clearer and clearer. This led to the continuous appearance in the Buddha of a series of such mental impulsion as Maha-kriya somanassa-sahagata nanasampayutta asankharika javana preceded by wisdom and rapture. Since he was unable to control that rapture, again he uttered another udana on account of that rapture preceded by wisdom as though the rapture spilled:

Yada have patubhavanti dhamma
atapino jhayato brahmanassa.
Athassa kankha vapayanti sabha
yato khayam paccayanam avedi.

When the thirty two Constituents of Enlightenment appeared vividly in the mental continuum of an Arahant, who has rid himself of all that is evil, who is endowed with right exertion to heat up one thousand five hundred defilements, whose meditation is steadfast and keen to the extent of reaching the Path and Appana Jhana, by reflecting on the characteristics of impermanence, unsatisfactoriness and non-substantiality of various samatha objects such as breathing-out and breathing-in and of both material and mental aggregates; then on account of this vivid appearance of the thirty two Constituents of Englightenment, he penetrated the unconditioned Nibbana, the cessation of all the causes such as ignorance, etc.. On discerning clearly the unconditioned ultimate Nibbana called the cessation of causes (paccayakkhaya) all the doubts that would occur owing to ignorance of Nibbana disappear in the mental continuum of that Arahant just as dewdrops vanish with the onset of sun heat.

When the last watch of the night came, the Buddha contemplated the Doctrine of Paticcasamuppada repeatedly in forward and backward orders throughout the watch. When he was thus contemplating, his knowledge of the noble Path that sees thoroughly the incessant going round and cessation of the cycle suffering became clearer and clearer. This led to the continuous of appearance in the Buddha of a series of such mental impulsions as Maha-Kriya somanassa-sahagata nanasampayutta asankharika javana preceded by wisdom and rapture. Since he was unable to control that rapture, still again he uttered a third udana on account of that rapture preceded by wisdom as though the rapture spilled:

Yada have patubhavanti dhamma
atapino jhayato brahmanassa
vidhupayam titthati marasenam
suriyo va obhasayam antalikkham.

When the thirty-two Constituents of Enlightenment appeared vividly in the mental continuum of an Arahant, who has rid himself of all that is evil, who is endowed with right exertion to heat up one thousand five hundred defilements, whose meditation is steadfast and keen to the extent of reaching the Path of Appana Jhana by reflecting on the characteristics of impermanence, unsatisfactioness and non-substantiality of various samatha objects such as breathing-out and breathing-in and of both material and mental aggregates; then just as the sun that rises and stands on the top of Mount Yugandhara, illuminating the whole vault of heaven with its own light, even so (that Arahant by means of the thirty-two Constituents of Enlightenment) crushes the ten Mara armies such as sensuality, etc., and remains in the brilliance of the torch of his wisdom resembling the sun.
(In the Udana Pali, it is stated that during the first watch of the night, the Doctrine of Paticcasamuppada was reflected on in forward order; during the middle watch, it was reflected on in backward order and during the last watch, it was reflected on in both forward and backward orders. This statement refers to the Buddha's reflection on the seventh night that completed his week-long stay on the Throne.)

After reflecting on the Doctrine of Paticcasamuppada in forward and backward orders throughout the three watches of the night of the first waxing moon of Vesakha, the Buddha uttered the aforesaid three verses of Udana; on the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh days too he remained on that Aparajita Throne, enjoying the bliss of Arahantship.

(2) The week of the Gaze (Animisa sattaha)

(The seven days during which the Buddha was gazing steadfastly at the Mahabodhi and the Aparajita Throne without closing his eyes are known as Animisa sattaha.)

After attainment of Buddhahood and enjoyment of the bliss of Arahantship (without changing his cross-legged position throughout the whole sitting) the Buddha remained on the Aparajita Throne for seven days. In the mental continuum of some ordinary Devas and Brahmas (other than those Ariya Devas and Brahmas who knew the attributes of the Buddha partially because they had the experience of attaining the Path and Fruition in the time of former Buddhas) there arose doubts as they wondered: "The Buddha has not yet got up from the Throne even up till now. Apart from the attributes he has already had, are there still other attributes that would enable him to attain Buddhahood?"
Then on the eighth day (the eighth waning moon) the Buddha got up from his enjoyment of the Arahantship; knowing about the doubts of the Devas and Brahmas, the Buddha rose up to the sky and performed the Twin Miracle of water and fire in order to eradicate their doubts. (The Twin Miracle displayed here at the Mahabodhi, that displayed at the congregation of his relatives in the city of Kapilavatthu, that displayed at the gathering formed because of the heretic Pathikaputta in the city of Vesali - these Twin Miracles were the same as that performed near the mango tree of Kandamba. The detailed description of the last will come up later.)
Having removed the doubts entertained by the Devas and Brahmas by performing the Twin Miracle of water and fire, the Buddha descended from the sky and stood erect like a golden-post on the spot to the easterly north (north-east) of the Aparajita Throne; pondering, "I have indeed attained Omniscience on this Throne of Aparajita", he spent seven days without closing his eyes but gazing at the Throne and the Mahabodhi where he had attained 'Arahattamagga nana and Sabbanuta nana' as a result of the Perfections fulfilled by him throughout the period of four asankhyeyyas and a hundred thousand aeons. That spot is known as Animisacetiya.

(3) The Week on the Walk (Cankama-sattaha)

When the third week came, the Buddha spent seven days, walking up and down on the jewel walk created by Devas and Brahmas and running from east to west between the Aparajita Throne and the Cetiya of the Gaze; at the same time he was reflecting on the Dhamma and getting absorbed in Phala samapatti meditating on the Fruition Attainment. That place is called Ratanacankama- Cetiya

(4) The Week at the golden house (Ratanaghara sattaha)

When the fourth week came, the Buddha reflected on the supreme doctrine of the Abhidhamma Pitaka while staying cross-legged at the Golden House (Ratanaghara) created by Devas and Brahmas at the corner to the north-west of the Mahabodhi.
According to the Jinalankara Tika, when the Buddha sat cross-legged in the Golden House and reflected on the Dhamma surveying the beings worthy of conversion, he discerned perfectly the course of practice composed of sila, samadhi and panna those convertible beings of Devas, humans and Brahmas world attain the noble state of the Path, Fruition and Nibbana by establishing themselves in morality through sila, by concentrating their minds through samadhi and by putting efforts in their attempt at Insight through Panna therefore the Buddha reflected first on Vinaya Pitaka which teaches sila, then on the Sutta Pitaka which teaches samadhi and lastly on the Abhidhamma Pitaka which teaches Panna.
When he came to reflect on the Abhidhamma Pitaka, he tackled first the lower (six) treaties of Dhammasangani, Vibhanga, Dhatukatha, Puggala Pannatti, Katha Vatthu and Yamaka; there occured no radiance of his six rays then because his Omniscience was comparatively vast and the doctrinal methods (in those treatises) were comparatively limited; the rays simply could not get activated yet. But when he contemplated the seventh treatise of all-embracing Patthana with an unlimited number of methods (anantanaya samanta), his Omniscience found the opportunity to display its extensive brilliance (just as the giant fish Timingala, one thousand Yojana in size, got a chance to play about in the great ocean.)
As the Buddha applied his mind to the most subtle and profound points in the all-embracing Patthana with an unlimited number of methods, there arose in the mental continuum of the Buddha great rapture. Because of the rapture, his blood became clearer; because of the clearer blood, his skin became cleaner; because of the cleaner skin, the rays of the size of a house or a mountain came out from the front part of his body and spread shooting through the numberless world system in the east just like Chaddanta, the king of elephants, flew across the sky.
In the same way, the rays appeared from the rear part of the Buddha and rushed to the numberless world-systems in the west; the rays appeared from the Buddha's right side and rushed to the numberless world-systems in the south; the rays appeared from the left side and rushed to the numberless world-systems in the north; and from the soles of the feet came out the coral-coloured rays, plunging into the space below after penetrating the mass of earth, the mass of water, and the mass of air; just as a sapphire studded chain was made to turn round and round, even so balls of blue rays arose one after another from his head, reaching the space above after passing through the six Deva-abodes and twenty Brahma-abodes of Kamavacara planes. At that time the numberless beings in the numberless world-systems shone with golden colour.

N.B. The rays emanating from the frame of the Buddha on the day he contemplated the Doctrine of Patthana are still moving towards the numberless world-systems even today as continuous chain of temperature-conditioned matter (utujarupa).

Prayer-verses eulogizing the six rays (Chabbana, ramsi Buddha Vandana).

In this connection, the prayer-verses eulogizing the six rays of the Buddha and their translations done by Mahavisuddharama Sayadaw will be reproduced here for the benefit of those seeking knowledge (sutakami).

(1) Sattasattahamajjhambi,
natho yo satta sammasi,
patva samantapatthanam okasam labhate tada

The noble Buddha, Lord of the three types of beings, reflected on the seven books of Abhidhamma, namely, Dhammasangani, Vibhanga, Dhatukatha, Puggala Pannatti, Kathavatthu, Yamaka, and Patthana while staying in the Ratanaghara in the middle of the seven weeks or during the middle seven of the forty-nine days of Pallanka-sattaha, Animisa-sattaha, Cankama-sattaha, Ratanaghara-sattaha, Ajapalasattaha, Mucalinda-sattaha and Rajayatana-sattaha; he reflected by means of his Omniscience that is incomparably deep, subtle and powerful owing to the variety of glorious Perfections fulfilled aeons after aeons. Then by applying his wisdom he reached the all-embracing Patthana which, with its various new methods, is even larger and deeper than the ocean, eighty-four thousand yojanas in size, surrounded by the range of rocky mountains; having reached the Patthana thus, his Omniscience that is incomparably deep, subtle and powerful owing to the variety of glorious Perfections fulfilled aeons after aeons got an opportunity to display its brilliance.

(2) Yojananam satayamo
panca timirapingalo
kil'okasam samudd'eva
gambhire labhate yatha.

To give an illustration for the purpose of comparison; the gigantic fish named Timirapingala, five hundred yojanas long, gets the chance to swim and play, flapping his tail, only in the ocean, eighty thousand yojanas in depth, fringed by mountains. Similarly, the Buddha's Omniscience uniquely profound, subtle and powerful owing to the variety of glorious Perfections fulfilled through successive aeons, had occasion to display its brilliance.

(3) Sammasantassa tam
tada satthu sarirato
Tam tam dhavanti chabbanna
lohitadi-pasidana.

When he had thus the occassion to display, the rays of six colours--blue, gold, white, red, pink and a massive brightness (of all these assorted colours) ran out overwhelmingly to all places, left and right, front and rear, above and below, from the Buddha's body of eighteen cubits' height, because of the clear and shining state of the blood, etc., of the Buddha who was reflecting on the Doctrine of Patthana (subtle) like atomic particles, the Teacher who poured out his words of advice from his cheerful, golden heart to those of the three worlds of Brahmas, Devas and humans.

(4) Nilayo nilatthanehi
pitodata ca lohita
tamha tamha tu manjettha
nikkhamimsu pabhassara.

From the blue parts (of the Buddha's physical frame) such as the hair and the pupil of the eye emanated blue rays about the size of a house or a mountain running away brightly, the rays that were somewhat grayish, somewhat bluish and somewhat greenish like butterfly-peas, blue lotus and blue collyrium making the whole sky and the earth blue, or like blue fans of rubies and cloths that were swinging gently and smoothly, have been running since the day the Buddha reflected on the Patthana up till now this evening.
From the yellow and golden parts of the Buddha's person such as the skin emanated the yellow and golden rays about the size of a house or a mountain running away brightly, the rays that covered the ten directions, making them all yellow like cloths of a gold sprinkled with the liquid of gold and spread out and placed in the the vicinity or like powders of saffron and realgar and (golden) kanikara flowers filling up the sky, have been running since the day the Buddha reflected on the Patthana up till now this evening.
From the white parts of his body such as the bones, the teeth and the white portions of the eyes emanated the white rays about the size of a house or a mountain, running away brightly, the rays that are like the stream of milk poured around from a silver jar, or like a silver canopy completely covering the sky, or like silver fans swinging gently and smoothly from the high clouds in the sky, or like silvery jasmine, maghya, white lotus, Sumana and muggara mixed together, have been running since the day the Buddha reflected on the Patthana up till now this evening.
From the red parts of his frame such as the eyes, the flesh and the blood emanated the red rays about the size of a house or a mountain, running away brightly, the red rays that are like the powder of red-lead, molten lac, shoe-flower (China rose), the flower of Pentapetes phoenicea (bandhujivaka puppha), the flower of the Indian coral tree (parijata) making the surface of land and water and the whole sky red, have been running since the day the Buddha reflected on the Patthana up till now this evening. Besides, from the various unascertainable spots of the Buddha's body emanated the rays of light and dark colours (manjettha) resulting from a mixture of black, red and blue and the rays of sparkling, flaming and glittering hues (pabhassara) about the size of a house or a mountain, running away brightly, the rays like the lighting in the sky during the month of Vesakha or like the skin of playful insects, or sparks of a blazing fire, have been running since the day the Buddha reflected on the Patthana up till now this evening.

(5) Evam chabbannaramsiyo
eta yavajjavasara
sabha disa vidhavanti
pabha nassanti tatthika.

Thus the six rays of blue, gold, white, red, darkish and glittering colours rushed in the directions of all ten quarters up till today, a time when the Buddha's teaching still shines forth. The rays of the body and the glory of those Brahmas and Devas that happened to be at kapparukkhas or wish-fulfilling trees, gardens and mansions along the course of the Buddha's six rays and that could illuminate the entire ten thousand world systems only by means of their ten fingers disappear being not capable of outdoing them.

(6) Iti chabbannaramsitta
angiraso ti namaso
loke patthatagunam tam
vande Buddham namassiyam.

To the Buddha, Lord of the world, who has earned the name Angirasa because he has possessed the rays of six colours in the aforesaid manner, who is endowed with the good reputation spreading up and down in the three worlds, who is worthy of honour done to him by the whole world, who knows the four Noble Truths thoroughly as though they were put on the palm of his hands like a lively ruby, the so-called I, whose body is found, on contemplation, to be composed of thirty-two portions of dirty, disgusting nature, pay homage repeatedly in full faith with my head bowing, recalling the time when the Lord was still alive.

The Patthana teaching is full of an unlimited number of methods like the sky; it is extensive like the mass of the earth; it is deep like the mass of water in the ocean. And yet its survey by the Buddha was completed within seven days because Omniscience is vast but quick in its application. The place where the Buddha contemplated the Dhamma-Jewel for seven days came to be known as Ratanaghara-cetiya.