Bv 29The Distribution of the Relics

– BUDDHAVAMSA

29. The Chapter on the Distribution of the Relics:

Inda-bh 1The great, noble Victor Gotama attained Nirvana at Kusinārā. There was a distribution of relics from that land to various places everywhere.

Inda-bh 2One portion belonged to (King) Ajātasattu. One portion was at the city of Vesālī. One portion was at Kapilavatthu. And one portion was for the people at Allakappa.

Inda-bh 3And one portion was at Rāmagāma. And one portion was for the people at Veṭṭhadīpa. One portion was for the Malla people at Pāvā. And one portion was for the people at Kusinārā.

Inda-bh 4The brahmin named Doṇa built a stupa for the urn (containing the relics). The Moriya people, with joyful hearts, built a stupa to enshrine the ashes.

Inda-bh 5At that very time, eight stupas (enshrining) relics, the stupa of the urn being the ninth, and the stupa enshrining the ashes being the tenth, were established.

Inda-bh 6One canine tooth was in the city of the Tāvatiṃsa heaven, one was in the Nāga realm, one was in the territory of Gandhāra, and one belonged to the king of the Kaliṅga land.

Inda-bh 7The devas, in succession according to each world, carried away forty equal teeth and all the hair of the body.

Inda-bh 8The bowl, the staff, and the robe of the Blessed One are at Madhurā. The inner garment is at Kusaghara. The sleeping mat is at (the city of) Kapila.

Inda-bh 9The water vessel and the girdle are at the city of Pāṭaliputta. The water-strainer is at Campā. And the hair between the eyebrows is at Kosala.

Inda-bh 10The monastic robe is in the Brahma realm. The head-cloth is in the city of the Tāvatiṃsa heaven. The footprint at Pāsāṇaka is supreme and also an imperishable footprint. At that time, the sitting mat and the sleeping mat are in the kingdom of Avantipura.

Inda-bh 11And the fire-striker is at Mithilā. The water-strainer is at Videha. At that time, the razor together with the needle-case is at the city of Indapatta.

Inda-bh 12At that time, the people of the border regions preserved the remaining requisites that had been used by the Sage.

Inda-bh 13At that time, the ancient record (porāṇikaṁ) has stated: "Out of compassion for living beings, there was a distribution of the relics of the Great Sage Gotama."

Here ends the Chapter on the Distribution of the Relics.

The Buddhavamsa is concluded.