Scripture · Pāli Canon and Mahāyāna
Kinh Đại Bát Niết Bàn, the Great Discourse on the Final Nirvāṇa, is the name of two different texts, and the Inti Dharma library holds both. The first is the 16th discourse of the Long Discourses (Dīgha Nikāya, Pāli Canon), in the translation by Ven. Thích Minh Châu, telling of the Buddha's last months and his passing. The second is the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra (大般涅槃經), on the permanence of the Tathāgata and the Buddha-nature in every being; the library has two Vietnamese translations, in 40 and in 36 scrolls.
An introduction by Inti Foundation · updated
Quoted verbatim from the Vietnamese translation by Ven. Thích Minh Châu in the Inti Dharma library (Dīgha Nikāya 16): the Buddha's words to Ānanda after his grave illness at the village of Beluva.
Vậy nên, này Ānanda , hãy tự mình là ngọn đèn cho chính mình, hãy tự mình nương tựa chính mình, chớ nương tựa một gì khác. Dùng Chánh pháp làm ngọn đèn, dùng Chánh pháp làm chỗ nương tựa, chớ nương tựa một gì khác. Này Ānanda , thế nào là vị Tỷ-kheo hãy tự mình là ngọn đèn cho chính mình, tự mình nương tựa chính mình, không nương tựa một gì khác, dùng Chánh pháp làm ngọn đèn, dùng Chánh pháp làm chỗ nương tựa, không nương tựa một gì khác? Này Ānanda , ở đời, vị Tỷ-kheo, đối với thân quán thân, tinh tấn, tỉnh giác, chánh niệm, nhiếp phục mọi tham ái, ưu bi trên đời; đối với các cảm thọ … đối với tâm … đối với các pháp, quán pháp, tinh tấn, tỉnh giác, chánh niệm, nhiếp phục mọi tham ái, ưu bi trên đời.
Read the whole discourse →Vietnamese translations from the Linh Sơn canon. The 3-scroll text of the same name is, the translator's note says, text no. 7 of the canon.
The small line names the chapter that begins in that scroll.
Another translation; the small line names the chapters that begin in that scroll.
The Pāli discourse fills a single page, headed «DN 16: Kinh Đại Bát Niết-bàn», in six recitation sections, and follows the Buddha's steps from Rājagaha to Kusinārā. The Mahāyāna sūtra runs to many scrolls, one page per scroll; it opens in the grove of twin sāla trees at Kusinārā, as the Buddha is about to enter nirvāṇa, and most of it is dialogue with bodhisattvas such as Kāśyapa, Mañjuśrī and Lion's Roar.
The discourse opens on Vulture Peak, as King Ajātasattu plans to attack the Vajjīs; the Buddha sets out seven conditions that keep a community from decline. Then he sets out through Nālandā, Pāṭaligāma and Vesālī. During the rains at the village of Beluva he falls gravely ill; at the Cāpāla shrine he announces that he will pass away in three months. At Bhoganagara he teaches that whatever is presented as his word must be compared with the discourses and checked against the discipline. After the meal of Cunda the smith he falls ill again, yet walks on to Kusinārā.
Between the twin sāla trees he speaks of four holy places, accepts the wanderer Subhadda as his last disciple, says that after his passing the Dhamma and Discipline will be the teacher, then asks the monks three times whether any doubt remains. His last words recall that all conditioned things are impermanent and urge diligence. The discourse ends with the cremation and the division of the relics into eight portions.
The 40-scroll version has 13 chapters: scroll 1 opens on the fifteenth day of the second month, as the Buddha tells all beings that whoever still has doubts should come and ask for the last time; scroll 2 tells how Cunda asks to make the last offering. The 36-scroll version is another translation, in 25 chapters. The 2-scroll Latter Part tells of the Buddha's entry into nirvāṇa, the cremation and the division of the relics.
The sūtra says the Tathāgata's body is permanent, the Dharma body, and explains the four words permanence, bliss, self and purity: self is the Tathāgata, permanence the Dharma body, bliss nirvāṇa, purity the true Dharma. The chapter on the Nature of the Tathāgata teaches that all beings have Buddha-nature but do not see it because afflictions cover it. The chapter on Noble Conduct tells how, in a past life in the Himalayas, the Buddha was ready to give his body to hear the whole of a verse on impermanence (scroll 14); the chapter on Pure Conduct tells of King Ajātaśatru's remorse after killing his father (scrolls 19–20).
The Pāli discourse runs to about 33,000 words, some 133 minutes of reading, best taken one recitation section per sitting; choose «Cả 2» (both) to follow the English version alongside. Read the Mahāyāna sūtra scroll by scroll, each taking half an hour to an hour. The library has no PDF, recording or Chinese text yet.
It depends which. DN 16 tells of the Buddha's last months, his final instructions and his passing; the Mahāyāna sūtra teaches that the Tathāgata is permanent and that all beings have Buddha-nature.
The 16th discourse of the Long Discourses, listed in the library as «DN 16: Kinh Đại Bát Niết-bàn», with an English version.
The library has two versions: 40 scrolls in 13 chapters, and 36 scrolls in 25 chapters; plus the Latter Part in 2 scrolls.
Not yet. The library has no PDF or recording; you read online and can press «Tụng» (Chant) to let the text scroll to a wooden-fish beat.
