Thirty Things that Invariably Happen with the Buddhas

Editor’s Note: The following translation is from the commentary of the Lineage of the Buddhas (Buddhavaṁsa), one of the late books in the Pāḷi Canon, which is traditionally attributed to Ven. Buddhadatta, a younger contemporary of Ven. Buddhaghosa.

It comes near the end of the commentary, in a section describing miscellaneous matters, and gives a list of the thirty things that invariably happen with all the Buddhas, which serves to elevate the events in the life of our Gotama Buddha to mythic status.

In fact though, the whole text of the Buddhavaṁsa, which gives details of various matters in the lives of twenty-seven previous Buddhas, all of which are based on Gotama’s life, but with variations in names, places, times, etc. is aimed at that very same project.

For those who wish to see the Pāḷi, the text together with the translation can be found in the Reference section of the Ancient Buddhist Texts website, where it is also available in pdf format.

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1. At the moment of descent into his mother’s womb the Buddha-to-be has full awareness that this is his final rebirth [1]
2. After sitting cross legged in his Mother’s womb, looking towards the front [2]
3. The delivery of the Buddha-to-be’s Mother while standing [3]
4. Exiting his Mother’s womb only in a forest wilderness [4]
5. With his feet placed on golden cloth, while facing the north, after taking seven strides,
   and looking to the four directions, the roaring of a lion’s roar [ref]The lion’s roar are the verses he spoke just after birth: I am the greatest in the world, I am the elder in the world, I am the best in the world. This is my last birth, there is no more rebirth for me (DN 14).[/ref] [5]
6. After seeing the four signs, [ref]That is, the sign of sickness, old-age, death and a renunciant at peace. They are sometimes referred to as the devadūta, the messenger’s from the gods, as they were made by the gods so that the Awakening Being would make his renunciation.[/ref] and as soon as a son is born, [ref]Gotama Buddha renounced the world the day his son Rāhula was born.[/ref] the great renunciation of the Great Brings [6]
7. After going forth wearing the flag of the Worthy Ones [ref]This means the yellow robe, traditionally worn by ascetics, in their quest for Awakening.[/ref] and so forth, with the cutting off of all low (states), striving for seven days (at least) [ref]Siddhattha practiced for six years, but that is because of an unwholesome deed he did in the past (see Why the Buddha Suffered elsewhere on this website). The minimum time an Awakening Being must practice, as stated here, is seven days.[/ref] [7]
8. The eating of milk-rice meal on the day he attains Complete Awakening [ref]The meal was given to Siddhattha by Sujāta, traditionally held to be the Mother of Yasa. She later became one of his first lay women disciples (upāsikā), and along with Yasa’s former wife, her daughter-in-law, she was one of the first women to attain Stream-Entry.[/ref] [8]
9. Reaching omniscience [ref]That is, attained Awakening; the grass was given to Siddhattha by Sotthiya.[/ref] after sitting on a spread of grass, [9]
10. The preparation of his meditation using the subject of in-breathing and out-breathing [10]
11. The crushing of Māra’s army [ref]At the foot of the Bodhi Tree, following which he develops his concentration and insight.[/ref] [11]
12. After gaining the three knowledges and so on while sitting cross-legged at the Bodhi (Tree), acquiring the virtue of the knowledges not shared (with others) [ref]This goes further than simply attaining Awakening, and implies the six special knowledges available only to a Sammāsambuddha: knowledge of others’ faculties, underlying tendencies, the double-miracle, the great compassion, omniscience and unobstructed knowledge (see Paṭisambhidāmagga 68 ff).[/ref] and so on [12]
13. Spending seven times seven days in the vicinity of the Bodhi Tree [ref]Immediately after the Awakening. The Buddha spent seven days looking gratefully at the Bodhi Tree (this is known as the unblinking worship, animisapūjā), and seven weeks in the broad vicinity of the Bodhi Tree, before walking to Isipatana, near Bārāṇasī.[/ref] [13]
14. The request for him to preach the Dhamma being made by Mahā Brahmā [ref]At the end of the seventh week.[/ref] [14]
15. The Rolling of the Dhamma-Wheel in the Deer Park at Isipatana [ref]Taught to the five ascetics, and a large assembly of gods. This is the preaching of the Dhammacakkapavattanasuttaṁ, the Discourse which set the Dhamma-Wheel Rolling, seventeen versions of which still survive.[/ref] [15]
16. The recitation of the (Ovāda) Pātimokkha to the assembly endowed with four qualities [ref]This was in the first year of the Awakening. The qualities are: they all had the same preceptor, the Buddha himself; they were all Worthy Ones (Arahanta); they arrived spontaneously at the gathering; and the Buddha gave the Ovādapātimokkha: Not doing any bad deeds, undertaking wholesome deeds, and purifying one’s mind – this is the teaching of the Buddhas.[/ref] on the full moon day of Māgha [ref]Normally falling in January.[/ref] [16]
17. Regularly residing in Jeta’s Wood [ref]The Buddha eventually made Sāvatthi, and particularly Jeta’s Wood his base. [/ref] [17]
18. The performance of the twin miracle [ref]Performed to confute the heretics, it consisted of emitting fire and water from his body.[/ref] at the gate of the city of Sāvatthi [ref]Which was the capital of Kosala.[/ref] [18]
19. The preaching of the Abhidhamma in the Realm of the Thirty-Three [ref]Traditionally said to have been in the seventh Rains Retreat. Tāvatiṁsa is held to be two worlds above our own.[/ref] [19]
20. The descent from the world of the gods [ref]This means at the end of the Rains Retreat teaching the Abhidhamma.[/ref] to the gate of city of Saṅkassa [ref]One of the more westerly cities in the Middle Country.[/ref] [20]
21. The entering into fruition-attainment [ref]This is the ability to produce the supermundane consciousness that arises when attaining awakening.[/ref] regularly [21]
22. The looking for the people who are capable of being led (to Awakening) on two occasions [ref]In the PTS edition this reads: Dvīsu jhānesu, in two absorptions; if that reading is correct I do not understand the reference at all; if the adopted reading is correct, then it possibly means, the occasion after Mahā Brahmā had requested him to teach, when he looked for someone to give the first teaching to; and in the mornings, when he would look around the world to see who could be brought to Awakening that day.[/ref] [22]
23. The declaration of the precepts only when an occasion arises [ref]That is, he doesn’t produce a disciplinary code in the abstract, like a constitution, but through precedent, as in English common law.[/ref] [23]
24. The narration of the Birth-Stories when an occasion for relating their meaning has arisen [24]
25. The narration of the Lineage of the Buddhas in an assembly of his relatives [ref]The book that this is a commentary on. This was directly after performing the double-miracle, and at the urging of Ven. Sāriputta, at the head of five-hundred Worthy Ones. [/ref] [25]
26. The giving of a kind reception to incoming monks [26]
27. Not departing at the end of the Rains Retreat without asking those who invited him [27]
28. Day by day performing his duties before the meal, after the meal, and in the first, middle and last watch of the night [28]
29. The eating of a meal consisting of flesh on the day he attains Final Emancipation [29]
30. After attaining the twenty-four hundred thousand thousand million (2,400,000,000,000,000) attainments, the attainment of Final Emancipation [30]