| Translations of Parinirvana | |
|---|---|
| English | Nirvana after death, Nirvana without remainder, Nirvana without residue |
| Sanskrit | परिनिर्वाण (IAST:parinirvāṇa) |
| Pali | parinibbāna |
| Burmese | ပရိနိဗ္ဗာန် (MLCTS:pa.ri.nibban) |
| Chinese | 般涅槃 (Pinyin:bōnièpán) |
| Indonesian | parinirwana |
| Japanese | 般涅槃 (Rōmaji:hatsunehan) |
| Khmer | បរិនិព្វាន (UNGEGN:bârĭnĭpvéan) |
| Korean | 반열반 (RR:banyeolban) |
| Lao | ປະລິນິພພານ (palinipphan) |
| Sinhala | පරිනිර්වාණය (parinirvāṇaya) |
| Tibetan | མྱང་འདས། (myang 'das) |
| Tagalog | pawinilbana |
| Thai | ปรินิพพาน (RTGS:parinipphan) |
| Glossary of Buddhism | |
InBuddhism,Parinirvana (Sanskrit:parinirvāṇa;Pali:parinibbāna) describes the state entered after death by someone who has attainednirvana during their lifetime. It implies a release fromSaṃsāra,karma andrebirth as well as the dissolution of theskandhas.
In someMahāyāna scriptures, notably theMahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra,parinirvāṇa is described as the realm of the eternal trueSelf of the Buddha.
In theBuddha in art, the event is represented by areclining Buddha figure, often surrounded by disciples.
In the Buddhist view, when ordinary people die, each person's unresolved karma passes on to a new birth; and thus, the karmic inheritance is reborn in one of theSix Paths ofsamsara. However, when a person attains nirvana, they are liberated from karmic rebirth. When such a person dies, it is the end of the cycle of rebirth.[1] Contemporary scholar Rupert Gethin explains:[1]
Eventually, 'the remainder of life' will be exhausted and, like all beings, such a person must die. But unlike other beings, who have not experienced 'nirvāṇa', he or she will not be reborn into some new life, the physical and mental constituents of being will not come together in some new existence, there will be no new being or person. Instead of being reborn, the person 'parinirvāṇa-s', meaning in this context that the five aggregates of physical and mental phenomena that constitute a being cease to occur. This is the condition of 'nirvāṇa without remainder [of life]' (nir-upadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa/an-up ādisesa-nibbāna): nirvāṇa that comes from ending the occurrence of the aggregates (skandha/khandha) of physical and mental phenomena that constitute a being; or, for short, khandha-parinibbāna. Modern Buddhist usage tends to restrict 'nirvāṇa' to the awakening experience and reserve 'parinirvāṇa' for the death experience.
Accounts of the purported events surrounding the Buddha's parinirvāṇa are found in a wide range of Buddhist canonical literature. In addition to the Pāli Mahāparinibbāna sutta (DN 16) and its Sanskrit parallels, the topic is treated in theSaṃyutta-nikāya (SN 6.15) and the several Sanskrit parallels (T99 p253c-254c), the Sanskrit-basedEkottara-āgama (T125 p750c), and other early sutras preserved in Chinese, as well as in most of the Vinayas preserved in Chinese of the early Buddhist schools such as theSarvāstivādins and theMahāsāṃghikas. The historical event of the Buddha's parinirvāṇa is also described in several later works, such as the SanskritBuddhacarita, theAvadāna-śataka, and the PāliMahāvaṃsa.
According to Bareau, the oldest core components of all these accounts are just the account of the Buddha'sparinirvāṇa itself atKuśinagara and the funerary rites following his death.[2] He deems all other extended details to be later additions with little historical value.
TheParinirvana of theBuddha is described in theMahaparinibbana Sutta. Because of its attention to detail, thisTheravadasutta, though first committed to writing hundreds of years after his death, has been resorted to as the principal source of reference in most standard studies of the Buddha's life.[3]
In contrast to these works which deal with the Buddha'sparinirvāṇa as a biographical event, theMahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa sūtra was written hundreds of years later.[4] The Nirvana Sutra does not give details of the historical event of the day of theparinirvāṇa itself, except the Buddha's illness andCunda's meal-offering, nor any of the other preceding or subsequent incidents, instead using the event as merely a convenient springboard for the expression of standard Mahayana ideals such as theTathagata-Garbha/Buddha-Dhatu doctrine, the eternality of the Buddha, and the soteriological fate of theIcchantikas and so forth.[5]
It has been suggested by Waddell that the site of the death andparinirvana ofGautama Buddha was in the region ofRampurva: "I believe that Kusīnagara, where the Buddha died may be ultimately found to the North ofBettiah, and in the line of theAśōka pillars which lead hither fromPatna (Pāțaliputra)"[6] in Bihar. It still awaits proper archaeological excavation.
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According to theMahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra (also called theNirvana Sutra), the Buddha taught thatparinirvāṇa is the realm of the Eternal, Bliss, theSelf, and the Pure. Dr. Paul Williams states that it depicts the Buddha using the term "Self" to win over non-Buddhist ascetics.[7] However, theMahaparinirvana Sutra is a long and highly composite Mahayana scripture,[8] and the part of the sutra upon which Williams is basing his statement is a portion of the Nirvana Sutra of secondary Central Asian provenance - other parts of the sutra were written in India.[9]
Guang Xing speaks of how the Mahayanists of theNirvana Sutra understand themahaparinirvana to be the liberated Self of the eternal Buddha:[10]
One of the main themes of theMMPS [Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra] is that the Buddha is eternal ... The Mahayanists assert the eternity of the Buddha in two ways in theMMPS. They state that the Buddha is thedharmakaya, and hence eternal. Next, they reinterpret the liberation of the Buddha asmahaparinirvana possessing four attributes: eternity, happiness, self and purity.
Only in Mahaparinirvana is this True Self held to be fully discernible and accessible.[11]
Kosho Yamamoto cites a passage in which the Buddha admonishes his monks not to dwell inordinately on the idea of the non-self but to meditate on the Self. Yamamoto writes:[12]
Having dwelt upon the nature of nirvana, the Buddha now explains its positive aspect and says that nirvana has the four attributes of the Eternal, Bliss, the Self, and the Pure ... the Buddha says: "O you bhiksus [monks]! Do not abide in the thought of the non-eternal, sorrowful, non-Self, and the not-pure and have things as in the case of those people who take the stones, wooden pieces, and gravel for the true gem [of the true Dharma] ... In every situation, constantly meditate upon the idea of the Self, the idea of the Eternal, Bliss, and the Pure ... Those who, desirous of attaining Reality meditatively cultivate these ideas, namely, the ideas of the Self [atman], the Eternal, Bliss, and the Pure, will skilfully bring forth the jewel, just like the wise person."
Michael Zimmermann, in his study of theTathagatagarbha Sutra, reveals that not only theMahaparinirvana Sutra but also theTathagatagarbha Sutra and theLankavatara Sutra speak affirmatively of the Self. Zimmermann observes:[13]
The existence of an eternal, imperishable self, that is, Buddhahood, is the basic point of theTGS [Tathagatagarbha Sutra] ... theMahaparinirvanasutra and theLankavatarasutra characterize thetathagatagarbha explicitly asatman [Self].
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