Did Eating Pork Trigger Buddha's Death?

Pali Canon has three main sections: 

1. Vinaya Pitaka

2. Sutta Pitaka

3. Abhidhamma Pitaka

And Sutta Pitaka consists of five collections, among which Digha Nikaya (DN) is the first. This Pali Canon is traditionally considered to have been settled at the first Council at Rajagaha three months after the death of Gotama the Buddha. In Pali it is Siddhattha Gotama, Sutta (discourse) and Nibbana whereas in Sanskrit it is Siddhartha Gautama, Sutra and Nirvana. For this reason I shall use the Pali version instead of Sanskrit!

Mahaparinibbana Sutta: The Great Passing The Buddha's Last Days of the Digha Nikaya records an interesting event. The Buddha was now around 80 years old. And after having stayed at Bhoganagara, Buddha told Ananda that they leave for Pava. At Pava Buddha gave a discourse on Dhamma to Cunda, the smith, who came to seek an audience with the Buddha. Then Cunda invited Buddha and his order of monks for a meal. Cunda went home and had a fine meal prepared with an abundance of ' sukara-maddava'. ( Sukara= pig, Maddava= gentle/soft.) Maurice Walshe, in his translation of the DN to English, uses the phrase "pig's delight" to translate "sukara-maddava'.

Butddha  came the next day with his order of monks to Cunda's house. After being seated for a meal, Buddha said, " Serve the 'pig's delight' that has been prepared to me, and serve the remaining hard and soft food to the order of monks." Buddha and the monks are to eat just once a day; gluttony as it is in other religious/philosophical tradition was not considered proper. And after a moderate meal Buddha told Cunda, " Whatever is left over of the 'pig's delight' you should bury in a pit, because, Cunda, I can see none in the world with its devas, maras, and Brahmas, in this generation with its ascetics and Brahmins, its princes and people who, if they were to eat it, could thoroughly digest it except the Tathagata". ( 'Tathagatha' refers to Buddha himself here.) 

Having eaten the 'pig's delight' Buddha had a "bloody diarrhoea'  and he had severe pain as if he were close to death. Buddha, of course, as an 'enlightened one' was not upset with Cunda for the meal. Rather he taught his disciples that if anyone would serve a meal after which a Tathagatha attains supreme enlightenment or nibbana, that giver's deed would be profitable and fruitful. Sometime later the same Sutta records  Buddha traveling to different towns, but it also records Buddha as repeating " I am tired and want to lie down". One may infer that the 'bloody diarrhoea' had token its toll on Buddha's health, considering that he was in his 80's. However, even before eating of this 'pig's delight' Buddha was well aware that his time was near. Ten pages before the record of his eating of 'pig's delight', Buddha had told Mara, the Evil one, similar to the Serpent of the Bible, that three months from then on he would take the final Nibana. So when the time arrived for Buddha to pass away, whether the 'pig's delight' triggered the death or not, he would have entered his last phase on this earth. 

Besides the above point, the other matter that emerges is whether Buddhist can eat meat/pork or not. Commenting on this point, Maurice Walshe writes that Buddha tells that monks were not to eat meat if they knew or suspect that the animal was killed specially for them. Buddha had in fact rejected  proposal to forbid meat eating as such. Since the monks were living on alms, if they had refused meat they would be embarrassing the household that offered them food or otherwise starved if they refused meat altogether. Eastern Theravada Buddhists have been mostly non-vegetarians! 

NB: Quotations in the post are from The Long Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Digha Nikaya, trans. by Maurice Walshe, (Wisdom Publication; Boston), 1995.

Shiv Sena Supremo Bal Thackeray is No More

Bal Thackeray ( 23rd Jan, 1926- 17th Nov. 2012) is no more. As a fearless politician, he courted controversy so much so that one Deccan Herald put is " Bal Thackeray: The tiger roars no more." Since a dead man is in no position to defend his views and position on various matters, I am not going to engage with him on those matters. As a political party, however, Shiv Sena will be in the news. And both bouquets and brickbats will be showered on it. And the same applies to other political parties as well. 

How much ever fearless and brave one might be or how much ever rich and powerful one might be, one cannot escape DEATH. If we sit back and reflect, we shall realise that death is just so close to us all the time. Due to its closeness, some people are sucked in to their death while walking on a road or going on a train/bus or playing games and similar mundane activities. And only when someone close to us passes away, we normally reflect on the preciousness of the moment that we now have. What am I doing with my life now? How helpful have I been to people around me? What will happen to me after I die? These questions are profoundly important. And yet many a times we ignore them. 

In my experience knowing who Jesus Christ is has been profoundly helpful in answering these questions that confront -- or should confront, every human person. The answers that come about open up one's mind so clearly that it's as if a huge cloud of mystery or darkness has been moved away. The reason why it is so is because Jesus Christ has been the only person on the face of the earth who has conquered death. Everybody goes through death, including Jesus or Lazarus. But even those who died and came back to life die again. No one lives forever. Jesus Christ is the only one who died yet was raised to life, and is not going to die anymore. And this Jesus, who is living, gives to those who come to him a new sense of direction; a purpose of life that is meaningfully meaningful. 

Getting the right answer about death can give the right answer to this life here and now.

Some Advice for Spouse Seeker

Whom to marry is a major decision is life. Since it is said that divorce involves so much of stress for both husband and wife and also for the children, it is important to take thoughtful decision before getting into a marital relationship. In a society like that of India marriage between two individuals bring together two families. But most importantly he becomes part of her family; and she his family. Marriage is not a  relationship just between the boy and the girl; it goes beyond that. 

The approach that people use to find their life partner differs from region to region and people to people. So what I share here may not be relevant to every individual. But considering that we are show respect to our parent there may be certain thing that can be beneficial to most people. In certain place Matrimonial column in the newspaper provides people  the opportunity to connect with one another. In other places it's face to face interaction that results in a closer relationship. In the North East India, it will be fair to say that no one really takes the help of Matrimonial column. 

If you have seen a nice girl, before you approach her, think first whether your parent will approve or not. If your parent will not approve, drop the idea. Knowing that your parent will not approve and therefore you will be able to marry her, if you deceive her into a relationship, you are being a bad guy. Since we are to respect our parent, it is important to take their opinion into consideration. Generally parent will agree, but it's possible that there could be certain things we have not thought about in the first place, and because of that same reason they now oppose the marriage. If you have approached the girl and arrived at an "agreement" and later your parents strongly disapprove of it when you tell  them of your plan to marry this girl, you have got yourself into a big problem. You can't just discard the girl because you would have got emotionally entangled with her; moreover, it's also not fair to treat someone like a pair of dress -- discarding it whenever it does not fit into your scheme of things. At the same time you can't also just ignore your parents; after all they are the one who give you birth and children are to show respect to their parents. So in order to avoid such headache it's best to take one's parent's view before getting into a relationship.