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List of the named Buddhas in the Pali Canon

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Sumedha, the youth who would after many reincarnations become Gautama Buddha, receiving his "prediction of future Buddhahood" (niyatha vivarana) from Dīpankara Buddha

There are two well-known lists of buddhas within the Pali Canon. The earlier texts of the canon identify seven buddhas, known as The Seven Buddhas of Antiquity (Saptatathāgata).[1] A later text, the Buddhavamsa, identifies a total of twenty-nine buddhas, including the future buddha Metteyya, who is prophesized to appear on earth as a successor to Gautama Buddha.

The seven buddhas of antiquity

An engraving of "The Seven Buddhas" at the Sanchi pilgrimage site in India.

In the earliest strata of texts in the Pali Canon, especially in the first four Nikayas, only seven buddhas of the past (Saptatathāgata) are explicitly mentioned.

According to tradition, these seven buddhas are a bridge between two eons (kalpas): the "glorious eon" (vyūhakalpa) "fortunate eon" (bhadrakalpa). The first three buddhas in the list are the last buddhas of the "glorious eon," and the next four buddhas are the first buddhas of the "fortunate eon":[2]

  1. Vipassī (the 998th Buddha of the vyuhakalpa)
  2. Sikhī (the 999th Buddha of the vyuhakalpa)
  3. Vessabhū (the 1000th and final Buddha of the vyuhakalpa)
  4. Kakusandha (the first Buddha of the bhadrakalpa)
  5. Koṇāgamana (the second Buddha of the bhadrakalpa)
  6. Kassapa (the third Buddha of the bhadrakalpa)
  7. Gautama (the fourth and present Buddha of the bhadrakalpa)

The Cakkavatti-Sīhanāda Sutta from the Digha Nikaya also mentions that following the Seven Buddhas of Antiquity, a Buddha named Metteyya is predicted to arise in the world.[3]

The 29 named Buddhas

The following list identifies the twenty-nine buddhas named in the Buddhavamsa. This list includes, in chronological order:

Pāli name[5][6][7] Sanskrit name Bodhi tree[8][6][7][9] Incarnation of Gautama[7]
1 Taṇhaṅkara Tṛṣṇaṃkara Rukkaththana
2 Medhaṅkara Medhaṃkara Kaela
3 Saraṇaṅkara Śaraṇaṃkara Pulila
4 Dīpaṃkara Dīpaṃkara Pipphala Sumedha (also Sumati or Megha Mānava, a rich Brahman)[10]
5 Koṇḍañña Kauṇḍinya Salakalyana Vijitawi (a Chakravarti in Chandawatinagara of Majjhimadesa)
6 Maṅgala Maṃgala a naga Suruchi (in Siribrahmano)
7 Sumana Sumanas a naga King Atulo, a Naga
8 Revata [11] Raivata a naga A Veda-versed Brahman
9 Sobhita Śobhita a naga Sujata, a Brahman (in Rammavati)
10 Anomadassi Anavamadarśin ajjuna A Yaksha king
11 Paduma [12] Padma salala A lion
12 Nārada Nārada sonaka a tapaso in Himalayas
13 Padumuttara [13] Padmottara salala Jatilo an ascetic
14 Sumedha Sumedha nipa Native of Uttaro
15 Sujāta Sujāta welu a chakravarti
16 Piyadassi [14] Priyadarśin kakudha Kassapa, a Brahmin (at Siriwattanagara)
17 Atthadassi Arthadarśin champa Susino, a Brahman
18 Dhammadassī Dharmadarśin bimbajala Indra, the leader of the gods (devas)
19 Siddhattha Siddhārtha kanihani Mangal, a Brahman
20 Tissa Tiṣya assana King Sujata of Yasawatinagara
21 Phussa [15] Puṣya amalaka Vijitavi
22 Vipassī Vipaśyin patali King Atula
23 Sikhī Śikhin pundariko Arindamo (at Paribhuttanagara)
24 Vessabhū Viśvabhū sala Sadassana (in Sarabhavatinagara)
25 Kakusandha Krakucchanda airisa King Khema[16]
26 Koṇāgamana Kanakamuni udumbara King Pabbata of a mountainous area in Mithila
27 Kassapa Kāśyapa nigroda Jotipala (at Vappulla)
28 Gotama (current) Gautama (current) Asatu Bodhi Gautama, the Buddha
29 Metteyya Maitreya Naga Bodhi

For an expanded version of this chart, with additional details, see Chart of the twenty-nine buddhas - expanded.

See also

Notes

  1. Robert E. Buswell Jr., Donald S. Lopez Jr., The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism (Princeton: 2014), s.v. Saptatathāgata
  2. Robert E. Buswell Jr., Donald S. Lopez Jr., The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism (Princeton: 2014), s.v. bhadrakalpa
  3. "Cakkavatti Sutta: The Wheel-turning Emperor". Access To Insight. 
  4. "Life of the Buddha: Dīpankara's Prediction of Enlightenment". The Huntington Archive - The Ohio State University. Retrieved 2012-09-06. 
  5. Malalasekera (2007), Buddha, pp. 294-305
  6. 6.0 6.1 Davids, TWR; Davids, R (1878). "The successive bodhisats in the times of the previous Buddhas". Buddhist birth-stories; Jataka tales. The commentarial introduction entitled Nidana-Katha; the story of the lineage. London: George Routledge & Sons. pp. 115–44. 
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 Horner, IB, ed. (1975). The minor anthologies of the Pali canon. Volume III: Buddhavaṁsa (Chronicle of Buddhas) and Cariyāpiṭaka (Basket of Conduct). London: Pali Text Society. ISBN 0-86013-072-X. 
  8. Skt. Bodhirukka (tree of enlightenment)
  9. Malalasekera (2007), Bodhirukka, p. 319
  10. Ghosh, B (1987). "Buddha Dīpankara: twentyfourth predecessor of Gautama" (PDF). Bulletin of Tibetology. 11 (new series) (2): 33–8. ISSN 0525-1516. 
  11. Malalasekera (2007), Revata, pp. 754-5
  12. Malalasekera (2007), Paduma, p. 131
  13. Malalasekera (2007), Padumuttara, pp. 136-7
  14. Malalasekera (2007), Piyadassi, p. 207
  15. Malalasekera (2007), Phussa, p. 257
  16. Prophecies of Kakusandha Buddha, Konagamana Buddha and Kassapa Buddha Archived 2011-07-13 at the Wayback Machine.


References

Further reading

  • Law, BC, ed. (1938). "The lineage of the Buddhas". The Minor Anthologies of the Pali Canon: Buddhavaṃsa, the lineage of the Buddhas, and Cariyā-Piṭaka or the collection of ways of conduct (1st ed.). London: Milford. 
  • Takin, MV, ed. (1969). "The lineage of the Buddhas". The Genealogy of the Buddhas (1st ed.). Bombay: Bombay University Publications. 
  • Vicittasarabivamsa, U (1992). "Chapter IX: The chronicle of twenty-four Buddhas". In Ko Lay, U; Tin Lwin, U. The great chronicle of Buddhas, Volume One, Part Two (PDF) (1st ed.). Yangon, Myanmar: Ti=Ni Publishing Center. pp. 130–321. 

External links

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