List of the named Buddhas in the Pali Canon

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

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]
- Vipassī (the 998th Buddha of the vyuhakalpa)
- Sikhī (the 999th Buddha of the vyuhakalpa)
- Vessabhū (the 1000th and final Buddha of the vyuhakalpa)
- Kakusandha (the first Buddha of the bhadrakalpa)
- Koṇāgamana (the second Buddha of the bhadrakalpa)
- Kassapa (the third Buddha of the bhadrakalpa)
- 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:
- the three buddhas who lived before Dīpankara Buddha—Taṇhaṅkara, Medhaṅkara, and Saraṇaṅkara
- Dīpankara Buddha - the Buddha who gave the "prediction of future Buddhahood" (niyatha vivarana) to the Brahmin youth who would become Gautama Buddha.[4]
- Twenty-three more buddhas who appear after Dipanakara and before Gautama Buddha
- Gautama Buddha
- Metteyya Buddha
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
- 1002 buddhas of this Fortunate Aeon
- Bhadrakalpikasutra
- Buddhist deities
- Thirty-five buddhas of confession
- Five Tathagatas
Notes
- ↑ Robert E. Buswell Jr., Donald S. Lopez Jr., The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism (Princeton: 2014), s.v. Saptatathāgata
- ↑ Robert E. Buswell Jr., Donald S. Lopez Jr., The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism (Princeton: 2014), s.v. bhadrakalpa
- ↑ "Cakkavatti Sutta: The Wheel-turning Emperor". Access To Insight.
- ↑ "Life of the Buddha: Dīpankara's Prediction of Enlightenment". The Huntington Archive - The Ohio State University. Retrieved 2012-09-06.
- ↑ Malalasekera (2007), Buddha, pp. 294-305
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 7.0 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.
- ↑ Skt. Bodhirukka (tree of enlightenment)
- ↑ Malalasekera (2007), Bodhirukka, p. 319
- ↑ Ghosh, B (1987). "Buddha Dīpankara: twentyfourth predecessor of Gautama" (PDF). Bulletin of Tibetology. 11 (new series) (2): 33–8. ISSN 0525-1516.
- ↑ Malalasekera (2007), Revata, pp. 754-5
- ↑ Malalasekera (2007), Paduma, p. 131
- ↑ Malalasekera (2007), Padumuttara, pp. 136-7
- ↑ Malalasekera (2007), Piyadassi, p. 207
- ↑ Malalasekera (2007), Phussa, p. 257
- ↑ Prophecies of Kakusandha Buddha, Konagamana Buddha and Kassapa Buddha Archived 2011-07-13 at the Wayback Machine.
References
- Beal, S (1875). The romantic legend of Sâkya Buddha: from the Chinese-Sanscrit. London: Trubner & Company, Ludgate Hill.
- Malalasekera, GP (2007). Dictionary of Pāli proper names. Delhi, India: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited. ISBN 978-81-208-3020-2.
- Buswell Jr., RE; Lopez Jr., DS (2014). The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism (1st ed.). Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. pp. 106, 776. ISBN 978-0-691-15786-3.
- Morris, R, ed. (1882). "XXVII: List of the Buddhas". The Buddhavamsa. London: Pali Text Society. pp. 66–7.
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
Buddhavaṁsa, SuttaCentral
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