The Buddha had been very sick when in Vesālī. After the Rainy Season Retreat (Vassa) in Vesālī he went with his disciples towards the northwest. On the way he had food offered by the blacksmith Cunda and became seriously ill. Finally he reached the bank of a river in Kusi?āra. After taking a bath he lay on his right side with his head resting on his right hand, on a hammock placed among four pairs of sala trees. Subsequently, all the recumbent (Sleeping) Buddha statues or the statues of the Buddha's Nibbāna have been modeled in this posture. The Buddha informed his disciples of the approach of his Nibbā?a, and all his disciples watched over him. At night, a Brahmin scholar named Subhadda came to see the Buddha. When Ananda tried to stop him, the Buddha called Subhadda to his bedside and preached a discourse for him, so Subhadda became the last disciple of the Buddha's lifetime. From the time he left Vesālī on the journey, the Buddha preached to his disciples many times and at midnight when he was about to die, he told them for the last time, "You should not think that you no longer have a teacher. Rather you should regard the teachings (Dhamma) as your teacher. Be diligent in striving for salvation. Never be indolent."
佛在毗舍離城的時候,已經(jīng)有了重病,在那里度過雨季后,偕弟子們向西北走去,路上受了鐵匠純陀(Cunda)供獻(xiàn)的食品,病更加劇。最后走到拘尸那伽一條河邊,洗了澡,在一處四方各有兩棵娑羅樹的中間安置了繩床,枕著右手側(cè)身臥著。后來所有臥佛像(即佛涅槃像)都是這樣的姿式。佛告知弟子們將要涅槃,弟子都守候著。夜間有婆羅門學(xué)者須跋陀羅(Subhadda)去見佛,阿難陀想擋住他,佛知道了,喚他到床前為他說法,于是須跋陀羅成了佛的最后的弟子。佛在毗舍離臨出發(fā)前和在途中為弟子們作了多次的教誨,到了那天半夜逝世前又最后囑咐弟子不要以為失去了導(dǎo)師,應(yīng)當(dāng)以法為師,要努力精進(jìn),不要放逸。
After the Buddha's death, his body was cremated. The remains were divided into eight portions by Magadha, the Sākya, and other states and then enshrined in thūpas constructed in the eight states. By the 3rd century BC a portion of the Buddha's Sarīra enshrined in Buddhagayā in Magadha was taken out by King A?oka and was divided into many portions to be stored in thūpas in different places. In 1898, archeologists discovered a Sarīra thūpa on the southern border of Nepal when they excavated an ancient location of Kapilavatthu. Inside the thūpa they found stone vases, urns and other articles. One of the vases was kept in an urn made of layers of iron and crystal. In the vase there was a golden flower with the Buddha's bones placed on it. The inscription on the urn indicates that this is the Buddha's Sarīra enshrined by the Sākyas.
佛逝世后,遺體舉行火化。摩揭陀國人和釋迦族等八國將佛的舍利分為八份,各在他們的本土上建塔安奉。其中摩揭陀國安奉在菩提伽耶的一份,到公元前三世紀(jì),被阿育王取出,分成許多份送到各地建塔。1898年,考古家在尼泊爾南境發(fā)掘迦毗羅國故址,發(fā)現(xiàn)一舍利塔,塔內(nèi)藏有石瓶石函等物;有一瓶放在鐵和水晶層迭的函內(nèi),里面有黃金花,花上安放著佛骨。從函上刻的文字知道這就是釋迦族供養(yǎng)的佛的舍利。