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Dear Members,
I have been contemplating the lifespans of different Buddhas as mentioned in the texts and noticed a significant contrast between them. For instance :
Buddha Human Lifespan Dīpankara Buddha 100, 000 years Kondañña Buddha 100, 000 years Mangala Buddha 90, 000 years Sumana Buddha 90, 000 years Revata Buddha 60, 000 years Sobhita Buddha 90, 000 years Anomadassi Buddha 100, 000 years Paduma Buddha 100, 000 years Nārada Buddha 90, 000 years Padumuttara Buddha 100, 000 years Sumedha Buddha 90, 000 years …
Kakusanda Buddha 40, 000 years Konāgamana Buddha 30, 000 years Kāssapa Buddha 20, 000 years Gautama Buddha 100 years Source: chronicle of buddhas
This raised a few questions :- Why was Gautama Buddha’s lifespan significantly shorter compared to the other Buddhas?
- Why did Gautama Buddha choose to be born in a time when the human lifespan was naturally shorter? If so, was there a specific reason for this choice?
- Wouldn’t it have been more beneficial for Gautama Buddha to wait until the human lifespan was longer, potentially allowing more time to teach and spread the Dhamma?
Could you all please help me out please.
Thank you in advance for your responses. :)1 user thanked author for this post.
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Getting answers to the questions you raised requires understanding the following:
1. Suppose a Deva dies and is born a human; when that human dies, he/she is reborn a Brahma. The human existence between Deva and Brahma existences is called “human bhava;“ it can last thousands or even millions of years. During that whole time, the essential part of the human is a subtle, invisible body called “manomaya kaya” or “gandhabba.” Thus, human existence is maintained by the gandhabba. It is born simultaneously with the death of the Deva, and at its death, a Brahma is born in this example.
- Within that human bhava, the human gandhabba can enter a womb and be born with a physical body (like ours); that birth with a physical and dense human body is called “jāti.” (Thus, many jāti can occur within a bhava, each time born with a different physical body.) The lifetime of that dense human body can vary from about ten years to about 100,000 years. That depends on the physical environment. Some physical environments can sustain a physical, dense human body for 100,000 years, and when the conditions are bad, it can be as low as tens of years.
- The change in environment is not linear. For example, even though a dense human body these days lasts about 100 years, it will decrease to about 10 years and then increase again to about 20,000 years (as I remember) before the next Buddha (Buddha Maitreya) appears.
- The “Mahāpadāna Sutta (DN 14)“ is another reference for those lifetimes during various Buddhas. The difference between bhava and jāti is discussed in “Bhava and Jāti – States of Existence and Births Therein.”
2. You asked: “Why did Gautama Buddha choose to be born in a time when the human lifespan was naturally shorter?”
- A Buddha (more correctly, a Bodhisatta) does not have control over when he attains Buddhahood. He may be born when the physical lifetime is long or short. Such things are “dhammatā,” which happen according to nature.
- That answers your third question, too.
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We can kind of blame Ananda for that, as he fumbled when Buddha gave Ananada a hint. I’m saying blame in a “joking” manner, of course.
“The Realized One has developed and cultivated the four bases of psychic power, made them a vehicle and a basis, kept them up, consolidated them, and properly implemented them. If he wished, the Realized One could live on for the eon or what’s left of the eon.”
“Ānanda, the misdeed is yours alone, the mistake is yours alone. For even though the Realized One dropped such an obvious hint, such a clear sign, you didn’t beg me to remain for the eon, or what’s left of it. If you had begged me, I would have refused you twice, but consented on the third time. Therefore, Ānanda, the misdeed is yours alone, the mistake is yours alone.”
Buddha would live for that long or longer but nobody asked for that where there was time to ask.
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@Christian: Can you provide the reference for your quote? Which sutta is it?
- It appears to be a (bad) translation issue.
- Please provide the link to the specific translation you quoted. Some have translated correctly.
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Let me put a link to the quote in the sutta:
The English translation there is: “The Realized One has developed and cultivated the four bases of psychic power, made them a vehicle and a basis, kept them up, consolidated them, and properly implemented them. If he wished, the Realized One could live for the proper lifespan or what’s left of it.”
What you quoted in your original comment was: ““The Realized One has developed and cultivated the four bases of psychic power, made them a vehicle and a basis, kept them up, consolidated them, and properly implemented them. If he wished, the Realized One could live on for the eon or what’s left of the eon.”
- So, the actual translation does not say eon.
Now the Pali verse is: “Tathāgatassa kho, ānanda, cattāro iddhipādā bhāvitā bahulīkatā yānīkatā vatthukatā anuṭṭhitā paricitā susamāraddhā. Ākaṅkhamāno, ānanda, tathāgato kappaṁ vā tiṭṭheyya kappāvasesaṁ vā”ti.”
- Kappa means a lifetime. It is incorrect to translate kappa as an “eon.”
An eon is a “mahā kappa” not a “kappa.”
- As I pointed out in my comment above, the lifetime of a human (kappa) during the time of the Buddha was similar to today, about 100 years.
- At the time of that conversation with Ven. Ananda, Buddha was about 80 years old. He told Ven. Ananda that he could live for another 20 years or so because he had cultivated “cattāro iddhipāda.”
- Even a Buddha would not be able to live for a mahā kappa, which is several billion years!
- The English translations in both links are fine. They say either “lifespan” or “kappa” indicating a lifetime of about 100 years. You seem to have misinterpreted it as a mahā kappa.
- I would say this is a common mistake many people make.
Please make it a habit to quote a reference properly. That will save a lot of time for others.
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From what I understood from the two videos below, it seems the reason for our Lord Buddha’s relatively short lifespan—compared to other Lord Buddhas—is because he was born as a “Pragñāvantha Bodhisattva.” From my understanding, “Pragñāvantha Bodhisattvas” can be born during periods when the human lifespan is short. However, “Sandhātika Bodhisattvas” are only born during times when the human lifespan is long.
The videos state that when a Buddha attains enlightenment, over 20 incalculable numbers of beings (worldlings) will achieve maggaphala. Therefore, during the lifetime of a “Sandhātika Bodhisattva,” all those 20 incalculable beings are able to attain maggaphala while that Buddha is still alive. After that Buddha’s parinibbāna, no new maggaphala attainments occur, and the Dhamma takes on more mundane meanings.
However, if a Pragñāvantha Bodhisattva is born during a time when the human lifespan is short, not all of the 20 incalculable beings will be able to reach enlightenment during that Buddha’s lifetime. To support the remainder, that Buddha establishes the Vinaya as a protective framework—so that those who could not attain maggaphala during his lifetime may still do so afterward.
I think the videos also seem to imply that the majority of beings during this Buddhantara have already achieved maggaphala, because the “path is short” for a Pragñāvantha Bodhisattva. So, it appears that for us, the time it takes to attain maggaphala is shorter compared to other Buddha Sāsanas.
Also, I would like to add that all Buddhas are equal in terms of their Buddhahood.
The links to the videos (both in Sinhala):
Video 1: https://waharaka.com/listen/CD026-22
Video 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PX9Mv3LBMqA&list=PLYgmOkzzAFGwPWd4LrJ2TVGbo59OfSAiE&index=51 -
I will listen to the videos and make some comments later.
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I listened to the first link, a discourse by Waharaka Thero. The following is the relevant summary.
1. There are three types of Buddhās: (i) Some cultivate the path to Buddhahood with “wisdom” (paññā). They are “පඥ්ඥා අධික.” (ii) Some have viriya (effort) predominant. They are “විරිය අධික.” (iii) Others have saddhā (faith) indriya predominant. They are “සද්ධා අධික.”
2. We all have five indriya or faculties: saddhā, viriya, sati, samādhi, paññā.
- Even when puthujjanas cultivates the Noble Path, they belong to two groups: Those who have paññā indriya dominant (dhammānusāri) and those who have the saddhā indriya dominant (saddhānusāri).
- See #2 of “Sōtapanna Anugāmi – No More Births in the Apāyās.”
3. Even though each Bodhisatta may have one indriya predominant, when attaining Buddhahood, they all reach the highest levels of all five indriya at Buddhahood.
- That is why all the Buddhas are equal.
- In the same way, even though puthujjanas start on the Noble Path as dhammānusāri or saddhānusāri, at the Arahant stage, they all become equal.
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Thank you very much, Lal Sir, for taking the time to listen to the discourse and provide such a clear and insightful summary 😁
It’s interesting, though, that it seems puthujjanas belong to only two categories and are never viriya (effort) predominant. Is it because the effort to find Nibbāna has already been accomplished by the Buddha?
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Yes, that is correct in a way.
- Even saddhā (faith) is based on understanding. Therefore, it is also related to paññā. One must be able to comprehend the teachings of the Buddha.
- Both dhammānusāri and saddhānusāri must cultivate all five indriya. There is no need to specifically cultivate each separately. All five indriya will grow as one cultivates the path.
- The main task is to learn (janato) and contemplate (passato) the correct teachings until the concepts sink into the mind: ““Jānato Passato” and Ājāniya – Critical Words to Remember.”
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