The Last Meal Of Buddha- How did Buddhasl Died

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How did the Buddha die?
Binh Anson
Here is another Version worth understanding
His death is steeoed in mystry !!
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I. THE SHORT ANSWER
The Buddha died of old age, when he was eighty years old. The death was triggered by his body reaction to a dish of wild mushroom. He died peacefully and mindfully.


II. THE LONG ANSWER
In order to know the last day of the Buddha, we should read books on his life or better still, read the recorded suttas. The best source is the Maha Parinibbana Sutta (Kinh Dda.i Ba't Nie^'t Ba`n) from the Pali collection of the Digha Nikaya (Tru+o+`ng Bo^. Kinh), or the Wandering Sutra (Kinh Du Ha`nh) from the Sanskrit/Chinese collection of the Digha Agama (Tru+o+`ng A Ha`m). There is a separate Chinese sutra, The Maha Parinirvana Sutra, which was also translated into Vietnamese, but this script has been widely regarded as being composed at a very late stage (about 200-400 AD).


II.1. References
In English:

[1] Last Days of the Buddha - The Maha Parinibbana Sutta, 1988. Sister Vajira and Francis Story. Buddhist Publication Society, Sri Lanka.

[2] Thus I have heard - The Long Discourses of the Buddha (Digha Nikaya), 1987. Maurice Walshe. Wisdom Publication, USA.

[3] The Buddha and his teachings, 1980. Narada Mahathera. Buddhist Publication Society, Sri Lanka (Ddu+'c Pha^.t va` Pha^.t Pha'p, translated by Pha.m Kim Kha'nh).

In Vietnamese:

[4] Tru+o+`ng Bo^. Kinh (Digha Nikaya), 1991. Thi'ch Minh Cha^u\. Vie^.n Nghie^n cu+'u Pha^.t ho.c, Vietnam (translated from the Pali script).

[5] Tru+o+`ng A Ha`m (Digha Agama), 1991. Thi'ch Tri' Ti.nh. Vie^.n Nghie^ n cu+'u Pha^.t ho.c, Vietnam (translated from the Chinese script).

[6] Ddu+o+`ng xu+a ma^y tra('ng, 1992. Thi'ch Nha^'t Ha.nh. La' Bo^'i, USA (English version: Old path, White cloud).

Personally, I prefer Ref. [1]. The sutta was beautifully translated into English with thorough footnotes and explanation. It is a small and inexpensive booklet (US$ 3.50 plus postage), which can be obtained from:

The Buddhist Publication Society
54, Sangharaja Mawatha
Kandy. SRI LANKA

or in USA:

Bodhi Tree Bookstore
8585 Melrose Avenue
West Hollywood. CA 90069
Tel. (310) 659 1733

II.2. The last meal
The last meal offered to the Buddha was prepared by Cunda, the metalworker [1]:

"... And Cunda, the metalworker, after the night had passed, had choice food, hard and soft, prepared in his abode, together with a quantity of sukara-maddava, ..."

".... And with the sukara-maddava prepared by him (Cunda), he served the Blessed One; and with the other food, hard and soft, he served the community of bikkhus."

"Thereafter, the Blessed One spoke to Cunda, saying: "Whatever, Cunda, is left over of the sukara-maddava, bury that in a pit. For I do not see in all this world, with its gods, Maras and Brahmas, among the host of ascetics and brhamins, gods and men, anyone who could eat it and entirely digest it except the Tathagata alone."

In the translation from the Pali script, "SUKARA-MADDAVA" was not translated in the English version [1; 2; 3], although Walshe translated it as "pig's delight" [2]. However, the Vietnamese versions contain the words "na^'m" (mushroom) and "mo^.c nhi~" (edible black fungus) [4; 5; 6]. In some other books, which I forgot the exact titles, the terms "pork meat, boar meat" were used. According to many Pali scholars [1; 2]:

sukara: pig, boar
maddava: delicate, well-liked, soft, tender

So, sukara-maddava may nean:

(1) the tender parts of a pig or boar
(2) what is enjoyed by pigs or boars, which may be referred to a mushroom or truffle, or a yam or tuber.

In some other commentaries, sukara-maddava was also mentioned as a "medicinal plant" in classic Indian medicine, or as "young bamboo shoots trampled by pigs".

All the current scholar monks agree with the meaning of "mushroom or truffle", and I concur with them. According to the monastic rules, the monks are not allowed to eat meat from animals specifically killed to make food for them. The meaning of sukara-maddava as "pork/boar meat" is thus not appropriate here.

II.3. The last hours
3.1 "And soon after the Blessed One had eaten the meal provided by Cunda, a dire sickness fell upon him, even dysentery, and he suffered sharp and deadly pains. But the Blessed One endured them mindfully, clearly understanding and unperturbed.

" Then the blessed One spoke to the venerable Ananda, saying: "Come, Ananda, let us go to Kusinara."

3.2 He was thirsty and asked Ananda to get some water from a nearby stream which was quite muddy and turbid. However, when Ananda took the bowl to the stream, the water became clear, pure and pleasant.

3.3 He met Pukkusa of the Malla clan, taught him about the state of calmness of those who had gone forth from the world (ie. the monks and nuns). Pukkasa was impressed, asked to be ordained, and took refuge in the Triple Gems. It is noted that in this part of the Sutta, as well as in many other Discourses, the Pali recitation of the 3 Refuges which is still recited in many Theravadin countries in present time was presented:

Buddham Saranam Gachami (I take the refuge in the Buddha)
Dhammam Saranam Gachami (I take the refuge in the Dhamma)
Sangham Saranam Gachami (I take the refuge in the Sangha)

3.4 When ordaining Pukkusa, the Buddha and Ananda accepted new robes offered by him. When Ananda helped the Buddha changing robe, he observed the skin of the Buddha becoming exceedingly clear and radiant. The Buddha told him that there were only two occasions when the Tathagata's body was in such state: Nibanna (Enlightenment) and Parinibanna (Final Passing Away). The Buddha told Ananda that He would enter Parinibbana in the last watch of that night.

3.5 He then took a rest, and advised Ananda to tell Cunda, the metalworker, not to have any remorse because of that last meal. He told Ananda that there were two equally important meals which had been offered to him: the one offered to him before Enlightenment and the one before Parinibanna.

He then spoke of the importance of generosity, moral conduct, and mind training (Dana, Sila, Bhavana - Bo^' thi', Tri` gio+'i, Thie^`n ddi.nh):

"Who gives, his virtues shall increase;
Who is self-curbed, no hatred bears;
Whoso is skilled in virtues, evil shuns,
And by the rooting out of lust and hate
And all delusion, comes to be at peace".

3.6 The Buddha went to Mallas's sala grove, in the vicinity of Kusinara, and asked Ananda to prepare a couch for him, between the twin sala trees, with the head to the north. He then instructed Ananda on how to respect and venerate Him:

"... Whatever bikkhu or bikkhuni, layman or laywoman, abides in the Dhamma, lives uprightly in the Dhamma, walks in the way of the Dhamma, it is by such a one that the Tathagata is respected, venerated, esteemed, worshipped and honoured in the highest degree. Therefore, Ananda, thus should youtrain yourselves: 'We shall abide by the Dhamma, live uprightly in the Dhamma, walk in the way of the Dhamma.' ..."

3.7 The Budhha advised all beings present at the site, including many deities, that:

"Impermanent are all compounded things. How could this (his imminent death) be otherwise?"

3.8 The Buddha advised Ananda on the four places a pious person should visit and look upon with feelings of reverence: His birth place, the place where He became enlightened, the place where He gave the first discourse (Setting the Dhamma Wheel in Motion), the place where He passed away.

3.9 When Ananda asked how should he treat the Buddha's body after death, the Buddha said:

"Do not hinder yourselves, Ananda, to honour the body of the Tathagata. Rather you should strive, Ananda, and be zealous on your own behalf, for your own good. Unflinchingly, ardently and resolutely you should apply yourselves to your own good."

3.10 When Ananda was weeping, the Buddha told him:

"Enough, Ananda! Do not grieve, do not lament. For have I not taught from the very beginning that with all that is dear and beloved, there must be change, separation and severence? Of that which is born, come into being, compounded, and subject to decay, how can one say: 'May it not come to dissolution' ? There can be no such state of things ... Now you should put forth energy, and soon you too will be free from the taints."

3.11 The Buddha taught Sabhadda, a wandering ascetic, about the Noble Eightfold Path, and admitted him into the Order. Sabhada was the last disciple.

3.12 The Buddha told Ananda and other bikkhus that after his death, they should abide to his teaching as their teacher:

"Ananda, what I have taught and explained to you as Dhamma and discipline will be your teacher when I am gone."

3.13 The Buddha asked all the monks whether they had any doubts or uncertainty about the Buddha, the Dhamma, the Sangha, or about the path or the practice. He asked them three times but they all kept silent.

3.14 And the Buddha addressed the monks, saying:

" Behold now, bikkhus, I declare to you: all conditioned things are of a nature to decay. Strive on with earnestness."

These were the last words of the Tathagata.

3.15 The Buddha then entered the first jhana, the second jhana, the third jhana, the fourth jhana. Then he entered the sphere of Infinite Space, the sphere of Infinite Conciousness, the sphere of Nothingness, the sphere of Neither-perception-nor-nonperception. Then, he attained the cessation of feeling and perception.

Leaving the attainment of cessation of feeling and perception, he entered the sphere of Neither-perception-nor-nonperception, the sphere of Nothingness, the sphere of Infinite Conciousness, the sphere of Infinite Space. Then he entered the fourth jhana, the third jhana, the second jhana, the first jhana.

Leaving the first jhana, he entered the second jhana, the third jhana, the fourth jhana.Leaving the fourth jhana, the Blessed One immediately passed away.

II.4. What can I learn ?
Every time I read the Maha Parinibbana Sutta [1; 2], I always discover something new to my understanding of the Dhamma:

(1) The Buddha reached Enlightenment when he was 35 years old, but he still lived on to the age of 80, to teach the Dhamma and the path to liberation. His body, however, was just like our body consisting of the five heaps (skandas: form, feeling, perception, volition, and conciousness), and thus subjected to decay and death.

(2) The food prepared by Cunda, the metalworker, was not poisonous, but could be regarded as a catalyst triggering his death.

(3) Enduring the pain with calmness and mindfulness, he continued to teach the Dhamma to his followers to the last moment, and accepted two more disciples.

(4) He was also very thorough in instructing Ananda not to blame Cunda for the last meal, by summarising his teaching in Generosity - Moral Conduct - Mind Training, instructing the people to revere the Dhamma, instructing the monks how to keep the Dhamma alive as their guide and teacher after his death, and also made sure that his teachings were fully understood by his disciples by asking them three times. His final words were again a Dhamma on the impermanent nature of things, and an advice to his disciples to continue their training effort.

(5) He approached the final moment with dignity, peace and mindfulness as he had always advocated: entering into all stages of meditative absorptions, and without attachment, leaving them behind before passing away.

Binh Anson,
Perth, Western Australia
September 1996


Second VERSION
Here is another Version worth understanding
His death is steeoed in mystry !!
Go ahaead and read !!
------
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How the Buddha died
Venerable Dr Mettanando Bhikkhu
Bangkok Post, May 15, 2001


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During Wesak Day, we are informed that it is also the day Buddha attained Parinibbana. But not many know how the Buddha died. Ancient texts weave two stories about the Lord Buddha's death. Was it planned and willed by the Buddha, or was it food poisoning, or something else altogether? Here's an account

-ooOoo-

The Mahaparinibbana Sutta, from the Long Discourse of Pali Tipitaka, is without doubt the most reliable source for details on the death of Siddhattha Gotama (BCE 563-483), the Lord Buddha. It is composed in a narrative style that allows readers to follow the story of the last days of the Buddha, beginning a few months before he died.

To understand what really happened to the Buddha is not a simple matter, though. The sutta, or discourse, paints two conflicting personalities of the Buddha, one overriding the other.

The first personality was that of a miracle worker who beamed himself and his entourage of monks across the Ganges River (D II, 89), who had a divine vision of the settlement of gods on earth (D II, 87), who could live until the end of the world on condition that someone invite him to do so (D II, 103), who determined the time of his own death (D II, 105), and whose death was glorified by the shower of heavenly flowers and sandal powder and divine music (D II, 138).

The other personality was that of an aged being who was failing in health (D II, 120), who almost lost his life because of a severe pain during his last retreat at Vesali (D II, 100), and who was forced to come to terms with his unexpected illness and death after consuming a special cuisine offered by his generous host.

These two personalities take turns emerging in different parts of the narrative. Moreover, there also appear to be two explanations of the Buddha's cause of death: One is that the Buddha died because his attendant, Ananda, failed to invite him to live on to the age of the world or even longer (D II, 117). The other is that he died by a sudden illness which began after he ate what is known as "Sukaramaddava" (D II, 127-157).

The former story was probably a legend, or the result of a political struggle within the Buddhist community during a stage of transition, whereas the latter sounds more realistic and accurate in describing a real life situation that happened in the Buddha's last days.

A number of studies have focused on the nature of the special cuisine that the Buddha ate during his last meal as being the agent of his death. However, there is also another approach based on the description of the symptoms and signs given in the sutta, which modern medical knowledge can shed light on.

In another mural painting at Wat Ratchasittharam, the Lord Buddha is approaching death, but he still takes time to answer questions put forth by the ascetic Subhadda, his last convert who, after being admitted to the Buddhist Order, became an arahant (enlightened monk).

What we know

In the Mahaparinibbana Sutta, we are told that the Buddha became ill suddenly after he ate a special delicacy, Sukaramaddava, literally translated as "soft pork", which had been prepared by his generous host, Cunda Kammaraputta. The name of the cuisine has attracted the attention of many scholars, and it has been the focus of academic research on the nature of the meal or ingredients used in the cooking of this special dish.

The sutta itself provides details concerning the signs and symptoms of his illness in addition to some reliable information about his circumstances over the previous four months, and these details are also medically significant.

The sutta begins with King Ajatasattus' plot to conquer a rival state, Vajji. The Buddha had journeyed to Vajji to enter his last rainy-season retreat. It was during this retreat that he fell ill. The symptoms of the illness were sudden, severe pain.

However, the sutta provides no description of the location and character of his pain. It mentions his illness briefly, and says that the pain was intense, and almost killed him.

Subsequently, the Buddha was visited by Mara, the God of Death, who invited him to pass away. The Buddha did not accept the invitation right away. It was only after Ananda, his attendant, failed to recognise his hint for an invitation to remain that he died. This piece of the message, though tied up with myth and supernaturalism, gives us some medically significant information. When the sutta was composed, its author was under the impression that the Buddha died, not because of the food he ate, but because he already had an underlying illness that was serious and acute-and had the same symptoms of the disease that finally killed him.

The Timing

Theravada Buddhist tradition has adhered to the assumption that the historical Buddha passed away during the night of the full moon in the lunar month of Visakha (which falls sometime in May to June). But the timing contradicts information given in the sutta, which states clearly that the Buddha died soon after the rainy-season retreat, most likely during the autumn or mid-winter, that is, November to January.

A description of the miracle of the unseasonal blooming of leaves and flowers on the sala trees, when the Buddha was laid down between them, indicates the time frame given in the sutta.

Autumn and winter, however, are seasons that are not favourable for the growth of mushrooms, which some scholars believe to be the source of the poison that the Buddha ate during his last meal.

Diagnosis

The sutta tells us that the Buddha felt ill immediately after eating the Sukaramaddava. Since we do not know anything about the nature of this food, it is difficult to name it as the direct cause of the Buddha's illness. But from the descriptions given, the onset of the illness was quick.

While eating, he felt there was something wrong with the food and he suggested his host have the food buried. Soon afterward, he suffered severe stomach pain and passed blood from his rectum.

We can reasonably assume that the illness started while he was having his meal, making him think there was something wrong with the unfamiliar delicacy. Out of his compassion for others, he had it buried.

Was food poisoning the cause of the illness? It seems unlikely. The symptoms described do not indicate food poisoning, which can be very acute, but would hardly cause diarrhoea with blood. Usually, food poisoning caused by bacteria does not manifest itself immediately, but takes an incubation period of two to 12 hours to manifest itself, normally with acute diarrhoea and vomiting, but not the passage of blood.

Another possibility is chemical poisoning, which also has an immediate effect, but it is unusual for chemical poisoning to cause severe intestinal bleeding. Food poisoning with immediate intestinal bleeding could only have been caused by corrosive chemicals such as strong acids, which can easily lead to immediate illness. But corrosive chemicals should have caused bleeding in the upper intestinal tract, leading to vomiting blood. None of these severe signs are mentioned in the text.

Peptic ulcer diseases can be excluded from the list of possible illnesses as well. In spite of the fact that their onset is immediate, they are seldom accompanied by bloody stool. A gastric ulcer with intestinal bleeding produces black stool when the ulcer penetrates a blood vessel. An ulcer higher up in the digestive tract would be more likely to manifest itself as bloody vomiting, not a passage of blood through the rectum.

Other evidence against this possibility is that a patient with a large gastric ulcer usually does not have an appetite. By accepting the invitation for lunch with the host, we can assume that the Buddha felt as healthy as any man in his early 80s would feel. Given his age we cannot rule out that the Buddha did not have a chronic disease, such as cancer or tuberculosis or a tropical infection such as dysentery or typhoid, which could have been quite common in the Buddha's time.

These diseases could produce bleeding of the lower intestine, depending on their location. They also agree with the history of his earlier illness during the retreat. But they can be ruled out, since they are usually accompanied by other symptoms, such as lethargy, loss of appetite, weight loss, growth or mass in the abdomen. None of these symptoms were mentioned in the sutta.

A large haemorrhoid can cause severe rectal bleeding, but it is unlikely that a haemorrhoid could cause severe abdominal pain unless it is strangulated. But then it would have greatly disturbed the walking of the Buddha to the house of his host, and rarely is haemorrhoid bleeding triggered by a meal.

Mesenteric infarction

A disease that matches the described symptoms-accompanied by acute abdominal pain and the passage of blood, commonly found among elderly people, and triggered by a meal-is mesenteric infarction, caused by an obstruction of the blood vessels of the mesentery. It is lethal. Acute mesenteric ischaemia (a reduction in the blood supply to the mesentery) is a grave condition with a high rate of mortality.

The mesentery is a part of the intestinal wall that binds the whole intestinal tract to the abdominal cavity. An infarction of the vessels of the mesentery normally causes the death of the tissue in a large section of the intestinal tract, which results in a laceration of the intestinal wall.

This normally produces severe pain in the abdomen and the passage of blood. The patient usually dies of acute blood loss. This condition matches the information given in the sutta. It is also confirmed later when the Buddha asked Ananda to fetch some water for him to drink, indicating intense thirst.

As the story goes, Ananda refused, as he saw no source for clean water. He argued with the Buddha that the nearby stream had been muddied by a large caravan of carts. But the Buddha insisted he fetch water anyway.

A question arises at this point: Why did the Buddha not go to the water himself, instead of pressing his unwilling attendant to do so? The answer is simple. The Buddha was suffering from shock caused by severe blood loss. He could no longer walk, and from then to his death bed he was most likely carried on a stretcher.

If this was indeed the situation, the sutta remains silent about the Buddha's travelling to his deathbed, possibly because the author felt that it would be an embarrassment for the Buddha. Geographically, we know that the distance between the place believed to be the house of Cunda and the place where the Buddha died was about 15 to 20 kilometres. It is not possible for a patient with such a grave illness to walk such a distance.

More likely, what happened was that the Buddha was carried on a stretcher by a group of monks to Kusinara (Kushinagara).

It remains a point of debate whether the Buddha really determined to pass away at this city, presumably not much larger than a town. From the direction of the Buddha's journey, given in the sutta, he was moving north from Rajagaha. It is possible that he did not intend to die there, but in the town where he was born, which would have taken a period of three months to reach.

From the sutta, it is clear that the Buddha was not anticipating his sudden illness, or else he would not have accepted the invitation of his host. Kusinara was probably the nearest town where he could find a doctor to take care of him. It is not difficult to see a group of monks hurriedly carrying the Buddha on a stretcher to the nearest town to save his life.

Before passing away, the Buddha told Ananda that Cunda was not to be blamed and that his death was not caused by eating Sukaramaddava. The statement is significant. The meal was not the direct cause of his death. The Buddha knew that the symptom was a repeat of an experience he'd had a few months earlier, the one which had almost killed him.

Sukaramaddava, no matter the ingredients or how it was cooked, was not the direct cause of his sudden illness.

Progression of the disease

Mesenteric infarction is a disease commonly found among elderly people, caused by the obstruction of the main artery that supplies the middle section of the bowel-the small intestine-with blood. The most common cause of the obstruction is the degeneration of the wall of the blood vessel, the superior mesenteric artery, causing severe abdominal pain, also known as abdominal angina.

Normally, the pain is triggered by a large meal, which requires a higher flow of blood to the digestive tract. As the obstruction persists, the bowel is deprived of its blood supply, which subsequently leads to an infarction, or gangrene, of a section of the intestinal tract. This in turn results in a laceration of the intestinal wall, profuse bleeding into the intestinal tract, and then bloody diarrhoea.

The disease gets worse as the liquid and content of the intestine oozes out into the peritoneal cavity, causing peritonitis or inflammation of the abdominal walls. This is already a lethal condition for the patient, who often dies due to the loss of blood and other fluid. If it is not corrected by surgery, the disease often progresses to septic shock due to bacterial toxins infiltrating the blood stream.

Retrospective analysis

From the diagnosis given above, we can be rather certain that the Buddha suffered from mesenteric infarction caused by an occlusion of the superior mesenteric artery. This was the cause of the pain that almost killed him a few months earlier during his last rainy-season retreat.

With the progress of the illness, some of the mucosal lining of his intestine sloughed off, and this site became the origin of the bleeding. Arteriosclerosis, the hardening of the vessel wall caused by ageing, was the cause of the arterial occlusion, a small blockage that did not result in bloody diarrhoea, but is a symptom, also known to us as abdominal angina.

He had his second attack while he was eating the Sukaramaddava. The pain was probably not intense in the beginning, but made him feel that there was something wrong. Suspicious about the nature of the food, he asked his host to have it all buried, so that others might not suffer from it.

Soon, the Buddha realised that the illness was serious, with the passage of blood and more severe pain in his abdomen. Due to the loss of blood, he went into shock. The degree of dehydration was so severe that he could not maintain himself any longer and he had to take shelter at a tree along the way.

Feeling very thirsty and exhausted, he got Ananda to collect water for him to drink, even though he knew that the water was muddied. It was there that he collapsed until his entourage carried him to the nearest town, Kusinara, where there would have been a chance of finding a doctor or lodging for him to recover in.

It was probably true that the Buddha got better after drinking to replace his fluid loss, and resting on the stretcher. The experience with the symptoms told him that his sudden illness was the second attack of an existing disease. He told Ananda that the meal was not the cause of his illness, and that Cunda was not to blame.

A patient with shock, dehydration and profuse blood loss usually feels very cold. This was the reason why he told his attendant to prepare a bed using four sheets of ifsanghati nf. According to Buddhist monastic discipline, a ifsanghati nfis a cloak, or extra piece of robe, very large, the size of a bed sheet, which the Budd ha allowed monks and nuns to wear in winter.

This information reflects how cold the Buddha felt because of his loss of blood. Clinically, it is not possible for a patient who is in a state of shock with severe abdominal pain, most likely peritonitis, pale and shivering, to be ambulatory.

The Buddha was most likely put into a lodging, where he was nursed and warmed, located in the city of Kusinara. This view is also confirmed with the description of Ananda who, weeping, swoons and holds onto the door of his lodge after learning that the Buddha was about to pass away.

Normally, a patient with mesenteric infarction could live 10 to 20 hours. From the sutta we learn that the Buddha died about 15 to 18 hours after the attack. During that time, his attendants would have tried their best to comfort him, for example, by warming the room where he was resting, or by dripping some water into his mouth to quench his lingering thirst, or by giving him some herbal drinks. But it would be highly unlikely that a shivering patient would need someone to fan him as is described in the sutta.

Off and on, he may have recovered from a state of exhaustion, allowing him to continue his dialogues with a few people. Most of his last words could have been true, and they were memorised by generations of monks until they were transcribed. But finally, late into the night, the Buddha died during a second wave of septic shock. His illness stemmed from natural causes coupled with his age, just as it would for anyone else.

Conclusion

The hypothesis outlined above explains several scenes in the narrative of the sutta, namely, the pressuring of Ananda to fetch water, the Buddha's request for a fourfold cloak for his bed, the ordering of the meal to be buried, and so on.

It also reveals another possibility of the actual means of transportation of the Buddha to Kusinara and the site of his death bed. Sukaramaddava, whatever its nature, was unlikely to have been the direct cause of his illness. The Buddha did not die by food poisoning. Rather, it was the size of the meal, relatively too large for his already troubled digestive tract, that triggered the second attack of mesenteric infarction that brought an end to his life./.

Dr Mettanando Bhikkhu was a physician before entering the monkhood. He is currently based at Wat Raja Orasaram, Thailand.

-ooOoo-

Here is Another version froom Wikipedia

The time of Gautama's birth and death are uncertain: most early 20th-century historians dated his lifetime as c. 563 BCE to 483 BCE,[3] but more recent opinion dates his death to between 486 and 483 BCE or, according to some, between 411 and 400 BCE.[4][5] UNESCO lists Lumbini, Nepal, as a world heritage site and birthplace of Gautama Buddha.[6][7] There are also claims about birth place of Gautama Buddha to be Kapilavastu at Piprahwa, Uttar Pradesh, or Kapileswara, Orissa, modern India.[8][9][10][11][12] He later taught throughout regions of eastern India such as Magadha and Kośala.[13][14]

Mahaparinirvana
The Buddha's entry into Parinirvana. Sanskrit manuscript. Nālandā, Bihar, India. Pāla period.
The sharing of the relics of the Buddha, Zenyōmitsu-Temple Museum, TokyoAccording to the Mahaparinibbana Sutta of the Pali canon, at the age of 80, the Buddha announced that he would soon reach Parinirvana, or the final deathless state, and abandon his earthly body. After this, the Buddha ate his last meal, which he had received as an offering from a blacksmith named Cunda. Falling violently ill, Buddha instructed his attendant Ānanda to convince Cunda that the meal eaten at his place had nothing to do with his passing and that his meal would be a source of the greatest merit as it provided the last meal for a Buddha.[43] Mettanando and von Hinüber argue that the Buddha died of mesenteric infarction, a symptom of old age, rather than food poisoning.[44] The precise contents of the Buddha's final meal are not clear, due to variant scriptural traditions and ambiguity over the translation of certain significant terms; the Theravada tradition generally believes that the Buddha was offered some kind of pork, while the Mahayana tradition believes that the Buddha consumed some sort of truffle or other mushroom. These may reflect the different traditional views on Buddhist vegetarianism and the precepts for monks and nuns.

Ananda protested the Buddha's decision to enter Parinirvana in the abandoned jungles of Kuśināra (present-day Kushinagar, India) of the Malla kingdom. Buddha, however, is said to have reminded Ananda how Kushinara was a land once ruled by a righteous wheel-turning king that resounded with joy:

44. Kusavati, Ananda, resounded unceasingly day and night with ten sounds—the trumpeting of elephants, the neighing of horses, the rattling of chariots, the beating of drums and tabours, music and song, cheers, the clapping of hands, and cries of "Eat, drink, and be merry!"
The Buddha then asked all the attendant Bhikkhus to clarify any doubts or questions they had. They had none. According to Buddhist scriptures, he then finally entered Parinirvana. The Buddha's final words are reported to have been: "All composite things pass away. Strive for your own liberation with diligence." His body was cremated and the relics were placed in monuments or stupas, some of which are believed to have survived until the present. For example, The Temple of the Tooth or "Dalada Maligawa" in Sri Lanka is the place where what some believe to be the relic of the right tooth of Buddha is kept at present.

Accordingto the Pāli historical chronicles of Sri Lanka, the Dīpavaṃsa and Mahāvaṃsa, the coronation of Aśoka (Pāli: Asoka) is 218 years after the death of Buddha. According to two textual records in Chinese (十八部論 and 部執異論), the coronation of Aśoka is 116 years after the death of Buddha. Therefore, the time of Buddha's passing is either 486 BCE according to Theravāda record or 383 BCE according to Mahayana record. However, the actual date traditionally accepted as the date of the Buddha's death in Theravāda countries is 544 or 543 BCE, because the reign of Aśoka was traditionally reckoned to be about 60 years earlier than current estimates.

At his death, the Buddha is famously believed to have told his disciples to follow no leader. Mahakasyapa was chosen by the sangha to be the chairman of the First Buddhist Council, with the two chief disciples Maudgalyayana and Sariputta having died before the Buddha