Mahaparinibbana-sutta

References

Mahaparinibbana-sutta

Buddhist literature

Also known as: “Mahaparinirvana-sutra”

Written by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last updated

June 30, 2026

Quick Summary

The Mahaparinibbana Sutta is a significant Buddhist text that details the final days and passing into nirvana of the Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama. This discourse is part of the Digha Nikaya, a collection of longer teachings within the Buddhist canon.1

The text recounts the Buddha's last instructions to his disciples, emphasizing the importance of the dharma and the vinaya (monastic code) as their guide after his departure. It also describes the Buddha's acceptance of a meal from a smith named Chunda, his subsequent illness, and his final moments in Kusinara. The Mahaparinibbana Sutta highlights the impermanence of all conditioned things and encourages diligence in practice. It also identifies four key pilgrimage sites associated with the Buddha's life: his birth, enlightenment, first sermon, and final passing.2

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

3 Britannica Sources

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.

Buddhism
Funeral rites
…ashes are told in the Mahaparinibbana-sutta (“Sutta on the Great Final Deliverance”). Early Chinese travelers such as Faxian described cremations of venerable monks. After cremation the ashes and bones of the monk were collected and a stupa built over them. That this custom was widely observed is evident from the…
Read More
…ashes are told in the Mahaparinibbana-sutta (“Sutta on the Great Final Deliverance”). Early Chinese travelers such as Faxian described cremations of venerable monks. After cremation the ashes and bones of the monk were collected and a stupa built over them. That this custom was widely observed is evident from the…
Read More

Faxian
…the most important were the Mahaparinirvana-sutra, a text glorifying the eternal, personal, and pure nature of nirvana—on which the nirvana school in China then based its doctrines—and the Vinaya (rules of discipline for the monks) of the Mahasanghika school, which thus became available for the regulation of the numerous monastic…
Read More
…the most important were the Mahaparinirvana-sutra, a text glorifying the eternal, personal, and pure nature of nirvana—on which the nirvana school in China then based its doctrines—and the Vinaya (rules of discipline for the monks) of the Mahasanghika school, which thus became available for the regulation of the numerous monastic…
Read More

Buddha
Sources of the life of the Buddha
One Pali text, the Mahaparinibbana-sutta (“Discourse on the Final Nirvana”), describes the Buddha’s last days, his passage into nirvana, his funeral, and the distribution of his relics. Biographical accounts in the early sutras provide little detail about the Buddha’s birth and childhood, although some sutras contain a detailed account…
Read More
One Pali text, the Mahaparinibbana-sutta (“Discourse on the Final Nirvana”), describes the Buddha’s last days, his passage into nirvana, his funeral, and the distribution of his relics. Biographical accounts in the early sutras provide little detail about the Buddha’s birth and childhood, although some sutras contain a detailed account…
Read More

Sutta Pitaka
The famous Mahaparinibbana Sutta (“Discourse on the Great Final Extinction”—i.e., the Buddha’s release from the round of rebirths), one of the oldest texts in the canon (though containing later interpolations), narrates the activities and teachings of the Buddha’s last year and describes his death. The Sigalovada Sutta…
Read More
The famous Mahaparinibbana Sutta (“Discourse on the Great Final Extinction”—i.e., the Buddha’s release from the round of rebirths), one of the oldest texts in the canon (though containing later interpolations), narrates the activities and teachings of the Buddha’s last year and describes his death. The Sigalovada Sutta…
Read More

relic
Tradition (Mahaparinibbana Sutta) states that the cremated remains of the Buddha (died c. 483 bce) were distributed equally among eight Indian tribes in response to a demand for his relics. Commemorative mounds (stupas) were built over these relics, over the vessel from which the bones were…
Read More
Tradition (Mahaparinibbana Sutta) states that the cremated remains of the Buddha (died c. 483 bce) were distributed equally among eight Indian tribes in response to a demand for his relics. Commemorative mounds (stupas) were built over these relics, over the vessel from which the bones were…
Read More