According to the

Buddhavaṃsa The ''Buddhavaṃsa'' (also known as the ''Chronicle of Buddhas'') is a hagiographical Buddhist text which describes the life of Gautama Buddha and of the twenty-four Buddhas who preceded him and prophesied his attainment of Buddhahood. It is ...

of the

Pali Canon The Pāḷi Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhism, Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant Early Buddhist texts, early Buddhist canon. It derives mainly from t ...

, Padumuttara or Padumuttara Buddha is the thirteenth of the twenty-nine buddhas who preceded the historical

Gautama Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist lege ...

. In the Buddhavamsa, he is described as:

One hundred thousand aeons ago, Padumuttara Buddha, who knows everything and deserves every donations, was born alone in that aeon.

Biography

He was born in Hamsavatī. He lived for ten thousand years in three palaces: Naravāhana, Yassa (or Yasavatī) and Vasavatti. His wife was Vasudattā, by whom he had a son, Uttara. His body was fifty-eight

cubit The cubit is an ancient unit of length based on the distance from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. It was primarily associated with the Sumerians, Egyptians, and Israelites. The term ''cubit'' is found in the Bible regarding Noah ...

s (between 26.51 meters, or 87 feet) high. He practiced

asceticism Asceticism is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from worldly pleasures through self-discipline, self-imposed poverty, and simple living, often for the purpose of pursuing Spirituality, spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world ...

for seven days. He died in Nandārāma at the age of one hundred thousand, and a

stūpa In Buddhism, a stupa (, ) is a domed hemispherical structure containing several types of sacred relics, including images, statues, metals, and ''śarīra''—the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns. It is used as a place of pilgrimage and medi ...

twelve leagues in height was erected over his relics. His life parallels that of

except that he was assisted by different people and his bodhi tree was a ''sarala'' (''

Dipterocarpus zeylanicus ''Dipterocarpus zeylanicus'', commonly known as හොර - Hora in Sinhalese and සරල - Sarala or කිරිපලු - Kiripalu, is a species of ''Dipterocarpus'' that is endemic to Sri Lanka. A closely related Indian species is '' Dip ...

'') in Theravada buddhism. Many of Gautama Buddha's disciples were said to have made their aspiration for eminent positions in the time of Padumuttara. In the

Apadāna The ''Apadāna'' is a collection of biographical stories found in the Khuddaka Nikaya of the Pāli Canon, the scriptures of Theravada Buddhism. G.P. Malalasekera describes it as 'a Buddhist Vitae Sanctorum' of Buddhist monks and nuns who lived du ...

some gods wish to build a stūpa of their own over the relics of Padumuttara. As a

Tathāgata Tathāgata () is a Pali and Sanskrit word used in ancient India for a person who has attained the highest religious goal. Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, used it when referring to himself or other past Buddhas in the Pāli Canon. Like ...

his relics were not separated. Dīpankara attained Nirvāṇa in Nandārāma, where a stūpa was built which was thirty-six

yojanas A yojana (Devanagari: योजन; Khmer language: យោជន៍; ; ) is a measure of distance that was used in ancient India, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar. Various textual sources from ancient India define Yojana as ranging from 3.5 to 15& ...

high.

The Buddha and the Lotus

According to the Buddhavamsa, a

sacred lotus Sacred lotus may refer to: *''Nelumbo nucifera'', also known as "Indian lotus" ** Padma (attribute), ''Nelumbo nucifera'' in Indian religions **Lotus throne in Buddhist and Hindu art *''Nymphaea caerulea ''Nymphaea nouchali'' var. ''caerulea'' ...

appears wherever the foot of Padumuttara lands. The lotuses had a length of 90 cubits or 135 feet and a breadth of 60 cubits or 90 feet. The stamens were 30 cubits or 45 feet and the petals were 12 cubits or 18 feet. When his right foot lands, 2.25

quarts The quart (symbol: qt) is a unit of volume equal to a quarter of a gallon. Three kinds of quarts are currently used: the liquid quart and dry quart of the US customary system and the of the British imperial system. All are roughly equal ...

of pollen were produced. When he took another step, the previous lotus disappeared and a new one appeared. "Jinatthapakāsanī (The explicit life of Gotama Buddha),(Eighth edition) Part 2" by Kyee Thel Lay Htet Sayadaw

References

External links

* Vipassana.info
Pali Proper Names Dictionary
Buddhas {{Buddhism-stub

Biography

The Buddha and the Lotus

See also

References

External links