THE BUDDHA’S LAST MEAL
The Dīgha Nikāya
records that before the Buddha passed away he ate a meal given to
him by a blacksmith named Cunda. This meal consisted of a
preparation called sūkaramaddava which can be translated
as ‘pig’s delight’ (D.II, 127). There has been a great deal of
speculation as to what this meal consisted of. Some say that it was
a pork dish, which is quite possible, as the Buddha was not a
vegetarian and did not advocate vegetarianism. One of the more bizarre theories and one
that has gained wide acceptance is that it was a type of truffle.
Early European scholars of Buddhism theorized that because the
French use trained pigs to find truffles, the ‘pig’s delight’
mentioned in the Buddhist scriptures might be a variety of truffle.
This theory is based on the false premise that what is so of the
French countryside must have been so in ancient India. In fact,
truffles do not grow in India and the use of trained pigs to find
them even in France is a recent practice. Thus the theory that the
Buddha’s last meal was truffles is without any
foundation.
Equally
unfounded theories, presumably derived from this first one, is that
the Buddha died of eating poison mushrooms, from food poisoning or
even that he was poisoned. Again, the facts contradict such
fanciful speculations. All we can say is that
sūkaramaddava was some kind of preparation, the
ingredients of which have long ago been
forgotten.
In the
months before his passing the Buddha had suffered ‘a severe illness
causing him sharp pains as if he were to die’ and which he ‘endured
mindfully, fully aware and without complaint’ (D.II, 99). He was 80
years old, unusually long-lived for the time, and Ānanda described him at this stage as having ‘slack and
wrinkled limbs and being stooped’ (S.V, 217). He himself said that
his body could ‘only be kept going by being
patched up’ (D.II, 100). After his last meal, he had a severe bout
of ‘diarrhoea with blood’ (lohitapakkhandikā), a
continuation of the sickness he had been
suffering from for some time, and later the next day he passed
away. Obviously the Buddha died of the typical complications
brought on by exhaustion, sickness and old
age, not because of what he had eaten the day
before.
From the
Buddhist perspective the only significance of the Buddha’s last
meal is that it demonstrated once again his infinite capacity for
compassion. When he realized that the end was
near, he immediately thought that Cunda might be blamed for causing
his death. To prevent this from happening he instructed Ānanda to
return to Cunda’s village and tell him that to serve a Buddha his
last meal was a most auspicious and blessed act. Thus, even being
sick, exhausted and nearing death the Buddha’s only thought was for
the welfare of others.
The Last Days of the
Buddha, trans. by Sister
Vajira and Francis Story, 1988.
