I stand tall in the hot sunny summer and drench in the rain when it down pours. In the spring I give feast to eyes by blooming red flowers and in fall, I shed leaves and petals. Here in Kusinagara, which is a small town of mud houses, I often see people taking rest under my shade in mid summer afternoons and enjoy the cool breeze from my branches. People take use of me in many different ways, some take my wood and some take my flowers. But I have often wondered what my real purpose of life was. After witnessing what happened under my very shade, I now know why I am born as a sal tree …

Lord Buddha has chosen Kusinagara as the right place for him to go into nirvana. That evening, He came to Kusinagara with his disciples and lay under me. Seeing him for the first time, I was totally mesmerized. He had an ever lasting smile on His face. And His face was very calm. And His aura of wisdom was shining like thousand Suns.

All our sal trees around were so blissful to receive the Lord. What a great thing to witness such a kind of event. We saluted the Great One with our flowers which formed a red carpet for Him. He walked on them gracefully and his radiant countenance brought the jubilant glow. Our branches waved in ecstasy in the Buddha awareness which arrived with the breeze.

I saw one of the Lord Buddha’s disciples, Ananda, crying in grief because the Lord was passing into nirvana that night. Then the Lord called him and tried to comfort him. He said that for every birth there is death and for every coming together there is separation. And then the Lord told the other disciples that Ananda had taken good care of him and that he was the best disciple he ever had. Almost all His other disciples had done some mistake or the other in the past but Ananda never made any mistakes.

Then Ananda requested the Lord not to pass into nirvana in Kusinagara because there were many other important places like Varanasi, where many people could see his face for one last time. But Buddha smiled and replied that Kusinagara was also important though it was a small place of mud dwellings. He found our forest of sal trees, with red flowers, more agreeable than places like Varanasi.

Then Lord Buddha asked Ananda to go to Kusinagara village and tell the villagers about his passing into nirvana that night. Hundreds of people came to see the Lord and bowed to Him and took His blessings. Among the people who visited to see Lord Buddha, was an ascetic named Subhadda. He wanted to talk to the Lord and clarify his doubts about enlightenment. So he asked Ananda whether he could talk to Gautama the Buddha. But Ananda refused saying that the Lord was too tired to talk to anybody. But then, Buddha heard the conversation and told Subhadda to ask his doubts. He then knelt before the Lord and asked him if in the past anybody had attainted enlightenment. Lord Buddha said that it was not necessary to discuss whether anybody had attained enlightenment in the past or not. Then the Lord told him about the Noble Eightfold Path and told him that who ever practiced them truly, they would attain enlightenment.

Subhadda was overjoyed to hear that and felt his heart open. He asked the Lord to accept him as one of his disciples. The Lord agreed for that and asked one of his disciples to perform the ordination ceremony then and there. Subhadda was the last disciple who was received by the Lord.

The Lord then addressed his other disciples and asked them if they had any doubts regarding the teachings. He did not want them to loose the opportunity to clear their doubts and feel bad later, thinking that they could not clarify when they were face to face with the Lord.

The Lord then spoke his last few words. He addressed his disciples and said that all the dharmas are impermanent. And He asked them to be diligent in their efforts to attain liberation. Then the Lord closed His eyes. The earth shook and we all saluted the Lord with our blossoms showering on Him like the rain drops. The Great Lord had passed into nirvana.

After realizing that the Lord had passed away, some disciples threw themselves on the ground and wailed. Others wept but some others sat in silence and remembered the teachings what the Lord had taught them. Seeing the disciples cry and weep, Ananda told them not to cry so pitifully and reminded them what the Lord had taught. Then he led them in reciting the sutras what they learnt from the Lord. The villagers lit torches and the chanting of the sutras echoed in the night. Then disciples praised the Lord about His wisdom, joy, concentration, compassion and virtue. Throughout the night, some of the lead disciples took turns in speaking and all others around them listened quietly. And the villagers burned new torches as the old ones burned till the dawn broke.

What could be more eventful to my life than to see the Lord Himself and hear His teachings? My heart withered in pain by witnessing the nirvana of the Lord. I prayed that His great teaching continue with all of us for all our lives ahead.

-Aparna Pelluru

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