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Sacred Places of The Buddhists, Part 7: The Sapta Parni Caves, India

A documentary film by BOGDAN-FLORIN PAUL

After attaining Enlightenment under the Bodhi tree at Bodhi Gaya, the Buddha spent the next 45 years providing spiritual education and teachings to people of all social classes in the kingdoms of the northern Indian subcontinent.

The core of his teachings was the attainment of Liberation, with extremely precise details of the profound stages of meditation and samadhi, the achievement of which allows the meditator, through the power given by samadhi, to pierce the all-encompassing veil of illusion.

But, after the sudden death of his main disciples, Sariputra and Moggallana, whom he had intended to leave at the head of the order of bhikkhus that had formed around him, and after the Buddha's Parinirvana in 543 BCE, his teachings, of inestimable value to humanity, were threatened with being lost in the night of oblivion.

Under these circumstances, the senior monks of the Buddhist community decided to convene a gathering in which Ananda, the Buddha's personal assistant for the past 25 years, a Sakyan bhikkhu with an extraordinary memory, would recite the Buddha's dialogues and teachings that he had heard, to be rehearsed and preserved in the collective memory of all the monks present.

Upali, another Sakyan monk, would recite, for the same purpose, the Vinaya rules of discipline, and the circumstances in which the Buddha gave each rule.

In an unexpected gesture of goodwill, Ajatasattu, the cruel king of the kingdom of Magadha, offered to support the organization of this gathering of the community of monks, near Rajagriha, the capital of his kingdom.

The place chosen for this gathering would be on a hill near Rajagriha, in front of two caves called Saptaparni or Sattapanni, which would translate as the Caves of the Seven Leaves.

The gathering, which lasted several months and was attended by 500 bhikkhus, presided over by a senior monk named Mahakasyapa, would remain known in history as the First Buddhist Council.

The custom of joint rehearsal by Buddhist monks of the sutras and Vinaya rules is preserved and followed to this day.

Sapta Parni, where the First Buddhist Council was held, is today a place of pilgrimage for Buddhists from all over the world.

It's a pleasant, peaceful place, with a beautiful view of the modern city at the base of the hill, Rajgir.

Followers of Buddha's teachings, or simple tourists, visit the two caves today.

Sandy, a girl from Myanmar, is visiting the Sapta Parni caves with her father, a Buddhist monk, and her mother.

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At this Buddhist council, or saṅgīti, which would literally translate as "reciting together" or "joint rehearsal", which took place in front of the Saptaparni Caves, the sutras that make up the collection now known as the Sutta Pitaka, or The Basket of Sutras, and the rules that make up the Vinaya Pitaka, The Basket of Discipline, were recited.

These rock walls above the Saptaparni caves were therefore witnesses to a crucial event, in the spiritual history of humanity.

For several centuries after the council of Sapta Parni, these teachings would continue to be preserved and transmitted orally, until, around 90 BCE, they were written down for the first time, on palm leaves, at Aloka Vihara, or Aluvihara, in Sri Lanka.

A third collection of Buddhist texts, the Abhidamma Pitaka, would be added to the initial two, together constituting the Tipitaka, the Three Baskets, the name by which the Canon of Theravada Buddhism is known today.

What we now call Buddhism, a relatively modern term, during the Buddha's lifetime and immediately after, was known as the Dhamma-Vinaya, that is, the Teaching-and-Rules, or Buddha Sasana, What the Buddha Said.

The trail to the Saptaparni Caves starts from the Gaya-Mokama Road, Rajgir, Bihar, India.

The trail begins 140 meters south of the intersection of the Gaya-Mokama road with the Virayatan road, and after the climb begins, it is about 1400 meters to the caves themselves.

It is an easy trail, the path is paved and well maintained, and in places where the road climbs, there are steps and railings.

Both the climate and the vegetation remind you of the South of France, of Provence.

As you climb, the view becomes more and more beautiful. At the base of the hill you can see the entire town of Rajgir.

The view is also beautiful towards the hill across the road, and along the road, southwards, towards Vulture's Peak.

It is a very pleasant trail, and in early December, the weather is usually dry and mild.

The area is important for both Buddhist and Jain pilgrims, with several Jain temples nearby.

Two Jain pilgrims we met on the path to Sapta Parni explained to us the importance of these places in their religion as well.

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About 4.5 km from the start of the trail to the Sapta Parni Caves, there is another important place for Buddhists: the famous Vulture's Peak, Griddhakuta, or, in Pali, Gijjhakūṭe, a high place on a hill where Buddha liked to sit in meditation.

The Buddha, as well as Sāriputta, Ananda, Mahācunda and Channa, lived for a time in caves on Vulture's Peak Hill.

On another peak located higher than Vulture's Peak is a Buddhist monument called Shanti Stupa, which can be reached either on foot or by cable car.

At Shanti Stupa there is a lookout point from which Vulture's Peak can be seen from above.

16 km north of Rajgir are the ruins of Nalanda University, the world's first residential university, founded around 427 CE, and probably the largest international center of learning in the ancient world, which in its heyday had over 10,000 monk-students and over 2,000 professors.

71 km south of Rajgir is Bodhi Gaya, with the site under the Bodhi tree where the Buddha, after a night of intense practice and deep samadhi, just before dawn, attained Liberation.

These have been, throughout the centuries, and still are today, important places of pilgrimage, both for Buddhists and for all those interested in meditation and the history of spiritual practice, regardless of the country and cultural background they come from.

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