Vulture Peak

Gijjhakuta
Vulture Peak

Vulture Peak from above
Highest point
Coordinates 25°00′06.0798″N 85°26′47.3022″E / 25.001688833°N 85.446472833°E / 25.001688833; 85.446472833Coordinates: 25°00′06.0798″N 85°26′47.3022″E / 25.001688833°N 85.446472833°E / 25.001688833; 85.446472833
Geography
Gijjhakuta
Parent range Rajgir hills
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The Vulture Peak (Pali Gijjhakuta, sanskrit : Gṛdhrakūṭa) or Gádhrakúta, was the Buddha’s favorite retreat in Rajagaha and the scene for many of his discourses. It is located in Rajgir, Bihar, India.

In Buddhist Literature

Vulture Peak Mountain is, by tradition, one of several sites frequented by the Buddha and his community of disciples for both training and retreat. Its location is frequently mentioned in Buddhist texts in the Pāli Canon of Theravada Buddhism[1][2] and in the Mahayana sutras as the place where the Buddha gave particular sermons. Among the latter are the Heart Sutra, the Lotus Sutra and the Śūraṅgama Samādhi Sūtra as well as many prajnaparamita sutras. It is explicitly mentioned in the Lotus Sutra, chapter 16, as the Buddha's pure land:

And when the living have become faithful,
Honest and upright and gentle,
And wholeheartedly want to see the Buddha,
Even at the cost of their own lives,

Then, together with the assembly of monks
I appear on Holy Eagle Peak.
...

Such are my divine powers.
Throughout countless eons,
I have always lived on Holy Eagle Peak
And in various other places.

When the living witness the end of an eon,
When everything is consumed in a great fire,
This land of mine remains safe and tranquil,
Always filled with human and heavenly beings.[1]

  1. ^ Reeves 2008, pp. 296–297.

Notes

  1. ↑ "The Sona Sutta: About Sona". Retrieved 2012-02-12.
  2. ↑ "The Daruka-Khanda Sutta: The Woodpile". Retrieved 2012-02-12.

Bibliography

Reeves, Gene (2008). The Lotus Sutra: A Contemporary Translation of a Buddhist Classic. Wisdom Publications. pp. 296–297. ISBN 0-86171-571-3. 

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