The Last Meal of the Buddha,Wasson,1982,JAOS

7/28/2019 The Last Meal of the Buddha,Wasson,1982,JAOS

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The Last Meal of the Buddha

R. Gordon Wasson; Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty

Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 102, No. 4. (Oct. - Dec., 1982), pp. 591-603.

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T H E L A S T M E A L O F T H E B U D D H AR . GORDONWASSOK

U P W A R D SO F A D O Z E N S C H O L A K S ~in the past century h av e co m m en t ed o n w h a t t h e B u d d h a a t e a t h i s L ast

' I 8 9 6 a n d e a r l i e r . K a r l E u g e n N e u m a n n : L)ic Rrc1c.n(;orun~oHutlciho 3 uu\ i1r.s .2.llrrlrrc,11Sunirnlcrn~Mujjhiniuni-X G I . O c/c\ PGli-Krnlon.\, 1,eipsig. 1896. pp. xix-xxii . Ne um annci tes ear l ie r wr l te rs : Fr ledr ich Zimmermann, who in tu rnrefers to a n a r t ic le in the Journul of rh r hluhu-Botll~i oc.iet,,,Vol. I , No , v i ii . pp . 2 -3 . Calcu t ta . 1892, where in the ed i torof th i s .lournu1 reproduces a ta tements by "Rhys Davids .Bigandet . Rockhi l l . a nd C olone l Olco t t , " l ay ing a t ress on thep r o p e r m c a n i n g o f suXuru-ti~utltiu\'u.W e h a v e s ee n n o n e o ftheae earl ier discusaions.1910. 7. W . a n d C . A. I-. Rhy s I )av ids , and la te r ed i t iona .I)rulo~uc~.\ /' rh r Hutlelliu: Purr [ I. T r a n s l a t e d f r o m t h e P a l iof the f l i ~ h oYiXd~.u y 7 . W . a n d C A. F . K h y s l j a v i d s .O n e o f t h e s e r i e s o f t h e S a c r e d B o o k s of t h e H u d d h i s t s .I 'ublished for the Pali ' l 'ext Soc iety by 1-urac. 1,ondo n. (Allof o u r q u o t a t i o n s f r o m t h e I)i,,hu NiXGibu a r e f r o m t h e 1 95 9edi t ion . )19 16. Cooniaraaw amy. An and a K. : Buciil/iu uriil rhr (;i~\pelof Blrilrl/iio~~.. 79. George G . H a r r a p , L o n d o n .1931-2 . Ar t hur Waley . " l j id Budd ha d ie of ea t ing pork ' ?"hlilun,yes r,h~noi.\ rr Vol. pp. 343-354.ouclcll~ic/uf~.v, I .Brussels.1 94 2 . F a C h o w . " S u k a r a - m a d d a v a a n d t h e B u d d h a ' s 1 ) e a th . ".Annul, o/ rhc Bhurirlurkur Orirnrol Kc.vrurch In.\riturf,. Edi tedby R. N. Dandekar, pp. 127-133.1948. E. Tc~.utgf~.vc~/iic~/~/f~a l d a c h n i ~ d t . Hritrug~ zur i l t ~hluhZ/)urinir\~(i~iu.s~irru.p. 63-85: "Die l .e t7 te M ah l~ e i t esB u d d h a . "1948. Li. J . ' l 'hornas. lritlic~nC~rlf~rrr~,V. pp. 1-3: "Bu ddha'sLaat Meal."1949. A . F o u c h e r . 1.u LIP tlct Bolrdilhu. Paris. I 'ayot. pp. 304-308: "1.e Ile rn ier repa s a P a v a . " 1968 A ndrC Hareau. "!.a No urri ture ol 'ferte au Bu ddh a lors de son dern ie r repas ." .2.!Plungc.\ tl'lt~tli~~ni.\nir, ar i s , Edi t ionsF , de Boccard . pp . 61-71,1 9 70 . A n d r e R a r e a u . Rrc~lic,ri.hrt ur lo hiogruphit, t lu Butl-clhu. T o m e I . N o t a b ly C h a p t e r V II 8 & 9, pp. 251-281. Paris .E c o le F r a n c a ~ s e 3 F x t r t m e - O r i e n t . V o l . L X X V I I .

M eal , c a . n.c.483, an d th e puz7 l ing mys t~ f ica t ions nthe ev idence . The meal was served to h im and h issu i te of mon ks by h i s hos t the meta l -worker Cun da a tPriva, a village that lay near KusinHrA where theMahripa rinirvrina ---the "Great Decea se" as the R hysDavidses translated i t -was scheduled to take placesome hour s la ter . The canon ica l PHl i Tex t says tha tCunda served h is augus t gues t siikara-ttzatlriu~~a,hapax in Pr i l i . Walpo la RHhula . the Buddhis t monkan d sch olar residing in the West . has assembled in ame mo rand um for us the r e levan t Pal i t ex ts w ith h ist r ans la tions an d no tes , and th is docum ent i s appendedt o o u r p ap e r .

T h e f i r s t p a r t o f t h a t co m p o u n d w o r d . siikaru-. iss imple: "per taining to swine," siik- being c ognate wi thLatin su.v. Th e second e lement i s genera l ly thought tomean t idb i t s , da in t ies , bu t whether as a specia l lydelicate par t of the pig 's meat o r as a food of whichswine were special ly fond. whether a subject ive orob jec t ive gen i t ive . no one can say . Rhys Davids .no t ic ing tha t in Bihar there was a com mo n ed ib leunderground fungus , t r ans la ted sukura-niuridatu by

truffle^."^ This was a successful pi tch, consider ingthat by " tru ff les" he mean t a n underground fungusco m m o n t h e r eab o u t s , a l t h o u g h n o t r u f f l e (=Tuber)has been d iscovered so f ar in Hihar. H is undergroundf u n g u s w as a Scleroriertnu, a l i t t le snow-white bal ltha t i s ga thered jus t as soon a s i t appear s o n thesur face . There are a n um ber o f genera of undergroun dfung i o f which t ru ff les ar e one , and each genus hasmany species .

The two canon ica l PBl i Commentar ies d i scuss bu td o n o t ag r ee o n t h e m ean i n g t o g iv e t o siikara-mackla\~a. One of them i s the canon ica l PHli Com me n-t a r y o n t h e Di ghu , h r ~ k i j ~ u . and theu ~ ~ i a n g u l a ~ ~ i l ~ s i n i .other , the Purumatrhajot iki , the canon ica l Commen-t a r y o n t h e [irl inu. T h es e C o m m en t a r i e s t o o k t h e i r

1970. P . Demi6vi lle . Review of R . Gord on Wasson: S OM A :lli ~ji ne 2.lu.vhrr1ot~r f Imnrorrulir!~. 7 ' i ~ ~ o i gclo, I .VI: Li\r .4-5, p p 298-302. E. .J . Bri l l, Leiden.I his l i s t does no t p re tend to he exhaus t ive .' S e e n o t e I , ent ry under 1910. p 137 ftnt.


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Journal o f th e Anzer ican Clrrentul Soc.irt.y 102.4 (19 82)

presen t fo rm in PBl i under the gu idance o f the ce le -b ra ted mo nk Buddhag hosa ea r ly in the f i f th cen tu ryo f ou r e ra , mos t ly f rom S inha la sou rces ava i l ab le toh im. Each o f these commen tar ies sugges t s var iousdishes as poss ib i l i ties . Bo th include pork an d a n"el ix ir" (a chemical p repa rat io n) in the l is t of choices .The canon ica l Pa l i Commentary on the Digha .\rik d i $c i pl e s, e p r o u -v e n t u n p r o f o n d , u n i n s u rr n o n ta b l e d e g o u t e t q u e n e

' Ste l la Kramr isc h : "The Mahgvi ra Vesse l and the P lan tP u t i k a , " J A O S , 95. 2, April-.June 1975.

c o n a o m m e n t g u k r e q u e c e r t a i n s t r i b u s s a u v a g e s o ud e \ g e n s d e b a s e c a s t e. r e j et e s p a r l a b o n n e s o ci 6 t6 etpresses pa r la faim. l. 'idee d 'offr ir au Bienheu reux.p o u r I ' h o no r e r e t l e re g a l er , c o m m e u n m e t \ d e c h o i x.. . . d e la v i a n d e d e p o r c o u d e s c h a m p i g n o n s e s t a u s s iinsoli te qu e si , dana une legende occidentale . o n offrai ta que lque kminen t pe rsonnage un fes t in don t l e p la tp r inc ipa l se ra i t une cu i sse de ch ien ou une puree d cgoemon. des sauterel les fr l tes ou des chenil les gri l lees:ce la pa ra i t ra i t 1 jus te t l t r e une p la i san te r ie ou fe ra i tc r o i r e 1 u n e e r r e u r d e c o p i e . [Kc~~~/rc~rc./rc~.~ur Irr hio-gruph~c,du Huti(llru. T o m e I , p 267. Paris . 1970. Pub-l i c a t i o n s d e 1 'E c o le F r a n q a i s e d 3 E x t r 2 m e - O r i e n t ,VoI I X X V l l ]

C o n f i r m i n g w h a t B a r e a u s ay s , C h a p V- 5 of the lawsof M anu , be li eved t o have been comm i t ted to wr i tingaround the beg inn ing o f the Chr i s t i an e ra . dec la rest h a t :

gar l i c , 1eeks .and on lons , mushroorns and (a l l p lan t s )s p r i n g i n g f r o m i r n p u r e ( s u b s t a n c e s ) . a r e u n f i t t o b eeaten by twice-born men.

and this proscription is repeated in V-19:A t w i c e -b o r n m a n w h o k n o w i n g ly e a t s m u s h r o o m s . avil lage-pig, garl lc , a vi l lage-cock, onio ns, o r leeks, willb e c o m e a n o u t c a s t .

Here the p roh ib i t ion ca r r i es a d i re pena l ty . Mush-room s a re fo rb idden in tw o fu r ther c lauses , V1-14 andXI-156. The repeated prohibi t ion appl ies express ly totwice-born men, which embraced the three uppercastes .

T h e b a n o n m u s h r o o m s w a s n o d e a d l e tt e r. S i rW i ll ia m J o n e s q u o t e s f r o m a c o m m e n t a t o r o n t h elaws o f Manu named Yama:

. . . the anc ien t Hindu s he ld the fun gus in such de tes -t a t i o n t h a t Y a m a . . . dec la res " those who ea t mush-r o o m $ , w h e t h er s p r i n g i n g f r o m t h e g r o u n d o r g r o w i n gon a t r ee , fu lly equa l in gu i l t to thc $ layers o l R r i h -mens , and the mos t desp icab le o f a l l dead ly s inners ."[The U'orkc () /S ir Williatrr Jonrc , Vo l V , pp 160-161,London , 1807 .1

This i s the mos t ex t ravagan t ou tbu rs t o f mycophob iatha t we have found anywhere , su re ly the mos t ex t ra -vagan t to be found in the Indo -E uropean w or ld , whichis s ay ing a go od de a l . The l ea rned Brahm an te ll s u stha t the s imp le mush room-ea te r is as bad as the


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W ~ s s o s :The I a s t M e a l of' he Bucidhu

murdere rs of Brahmans ! Why such pas s iona te . suchexaggera ted censure '? Bareau . in compa r ing the Hindue a t e r o f m u s h r o o m s t o o n e a m o n g u s w h o e a t s d o g ' sf lesh, was engaging in unders tatement .

T h r e e m o n t h s b e f o r e t h e L a s t M e a l a t P i i v a a n dbefore his Mahi iparinirvi ina. the Buddha had beensojourning a t Va iSa l i and the reabout s . Whi le in thevicinity of VaiSali he had suffered a grave illness.a t t r i b u t e d f r o m a n c i e n t t i m e s t o a c h r o n i c g a s tr i cupse t . p robably dysente ry ; had fe l t t he we ight of h i syears . had cal led himself an "octogenarian." an d hada n n o u n c e d h is i n t e n t i o n t o g o t o K u si ni ir ii a n d t h e r et h r e e m o n t h s l a t e r t o e x p e r i e n ce t h e M a h i i p a ri n i r-van a , the F ina l Ext inc t ion . He was predict ing the t imea n d place of h is own end . He mad e h is way toKusini i r i i wi th his fol lowers on foot . teaching thed o c t r i n e a s w a s h is w o n t . a n d i t t o o k h i m t h r e em o n t h s t o c o v e r t h e 140 ki lomete rs . T o h i s d i sc ip lesand the v i l l agers he made f ree ly known hi s purpose :he never wavered in his resolut ion, n or did he hide i tf r o m a n y o n e .

' Ihe da y before the B uddh a reached Kus in i ira hearrived at the nearby vi l lage of Pi ivi i and passed then i g h t in t h e m a n g o g r o v e b e l o n g i n g t o o n e C u n d a , ameta l -worker o r b lacksmi th . and the re fore a iudra .t h e l o w e s t o f t h e f o u r c as t e s in H i n d u s o c i e t y . C u n d a .a p p e a r i n g a l m o s t i m m e d i a t e ly . i n q u i r e d w h a t t h eBuddha des i red . According to one of the Chineserecens ions of the Buddha ' s l ife, t he Bu ddha expla inedtha t he was to und erg o the Mahi ipa r in i rv iina inKusinHri i : lamentat ions fol lowed. Cunda invi ted theB u d d h a a n d h i s m a n y f o l l o w e r s t o t a k e t h e i r s i n g l emea l the next da y wi th h im. and by h i s s i lence theB u d d h a a c c e p t e d . C u n d a w i t h d r e w t o a s s e m b l e t h ef o o d a n d p r e p a r e i t. I n th e m o r n i n g C u n d a c a m e t os u m m o n t h e B u d d h a a n d h is f ol l o w e rs t o th e m e a lt h a t h e h a d p r e p a r e d .

Cu nd a , a s we sa id be fore . was a i i i d ra , a m an of thel o w es t c a st e . O n t h e o t h e r h a n d , a s t h e m e t a l - w o rk e rof the reg ion he was a t echnic ian , comfor tab ly of f ,ex tend ing hospi t a l i ty o n a moment ' s not ice to theB u d d h a a n d h i s n u m e r o u s f o l lo w e r s , o n e a c c u s to m e dto mee t ing and mixing wi th t rave le rs inc luding indi -viduals of what are to day cal led the "scheduled cas tes ,"a b o r i g i n a l t ri be sm e n w h o w e re n o t H i n d u s a n dt h e r ef o r e n o t a p a r t o f t h e d o m i n a n t H i n d u s o c ie t y.His forge may wel l have been the rai son ci'P^fi-e fo rP i iv i i . When the Buddha a r r ived a t Cunda ' s dwel l ing-p lace an d was sea ted in the p lace prepared fo r h im, he( a c c o r d i n g t o t h e L l i g h u N i k Q u ) a d d r e s s e d C u n d asaying ,

A s t o t h e .siih-ara-n~arlrlavaou have made ready .s e rv e m e w i t h t h e m , C u n d a , a n d a s t o t h e o t h e r f o o d .sweet r ice and cake \ . se rve the monks wi th them.[Chap. IV, 718. p. 1381

T h e B u d d h a t h e n sa i d t o C u n d a .W h a t e b e r tuhara-niotidava ar e le ft ove r to thee , thosebury in a hole [(I91

In a ho l e , not jus t throw aw ay, and we a re to ld tha tt h e s u r p l u s .s t ikaru-n~aci~iuva unda bur i ed in a hole .A p p a r e n tl y C u n d a h a d b r o u g h t .sfikuru-mac/ciu\'u f o rt h e w h o l e c o m p a n y . a s h e h a d t h o u g h t a l l w o u l ds h a r e i n t h e m , s o t h e r e m u s t h a v e b e e n a n a m p l esurp lus .

T h e n t h e B u d d h a a d d e d t h e s e r e m a r k a b l e w o r d s .I s ee n o o n e. C u n d a , o n e a r t h n o r in M a r a i h e av e n.n o r i n R r a h m a' s h e av e n . n o o n e a m o n g t h e S a m a n a sa n d H r a h m a n as . a m o n g g o d s , a n d m e n , by w h o m ,when he has ea ten i t , tha t food can he proper lyass imi la ted , save by a Tatha,syru. [TI91

O b v i o u s ly t h e H u d d h a h a d r e co g n iz e d a t o n c e w h a the was being offered, the stikaru-rnurlc/a\~u. a n d h eknew the m ush roo ms were of a spec ies tha t wouldsho rt ly smel l bad ("s tink") if they were no t eaten orb u ri e d in a h o l e . ( T o t hi s d a y t h e c u s t o m a m o n g s o m eS a n t a l se e m s t o s u r v iv e t o b u r y a n y s u r p l u s stikara-n ~ u r i r i u ~ ~ un a hole .) Perhaps i t was the f i rs t t ime inhis l i fe that the Buddha, of ksatr iya origin. was beingof fe red m ush roo ms to ea t . Hut these pa r t i cu la r mush-rooms were fami l i a r to h im because of the i r uniquero le in the Hindu re l ig ion in which he had beenbrought up .

AndrC Bareau apprec ia t es to the fu l l t he so lemni tyof this dish of .sfikaru-n~arlriava,t hough he d id notknow what i t was . He says:

. . . c e t t e n o u r r i t u r e . l a d e r n i h r e q u e c o n s o m m e l eRienheureux avant son Par in i rvsna , es t une nour r i tu reen quelque sorte sacree, dont le5 r iches quali tes. lapuisance essen t ie l le . vont lu i permet t re d ' accompl i rce t explo i t surhumain , l a supreme Ext inc t ion . C 'e t ter ichess r . ce t te pu i55ance 5ont t rop grandes pour e t resuppor tke5 par l es au t res Etres . hom mes o u d leux , qu in ' auront j amais , e t de lo in , A executer une ac t ioncomparable . [Rrc~ht~r(.ht~ssur la hioyraj)hre ihr Rlrililha.I ' o m e I . p. 271. Paris . 1970. Publications de I 'EcoleFranqaise d 'Ext r@me-Or ien t , Vol I X X V I I ]


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J o u r n a l of t he Amer ican Or ienta l Soc , i r t v 102.4 (1982)

H er e w as t h e B u d d h a . a t o n e o f t h e t w o s u p r em emoments of his l i fe, unexpectedly offered at his lastmeal a d i sh tha t H indus o f the upper cas tes wereforb idden to ea t , an ed ib le mush room, a d i sh tha t wasthe su r rogate fo r So ma when fo rmal ly sacr i ficed in anu t ter ly d i f f eren t manner and se t t ing . ' Buddhaghosaq u o t e s t h e G r ea t C o m m en t a r y ( M a h & a ! f h a k a t h d ) a ssayi ng of Cunda's motives in offer ing this dish to theBuddha and h is monks :

T h e y s a y t h a t C u n d a , t h e s m i t h , h a v i n g h e a rd t h a t t h eE x a l t ed O n e w o u l d a t t a i n parinihh8na t h a t d a y ,thought i t would be good if he could l ive longer aftereating this dish. and offered i t wishing for the Master 'slongevity. [p. 27 i n / ru]

Walpola Ri ihu la 's comm ent o n the Cirea t Comme ntaryf rom which we have ex t r ac ted th i s quo ta t ion i s asfollows:

'The Muh8-a!!hakarhC ( G r e a t C o m m e n t a r y ) is t h em o s t i m p o r t a n t o f t h e a n c i en t o r i g i n a l S i n h a l a c o m -m e n t a r i e s d a t i n g b a c k a t l e a st t o t h e 3 r d c e n t u r y H.(..,on which a re based the presen t available P a l i c o m m e n -t a r ie s o f t h e 5 t h c e n t u r ) %.(,., i n c l ud i n g t h e C o m m e n -t a r i e s o n t h e I )


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.iourncil o f the A t?~er i c ,u t~rientcrl Soc,ic>t!, 102 .4 (19 82)

des crip tion tallied with 1,udgi 's; his test imo ny con -f i rmed tha t i t was probably Srropharicr c,~iht,n.~i.\r ac l o s e c o u s i n . ( T h a t t h e s e t w o e x c e l l e n t i n f o r m a n t svoluntee r -ed to speak of an inebr i a t ing mu shroo m.d o u b t l e s s Slropharrcr cuhen.si.s. i s a lead not to beneglected: i t may have played a par-t in the cul turalp a s t o f t h e S a n t a l a n d o f S o m a . ) H u t. j us t a s b e fo r e . itw as "ucl" and soul l es s . "i:t/" i s "mushroom" in Ho.

We pu bl i shed the a ccou nt of our - t r ips to the San ta lcountr-y in Lc~.sCcihrc~r.\ / ~ iP(rc.ifi'r{ur,# 14. September1970. Kramrisc h in t ime saw our- paper- and shegrasped immedia te ly tha t the p u ~ X aof the Santa l wast h e I'UII'XN of the Hri ihma nas . of the I 'ravargya sac-r~ f i ceand the Mahiiv ir -a pot .1 The PcitiXa had been thesur rog a te for- So ma and na tur -a l ly i t would possess asc~ul !Kramri sch dese rves a r ich accola de for d i scov-e r i n g t h a t S a n t a l i p u t k a w a s a l o a n w o r d f r o m t h eS a n s k r i t Put ika . W h e n S o m a w a s b ei ng a b a n d o n e d ,probably over a long per iod tha t ended shor t ly a f t e rI % . ( ' . 1000, the P ~ i t i X at o o k i ts p l a c e , n o t a s a n e n t h e -ogenic dr - ink like So m a in th e ea r l i e r s ac r if i ce but a \ acom po nen t with the clay in the ceremo nial f ir- ing ofthe Mah i ivira vessel. I ts s tench (of which I .udgiM a r n d ~ ad s p o k e n ) w as t u r n e d i n t o fr a g ra n c e w he nthe pot . he ld by tongs , wah fi red in the course o f th erite. N o on e had ever- know n wh a t p lan t it wa \ . W en o w k n o w t h a t , l ik e S o m a , it w a s a m u s h r o o m , b u t acom mo n m ush roo m, and it pos ses sed d iv ine qua l i ti e sthough l es s than Soma ' s .

In Santa l cu l ture not only i s the pulXo a n i m a t e .endowed wi th a soul : it pos ses ses ano ther of Som a ' \at t r ibutes . ' l 'he bel ief is apparent ly universal amongt h e S a n t a l t h a t t h e p u l k o i s generated by (myth o-logica l ) thunderbol t s . ' I .ong a f t e r the Brah man \ havel o rt a n y u se f o r o r k n o w l e d g e o f th i s m u s h r o o m , a n dhave los t a l l spec ia l contac t wi th the Santa l , t hesehum ble , h a r -dworking people . untouchableh . s t i ll he -l ieve that the putXo i s pr-ocreated by the l ightningbol t .a j t he Vedic Brahm ans be li eved tha t S om a was pro-created by th e Vajr-a of Indr-a. or I 'ar- janya, the god ofl ightn ing . Here i \ a n o t h e r m a n i f e st a t io n , a n o t h e rpro of , of the brea th taking cul tura l in t ensi ty mi ll enniaa g o o f t h e r e li g io n o f t h e h i e r ar c h s o f th e A r y a n s . T h el ~ g h t n i n g b o l tw a s t h o u g h t o f a s t h e s p e r m , t h e s p u n k .fecunda t ing the 5ofl m other ea r- th wi th the en theogen icm u s h r o o m s .

The Santa l be l i eve the re a re two k inds o f ~ ) ~ i t X a ,hehor putXn a n d t h e srlcr /)LIIX(J.n e s m o o t h a n d t h e

* 1 .n . 5 . p . 64. h o t t o m ol page ; S O M A : D11.1rrcIllr\hroo,,r< I / / ~ ~ l ~ ? l < l i ' ~ ~ ~ / f / l ' ,p , 3 9 - 4 0

oth er I- ough . Heim said the tw o kin ds were mer-elydifferen t s tages in the l ife cycle of the on e specles . Theher p ~ i t k c ~s the "man putku." not in the sense of maleb u t o f a h u m a n b e in g , o r o f t h e " S a n ta l " w h o m t h e yna tura l ly regard as pcir c~.uc~rllt~nc~c~he human be ing .T h e .st,t(i pzrtka, which is rough, is the "dog pulXu,"t he do g not be ing despi sed as i t is in Hindu cul ture . Afew of the Santa l spoke to us of a th i r -d p u l k a , th erole putkcr or- "toad putku." Most Sa nta l d id notI -ecogni l e th i s t e rm a nd of those w ho d id . mos t couldnot s ay wha t k ind of mushro om i t mea nt . Hut whenw e w e r e in K a t h i k u n d , a v i l la g e in t h e S a n t a lP a r g a n a s . w e w i t n e s s e d f r o m o u r v e r a n d a a vlolcntmidd ay thun ders to rm and wi th in hour -5 and thenthroughout the n ight a hos t of puf fba l l s appeared ont h e p l a i n b e f o r e o u r b u n g a l o w . O n e of o u r S a n t a lcom pan ion s to ld us wi th as surance tha t these wereindeed roleJ p u l k ~ . n this ins tance the puffbal l wasL2j.c.opcrtlon~ x t s i l l u t ? ~u t p r o b a b l y a n y o t h e r p u f f b a l lcom ing in response to a thunde r shower would be aro l e . p~ i tXa . In shor t , t he role. putXa, which i 5 note a t e n b y t h e S a n t a l , is a f a l x purXcr. . . . T h e e n t h e -o g e n i c m u s h r o o m s o f w h i ch L u d g i M a r n d i a n d( i a n es h R a m H o h a d t o l d us . p ro b a b l y Strop/~crrirrc.uht,n\i.\, a r e n o t p u / X u : t hey a re mere ly ( J I ', o r t i t i Int h e H o l a n g u a g e, e n j o y n o g r -a m m a ti c al d i s t ~ n c t i o n nt he la ng ua ge s. a n d s o f ~ rs I learned no dis t inct io n infolklor-e . But i t is imp erat ive t ha t this he explor-cdmu ch fur the r - . L locs i ts en theogenic v i r tue ac coun t forthe color-ed geometr ical des igns , endless ly var-ied, thatdecor-ate the exter- iors of ma ny San tal houses' !

T h r o u g h o u t o u r v i s i t s t o t h e S a n t a l c o u n t r y t h epeople we spoke wi th s a id tha t p igs dug for the j)zr/Xn.t hus c onf i rm ing wh a t t l i e canonica l P ii li C 'ommenta r !On the ( : i / ~ t l ( lSay Of S U X ( J ~ U - ~ ? I ( J ~ / ~ / ( J \ ' ( I ( p . 27 , irlfr(1).Hu t I was seeking a q u o t a t i o n a n d a f t e r r e t u r n i n g t oNew York the Rev. . l ohannes Gnusd a l , a retir-ed mis-s i o n a ry l i v ~ n gn Oslo. put me in touch with Mr. (;or-al udu . pr inc ipa l of Kaer -abani High Schoo l , and we

a s k e d M r . T u d u t h r o u g h M r . G a u s d a l w h e th e r sw i n es o u g h t o u t t h e puikn in the forest. Here is what her e p l ~ e d :

W h e t h e r t h e p i g \ e a t p i r r X [ r or- not? In th i \ case ; r l \o Ig o t w r n e p l r r X r ~f r o m t h e f o r e s t \ . I t r i e d t h e m o n ;I l e up ~ g \ t h e o ld plrrXo w e r e n o t l i k e d . h ut t h e n e u one\\eeme d t o he de l icac ies of the pigs. They ;ire themn l t h r e l ~ \ h . A l w in t l ie fore51 1 fou nd a t \ e \e r a lh u s h c \ here pu/Xo u \ u a l l y c o m e u p s e \ e r a l m a r l \ \ ofu p t u r n e d e a r t h , I n di c at i ng t h a t t h e p ~ g \ had hecnd i g g i n g f o r t h c 111rrXa.[ I -e t te r in m? ~ l i r ~ ~ ~ l c rl le ]


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I

I was ca re fu l no t t o d ivu lge t he I - eason t h i s ques t i onwas be ing a sked . l he re a r e a number - o f gener -a o funde rg round fung i d iv ided am on g score s o f spec ie s .a n d I sho u ld b e su rp r i sed if t hey a l l d r -ew p igs bu tp e r h a p s t h e y d o .Mr . C iausdal a sked a l so : tbou t t he sme l l o f ag ingptrtka. Mr. Tudu rep l i ed , wi th unconsc ious humor :

c o l l e c t e d s o m e ~ ) l i r / , c ~ ,o th / l o r p l i rho a n d cc,ro/ u i ~ / , u ,n d p u t t h e m In d i sh e \ in d ~ yo n d ~ t i o na \ wella \ wet . jus t t o see wha t the \me11 would he l ike a f te ld e c o m p o \ i r i o n . I n b o t h t h e \ m e 1 1 e m i t t e d w a s t h a t ofd e c o m p o \ in g w o o d m a t c r ~ a l .not at a11 had in thes e n \ e o l a n y b l o o d e d h e i n g . T h e s m e ll w a \ n e \ e l t o os t r o n g o r l i lt h y. -1 h e w o n t I c o u l d c o m p a r e . t h e \ me 11w a s t h a t 01 r o t t l n g l u t e I n m u d d y w a t e r .

Kram r i sch t e ll s me t ha t I -o t t l ng u t e i n mu ddy w a te rc rea t e s a f ea r- ful s t ench . Mr . Tu du posse sse s t he en -dea r ing qua l i t y o f d ir -t f it rmers eve rywhe re : t he ir - fon d-n e s s f o r t h e s m e l l o f d u n g h e a p s , f o r e x a m p l e , i sp o w er fu l ly c o l o re d b y w h a t d u n g m e a n s f o r t h e c r o p s .' l 'hc ear thy smel ls of farm yards a lso possess a l ikeableintegrity.

T h e ( i a u s d a l -( i o r a T u d u c o r re s p o n d e n c e w a s c o n -d u c t e d i n S a n t a l i , b u t m y q u e s t i o n s a n d h i s a n s w e r sto t hem were in Eng l i sh .

W e k n o w t h a t t h e S a n t a l h a v e n o t a l w a y s l i v e dwhere t hey do now . Six h und red year-s ag o they l ivedto the west of B enares on th e C'hotr i KBgpur pla teau.a n d t r a d i t i o n h a s ~ t t h a t l o n g b e f o re t h e n t h e S a n t a lhad l i ved m uch fu r the r t o t he Wes t . ju st whe re no on eknow s , bu t poss ib ly n ea r t h e anc i en t c ent er - o f B rah-n i an i ca l sac r i fi c e s . whe re t hey cou ld have had c losere l a t ions wi th t he A r -yans , pe rhap s se rv lng t hem be fo rea n d t h r o u g h t h e s h if t fr o m S o m a t o t h e PfitrXa. T h i sw o u ld a l s o e x p l ai n t h e o t h e r S a n s k r i t w o r d s i n S a n t a l ~t h a t M r . B o d d i n g n o t e s . I n d e e d h e r e m a r k s i n h i sp re face t o h i s San t a l I l i c t i ona ry t ha t " t he de sc r ip t i onol t he Dasyus i n t he Vedas and t he Mahi ibh i i r a t as e e m s t o h e a d a p t a b l e t o m a n y a San ta l . "

Hav in g comple t ed t h e Sa n t a l i n t e rpo l , l t ion , we wi lln o w r e v e rt t o t h e t e x t o f t h e / ) i ~ h r r l 'i X n~ . u s t r a n s -la ted by the Khys I lavidses.

Af t e r t he d i scuss ion t hef t h e . v z i k n r u - t ~ l u i l t / ( ~ ~~ c~ ,Khys Dav id s t r - ans l a ti on con t inue s wi th an a s ton i sh ingd e v e l o p m e n t :

720. N o w w h e n t h e F x a l t e d O n e h a d e a t e n t h e r ic ep r e p a r e d h y C u n d a , t h e w o r k e r In m e t a l s , t h e r e fe llu p o n h i m a d i r e s ic k n e s s. t h e d ~ s e a s e f d y \ e n t e r c .a n d s h a r p p a in c a m e u p o n h ~ m . \ e n u n t o d e a th . Hutt h e F x a l t e d O n e . m i n d f u l a n d s e l f - p o s\ e s s ed , h o r e ~ tw ~ t h o u tc o m p l a ~ n t . C h a p. I V j

' l 'h i s was a d i sconce r t i ng t u rn o f even t s , s i nce t hcOmni sc i en t One ha s bu t l a t e ly sa id t ha t he see s noo n e , s a v e a T a t h i i g a t a, w h o c a n p r o p e r l y a s s im i l a teth e s~ikuru-n~crc/clcr\'cr. hich he has just e a ten . If thec i r cumstance5 we re i nven t ed , a s Ba reau t h inks . w ha t as t r ange se t o f c i r cumstances fo r u t t e r l y devo t ed fo l -l o w e r s o f t h c B u d d h a to h a v e i n v e n t e d ! T h e m u s h -rooms. now tha t we know prec i se ly , we re sound andthere was never- a r i sk: m or-cover . aged I'titiXo w o u l ddec la r -e t he i r- age by t he i r s t ench ! And Cu nd a w as ar e s p on s i b le m a n t o b u y a n d c o o k t h e m . H o w e v e r . le tu s I - e m e m h e r t h a t i n t h e u p p e r H i n d u c a s te s w h e r e t h eBudd ha had been b rou gh t up and li ved ou t al l hi sear- ly l i fe , even tho ugh he was n ow free f rom foodt a b u s a n d c a s te distinctions, a l l mushrooms wou ld beshunned as inedible : but here , a t a c r i t ica l moment ofhi5 l ife. he was being offer-ed /'ci/iXu. [> id C 'undak n o w t h e r o l e o f t h e PziliXrr in the re l igion of thetwice -born ca s te s '? Did he pe rhaps know i t by rumor .i naccura t e ly ' ? O r d id he no t know it a t a l l and was hese rv ing t he se mushrooms so l e ly fo r t he exce l l en treas on th a t th ey we re f resh and in season '? I t is c lear-f r o m t h e t e s t i m o n y o f t h e n i x h a t h a tI X ~ J Y I t h ea t t a c k s u f k r c d b y t h e B u d d h a w a s s u d d e n ; i t w a sviolent ; it a la rm ed t he w hole com pan y; i t was vlr - tua llyove r qu i ck ly , fo r- no t l ong a f t e rwa rd t he Bu ddhainst r -uc ted the f i t ithful A na nd a tha t they sh ould w alko n t o K u s i n 5 1 -3 c lo s e b y . B u t w h a t c o u l d b e m o r ena tu ra l t h an a v io l en t r e ac t i on i n one b r -ought up a s ak s a t r l y a t o c o n s l d e r n l u s h r o o n l s inedible'! And wl thh i s l a rge i n t e s ti ne he ing ch ron i ca l l y in f l amed w ~ t hdysentery, h is diarrhoea Mas a na tu ra l sequence . " I l ys -entery" is a t r -ansla tion of th e I 'B l i 1ohitc1-l~nXXl~unrliku.which mea ns "blood y f lux" in old-fashio ned Engl ish.

T h e a c c o u n t in t h e I l iyho Arika. l ,n i s a s t houghw r i t t e n t o o r d e r f o r t h is e x p l a n a t i o n . T w o q u a t r a i n s .app a ren t l y i ndepe nden t o f e ach o t he r , a r- e i n ser t ed i nt h e t e x t o f t h e Il iyhn h'iXG\,n (920, p. 139) at thispo in t . Hud dhagh o+a ad ds a no t e : "I t shou ld bc unde r- -s t ood t ha t t he se a r e t he ve r -ses by t h c The ra s [E lder -s ]w h o h el d t h e C ' o u n c i l " t h e C o u n c i l t h a t t o o k p la c ca t R3 jagr ha . a t wh ich som e mo nths l at er - t he i n i ti a lplans were la id for mobi l iz ing de ta i led recol lec t ions ofthe Buddha 's teachings a nd for- or-gani l ing thc Bud-dhist re l ig ion. I he f i r - s t qua t ra in shows hou t hose


9/14

59 8 Journul of' t h e At?~ericun Oriental ,Yoci~'tj' 102.4 (1982)

pr e se n t m ur m ur e d a ga ins t C un da , a nd . a c c o rd ing tothe second, the re was a lso murmur ing ab out the mush-rooms. Here a re the qua t ra ins in the Khys I lavidst rans la t ion:

W h e n h e h a d e a t e n C u n d a ' s f o o d ,T h e c o p pe r -s m i th ' s t h u s h a v e I heardH e b o r e w i t h f o r t ~ t u d e h e p a i n .T h e s h a r p p a i n e v e n u n t o d e a t h .W h e n h e h a d e a t e n . f r o m t h e m u s h r o o m s [=\tikaro-

moclcluvo] In the foodl~ he re e ll upo n the Teacher s ickness d i re ,l ~ h e n a f t e r n a t u r e w a s r e l i e v e d t h e E x a l t e d O n e

a n n o u n c e d a n d s a i d :I n o w a m g o i n g o n t o K u s i n a r B .

Afte r the episode the Exa l ted O ne went out of h is wayto e xo ne r a t e C un da o f b l a m e, t hus m a k ing e ve n m or etenable my explanation of his i l lness. For if Cundahad been guilty of negligence in choos ing the mush-rooms, why should the Omnisc ient One have exon-era ted h im?

4 2 . A n d t h e E x a l t e d O n e a d d r e s se d t h e v en e r a h l eA n a n d a . a n d s a i d: ' N o w it m a y h a p p en , A n a n d a ,t h a t s o m e o n e s h o u ld s t i r u p r e m o r s e i n C u n d a t h es m ~ t h , y s a y in g : " T hi s i s e v il t o th e e . C u n d a , a n dl os s t o t h e c in t h a t w h e n t h e T a t h a g a t a h a d e a t e n h isl a st m e a l f r o m t h y p r o v i s i o n , t h e n h e d i e d . " A n y s u c hr e m o r s e , A n a n d a , i n C u n d a t h e s m i t h s h o u l d b echecked by say ing: "This is good to thee . Cu nda ,a n d g a m t o t h e e , in t h a t w h e n t h e T at h B g a t a h a dea ten h is l as t meal f rom thy pro vis ion , then he d ied . "F r o m t h e v er y m o u t h o f t h e E x a l t ed O n e. C u n d a ,h a v e I h e a r d . f r o m h i s o w n m o u t h h a v e I received thiss a y i n g : ' T he s e t w o o f f e ri n g s of f o o d a r e o f e q u a lf r u ~ t , n d o f e q u a l p r of i t a n d o f m u c h g r e a t e r f ru i ta n d m u c h g r e at e r pr o fi t t h a n a n y o t h e r a n d w h ic ha r e t h e t w o ? T h e o f fe ri n g o f f o o d w h ~ c h ,w h e n aT a t h a g a t a h a s e a t e n , h e a t t a i n s t o s u p r e m e a n d p e rf e c tins igh t; an d the of fe r ing of food which , wh en a Ta thB-ga la has ea ten . he passes away by tha t u t te r pass inga w a y i n w h i c h n o t h i n g w h a t e v e r r e m a i n s b e h i n d - -t h e s e t w o o f fe r in g s o f f o o d a r e o f e q u a l f r u it a n d o fe q u a l p r o f i t , a n d o f m u c h g r e a t e r f r u i t a n d m u c hg r e a t e r p r o f i t t h a n a n y o t h e r s . T h e r e h a s h e e n l ai d u pb y C u n d a t h e s m i t h a k a r m a r e d o u n d i n g t o l e n g t h o fl if e, r e d o u n d i n g t o g o o d h i r t h , r e d o u n d i n g t o g o o df o r t u n e , r e d o u n di n g t o g o o d f a m e , r e d o l ~ n d i n g o t h ei n h e r i t a n c e o f h e a v e n . a n d o f s o v e r e i g n p o w e r . ' " I nt h i s w a y , A n a n d a , s h o u l d h e c h e c k e d a n y r e m o r s e inC u n d a t h e s m i t h . ' ( p . 1 4 7 - 8 )

Bareau concedes tha t Cu nd a and P2v2 may be or iginal e lements but, if so. th inks th a t they a re the sole or iginal e lements in the narrative of the Buddha's stay in Pavii:

I k u x s i i c l e s a p r e s l e P a r i n i r v a n a , c es d e u x n o m s , ic iP B v a e t C u n d a , e t a i e n t l e s d e u x s e u l s e l e m e n t sanc iens , peu t -@tre m& me h is tor iques , d e I ' ep i sode dud e r n i e r r e p a s d u B u d d h a . A u c u n s o u v e n i r n ' a v a ~ tdo nc CtC conserv e ni des incidents qui avaie nt pu s ')p rodui re n i de la na ture prec i se des a l iments qu ia v a i e n t e t e s e r v i s a l o r s a u R i e n h e u r e u x . [ T o n i c I ,p. 25 8 In his Krc,hrrches sur lu hio ~ru ph rr u Buckiho.Ecole Franqa ise d 'Ext r&me Or ie n t ]

Perh aps in the l ight of ou r discoveries Hareau maygran t more to the h is tory of the Buddha 's I .a st Mea lin Pav a as to ld in the I ) R h a Niku1.u. T o o m a n y h adwitnessed the episode wi th the mushrooms to permitthe ' l 'heras to suppress i t : his sudden il lness hadprovoked too much ta lk .

Here IS t he a c coun t o f t he B uddha 's de a th a c c o r d ~ n gto the LI%hu N~Xi i~xu , h a p . V ,

I . Now the E x a l t e d O n e a d d r e s s e d t h e v e n e r a b l eA n a n d a , a n d s a i d : - - 'C o m e , A n a n d a , l et u s g o o n t othe Sa l a Grov e of the Mal las . the L 'pava t tana ofKus inara , on the fur th er side of the r lvcr Hi ranyavat i . '

'Even so , lo rd! ' sa id the venerab le Anand a . ina s s e n t . t o t h e E x a l t e d O n e .A n d t h e E x a l t e d O n e p r o c e e de d w i t h a g r e a t c or n -

p a n y o f h r e t h r e n t o t h e S a l a G r o v e o f t h e M a l l a s. t h eLlpava t tana of Kus inBrB, on the fur ther s ide of ther i v e r H i r a n y a v a t i : a n d w h e n h e h a d c o m e t h e r e h ea d d r e s s e d t h e v e n e r a h l e A n a n d a . a n d s a i d : -

'Spread over for me, I p r a y y o u , A n a n d a , t h e c o u c hw i t h i t s h e a d t o t h e n o r t h , b e t w e e n t h e t w i n S a l atrees. I a m w e a r y , A n a n d a . a n d w o u ld l ie d o w n . '

'Fven so . lo rd!' sa id the venerah le Ananda . inassen t , to th e Exal ted O ne . .And he spread a cover ingo v e r t h e c o u c h w i t h i t s h e a d t o t h e n o r t h , b e t w e e n t h et w i n S a l a t r ee s . A n d t h e E x a l t e d O n e la id h ~ m s e l fdown on h is r igh t s ide , wi th one leg res t ing on theother : and he was mindfu l and se l f -possessed .

In a note on th is passage the S inha la commenta tora dde d a n e xp la na t ion :

T r a d i t i o n s a y s t h a t t h e r e w a s a r o w of SBla trees att h e h e a d o f t h a t c o u c h , a n d a n o t h e r a t i t s f o o t , o n ey o u n g S B l a t r e e h e in g c l o se t o i t s h e a d , a n d a n o t h e rc lose to i t s foo t . T he twin SBla t rees were s o ca lled


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WASSON:T h e L a ~ r Meal of' rhr Buddha 599

because the tw o t rees were equal ly grow n in respect oft h e r o o t s , t r u n k s . b r a n c h es . a n d l e av e s. T h e r e w a s acouch there in the park for the spec ia l use of the(per iodica l ly e lec ted) chief ta in of the Mal las , and i tw a s t h i s c o u c h w h i c h t h e E x a l t ed O n e a s k ed A n a n d at o m a k e r e a d y . ( F t n t . p . 1 4 9 )

In the last watch of the night the Buddha died.precise ly a s he had been predic ting for three mo nth s,since he was in VaiSali.

There have been individuals in var ious par ts of thewor ld , and e spec ial ly amo ng the ho ly men of Ind ia .who have acquired by "concentra t ion" (sarnat ihi )con-t ro l ove r som e of the musc les tha t o rd ina r ily func t ionin r e sponse to s t imul i beyond the hu man wil l. A . L.Basham has r emarked on th is in Tht, M.i)nrli.r ThaiW'ac. India. p. 327:

The ancie nt mystical physiology of India needs furthers tudy, not only by profess ional Indologis t s , but byopen-minded h io logis t s and psychologis t s . who mayreveal the t rue secre t of the yogi . For whatever wema y t h i n k a b o u t h i s s pi r i tu a l c l a i ms t h e r e is n o d o u h tt h a t t h e a d v a n c e d y o g i c a n h o l d h i s b r e a t h f o r v e ryl o n g p e r i o d s w i t h o u t w f f e r i n g i n ju r y, c a n c o n t r o l t h erhythm of h is own hear tbea ts . can wi ths tand ext remeso f h e a t a n d c o l d . c a n r e ma i n h e a l t h y o n a s t a r v a t i o ndie t . and. despi te h is aus tere and f rugal l i fe and h isrernarkahle phys ica l conto r t ions . which would ru int h e sy s te m o f a n y o r d ~ n a r yma n , c a n o f t e n s u r v i v e t oa very advanced age wi th fu l l use of h is faculties.

Basham fa il s to ment ion tha t occas iona lly dea th is thegoa l o f th is "concent ra t ion . " bu t the re i s no reason toq u e s t i o n t h a t d e a th c a n b e t h e p u r p o s e o f s u c h a n a c tof wil l . In recent years, when death has been the endresul t o f th is mani fe s ta t io n of wi ll power , nluhG.~a-mi t l l l i has som et imes been th e te rm used when speak-in g of it .

' I 'he Buddha predic ted the day of his death threemonths be fore and thence forward announced f r ee lythe t ime and p lace of h is own ex t inc t ion . Af te r h isLast Meal the narra t ive says that on his ini t ia t ive hewalked the shor t distance to Kusinarr i . S ince the t imeof his dea th , no H indu , no Buddhis t , has eve r sug-ges ted tha t he d ied of mushr oom poisoning . His dea thhas no t p rovoked d iscuss ion am on g Buddhist s . Know-i n g a s w e n o w d o w h a t t h e mu s h r o o ms w e r e t h a tCunda se rved , they could have provoked a s tomachupse t in a Hindu mycophobe bu t they could no t havecaused his death. He died of his own will power , ofhis own muhE.~umir /hi .Or . r a the r than provoking h isown dea th , d id he no t use yogic power , unde r t ry ing

c i rcumstances , to po s tpone h is t r ans lat ion to ni rvznuuntil he had reached his place of choice?

The sur roga te for Soma expla ins and jus t i f ie s theextraordinary words used by the Buddha in l imitingto h imsel f a lone th is d ish . By cons ign ing to a ho le thes u r p lu s Put i ka, he showed himself familiar with itseve ryday prope r t ie s . Now tha t we know the prec iseprope r t ie s o f th is m ushroom . i ts e tymology a s cogna tewith "putr id" is c lar if ied, ' an d i ts s tr on g l ink withSo ma is a good ex plana t ion for the Santa l be lief tha tit is generated by the divine lightningbolt.

Up to th is po in t we have concent ra ted on on ly ones o u r c e - t h e ca n o n ic a l P a l i T e x t o f t h e D ig lla i V i k @ ~ ~f o r o u r d e t a il s a b o u t t h e l ife o f Bu d d h a . I t is t h e

Holy Scr ipture of the 'I 'heravadin branch of B uddhismwith i ts head quar ters in Sr i 1-anka. I 'here are . inaddit ion, f ive other master recensions of his l ife , fourin Chinese and on e in Sansk r i t . All five mention th es to p i n P a v a a n d n a me Cu n d a a s t he h o s t th e r e. b u tn o n e o f t h e m me n t io n s siikaru-n7utltlava. An obviousexplana t ion for th is omiss ion i s tha t the Chinese a renatura l mycophiles: they eat with re l ish a l l kinds ofed ib le mu shro om s and they know the i r mush rooms.They would no t unde rs tand why the Buddha honoredth e Putilia, saying he a lone could digest i t . For theChinese a l l this would have been incomprehensible .

Th e Budd ha and h is fo l lowers were mos tly H induso f t h e u p p e r c a s t e s w h o h a d w i th d r a w n f r o m o b e d i-ence to the Hindu re l ig ion . When the Theras a s -sembled a t Rajagrha, they were inevitably. even ifthey were rebels , heirs to the inf inite complexity ofhabits , practices, sub tle ways of thinking an d feelingof the Brahm anic r e lig ion . W hen Buddhism became aworld re l igion, i t l ibera ted i tse lf f rom the Brahmanicre ligion and this included the mighty tradit ion ofSo ma and th e Vedic hymns , and of course f rom theless powerful hold of the Piitika. In the ear ly days ofChrist ianity, before i t became a world re l igion, thepull of Jewish ways such a s c ircumcision and the b anon pig-meat exer ted inf luence on Jewish conver ts toChr is t ian i ty , and the ea r ly Church faced a pa ra l le lconflict.

' I'he ep isod e a t P ava lends itse lf to var iou s expl ana-t ions ; the wr i t ten r ecord conta ins a num ber of a n o m a -lies. I f we were to offer the solution that we think ismost likely, here it is.

The re i s on ly the Commen ta ry on the l i d z nu , whichBuddhaghosa presen ted a s hea r say , to show tha t


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Journal of the American Oriental Soc, iety 102.4 (1982)

C u n d a t h e Su d r a k n ew o f t h e u s e m ad e by t h e B r ah -m a n s o f t h e Pc t i k a . Cunda cer ta in ly knew th i s mush-room as a un iver sa l f avor i te am on g mushroom eater swhen i t was in season a nd i t was in season r igh t then :h e w as tak en ab ack w h en t h e B u d d h a r eco g n i ~ ed h emushroom and asked h im, in as ton ish ing languageunfami l iar to h i s ear s , to serve them to the Buddhaonly . Cun da had d on e h imself p roud in assembl ingm u s h r o o m s f o r t h e w h o le co m p an y , an d n o w h e w asf o r b i d d en t o g i v e t h em t o t h e g u es t s o r even t ohimself.

Shor t ly af ter the Buddha had ea ten h is mushroom swith r ice he fel l violently i l l . This must have causedC u n d a co n s t e r n a t i o n an d ch ag r i n . A l a r m w as f e l t ,an d t h e r e w as m u r m u r i n g ag a i n s t C u n d a an d t h emus hroo ms in the assembly , fo r a l l o r a lmos t a l l weretwice-born men and had been indoct r ina ted agains tmushroo ms. We can imagine Cunda ' s emba r rassmentb u t w c h av e n o i n f o r m a t i o n : an o p aq u e c l o u d o fsilence falls oker him.

In the DFgllu [email protected] the Buddha exonera tes Cunda,somewhat s t i l t ed ly under the c i r cumstances . Perhapsev e r yo n e r em em b ered t h a t t h e B u d d h a h ad s p o k en u pf o r C u n d a an d m an y h ad h ear d h i m b u t n o n e co u ldrecall w hat p rec ise ly he had sa id . S ome one seems tohave d raf ted the paragraph much la ter . The f i t t ingex o n e r a t i o n o f C u n d a d em o n s t r a t ed t h e t h o u g h t f u l -ness and the nob i li ty o f the Buddh a under m os t t ry ingci r cumstances .

Was n o t "sukaru-matit iuvu" introduced in place ofPutika at RSjagrha to avo id confus ing peop le as tot h e B u d d h a ' s a t t i t u d e t o w ar d t h e O l d R e l ig i on ? H es h o w ed an a t t i t u d e t o w ar d t h e Put i k u , an d he r eac tedt o t h em , i n a w ay t h a t w e t o d ay , u n d e r t h e c i r cum -stances, can understand for the f irs t t ime.

And as fo r the d iver se exp lanat ions in the twocan o n i ca l C o m m en t a r i e s f o r sOkara-maddava, theym ay h av e b een i n t r o d u ced a t R a j ag r h a a l s o , o r p e r -haps more l ikely late in ASoka's reign when the needfor an exp lanat ion became increas ing ly f e l t by theB u d d h i st co m m u n i t y . N o t h eo l o g ica l i m p o r t an ce w asever g iven . then o r l a ter , to the Pava ep isode because ,af ter a l l , the Buddha was under acu te s t r ess a t thet ime, what with his i l lness , his imminent extinct ionfreely predicted s ince he was in VaiSali three monthsbefore the ep isode a t Pav i i , and the unexpected d i shof Put ika tha t sudden ly conf ron ted h im. There hadb een f a r t o o m u ch t a l k am o n g t h o s e p re s en t t o s u p -press the ep isode , b u t obv ious ly the Put ika was no t tobe identif ied plainly. The sdk aru - maddav a was a wayto te l l the t ru th bu t s t i l l to in terpose obs tac les to i t sunder s tan d ing . The word may ha ve been a neolog isminvented ad hoc,.

Now we see fo r the f i r s t t ime in how dramat ic apred icament the Brahman proscr ip t ion on mushroomsfor the twice-born castes accidental ly involved theBuddhist rel igion at the very moment of i ts bir th . Wes ti ll d o n o t k n o w w e wi ll p r o b ab l y n eve r k n o w -when tha t p roscr ip t ion came in to fo rce , perhaps overcentur ies while the Vedic hymns were being comp osed,o r possib ly when the h ierarchs am on g the Brahm anslearned of the entheogenic vir tues of Strophariu c ,uhen-s is as known to the lower o rder s l iv ing in Ind ia , o rw h en S o m a w as fi n al ly ab an d o n ed an d t h e Putikaado pte d as i ts su r rogate . Bu t we d o know how eff ec-t ively the Buddhist Theras fudged the facts in theDigha NikZyu, unt i l an inqu i r er 2,500 years af te r theeven t appeared , assem bled the ev idence , and wi th thehelp of Cieorg Morgenst ierne, Roger Heirn, Stel laKramr isch , Wendy I lon iger O 'Flaherty , a nd above a l lof the S anta l people, f i t ted together th e j igsaw pieces.V . T H E I N D I l S V A L LE Y A N D K A S H M I R

When we pub l i shed SOMA Divine Mushroorr~q/Imniorral i fy in 1968 1 poin ted ou t in i t tha t in the1028 hymns o f the RgVeda there was never a ment ionof the blossoms, f rui t . seed, leaves, branches, bark, orroo ts o f the p lan t - a te l ling c lue where to look fo r thed iv ine herb . Bu t there was ano the r bo tan ica l f act tha tdeserved ful l recognit ion, but I had not yet focussedon i t .

Bo tan is t s d iv ide p lan ts be tween phanerogams andcryp toga ms . Th e phanerog ams inc lude a l l flower- andseed-bear ing p lan ts , whethe r t r ees , sh rubs , c r eepers o rcl imbers. herbs and grasses, whether cult ivated oruncu l t iva ted . The cryp togams are lower o rder s o fvegeta t ion, less developed alon g the evolutionary trai l ,an d t h e m u s h r o o m s a r e t h e c r y p t o g am s t h a t i n t e r e s tus . Only in r ecen t cen tu r ies have th ree o r four speciesou t o f thous and s lent themselves to commercia l ex -p lo i ta t ion , and a meager handfu l a l so to expens ivecult ivat ion in laborator ies . In Aryan t imes, in thelndu s Valley an d Kashmir , there was the widest var ietyof c l imate , owing to the var ie ty o f acc iden ted ter r a intherein- lof ty mo unta ins, low lying plains, val leys,wetland s, ar id s tretches--and any needed pha nero gamcould p robab ly have been g rown in some par t of t h a tlarge coun t ry . But only !hose mush room s xrew therethat the country produceci .sl>ontaneou.slv. Since wek n o w t h a t t h e s u p p l y o f So m a w as l i m it ed a t b es t t ot h e m o u n t a i n s an d m u s t h av e b een f u r t h e r r ed u cedwhen ? he mons oon f a iled , conform ing to what wek n o w ab o u t So m a i n V ed i c t i m es , t h i s p o i n t s t o t h een t h eo g en i c m u s h r o o m Amuni ta musc ar ia for theirSo m a . T h a t t h e b i r ch an d a l s o t h e co n i f er s ac t a s


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WASSON:Th e l a s t

h o s t s t o A. musc ,ar iu was no t r ea l ized by anyoneam o n g t h e A r y an s , an d t h e r e f o re n o o n e t h o u g h t o fp lan t ing the hos t t r ees to see whether by th i s meansman cou ld thus increase the y ie ld o f the ho ly p lan t .

O ther fungal en theogens g row a t the lower levels .They co me in ca t t l e dung , a r e easi ly iden ti fied a ndgathe red , and are ef f ect ive . Bu t they f a i l to confo rmto B rahma n prac t ices : they are known t o t riba l s andSudras . So m a on th e o the r hand exac ts se l f-d isc ip l ineof the pr iests . a long ini t iat ion a nd train ing: i t is. forp roper exp lo i ta t ion . an af f a i r o f a p r ies t ly Plilt.. Butthe poss ib le ro le o f Srrophariu c,uhc~nsis rowing inthe d un g o f ca t t l e in the l ives o f the lower o rder sremains t o th i s da y wholly unexp lored . I s S. c,uhmsi.tr espons ib le fo r the e levat ion o f the cow t o a sacreds ta tus ' ? And fo r the inc lus ion o f the u r ine an d d un g o fcows in the p a n l c a x u i ~ ~ . ~ ?nd was tha t a con t r ibu t ingr eas o n f o r ab a n d o n i n g So m a '? G iv en t h e eco lo g ica lcondit ions prevail ing in the lndus Valley and Kashmir .on ly a f ew of the Aryans cou ld know by per sonalex p e r i en ce t h e s ec r e ts o f t h e D i v i n e H er b . T h e cu l t o fSoma mus t have been shaped by the pecu l iar c i r cum-s tances p revai l ing in the area , bu t u l t imate ly thosec i r cu m s t an ces m u s t h av e d o o m ed t h a t cu l t . T o d ay i tl ives on in lnd ia on ly as an in tense and g lowingmemory o f an ancien t r i t e .

Unde r the Br i t ish Ra j the rich and diverse vegetat iono f l n d i a w as ad m i r ab l y s t u d i ed , an d G eo r g e Wat t ' sencyclopaed ia Dic,tionurr of ' the Economic Produc,r.\(!I'Intliu. 1889-1896. in eleven volum es. edited an dpar t ly wri t ten by him, is a major legacy of the Br i t ishru le in Ind ia . However . the mycophobic Br i t i sh d idl i t t l e t o ad v an ce k n o w l ed g e o f m y co l o g y , an d t h eHindus no th ing . No one ever sugges ted a mushroomf o r So m a , l e t a l o n e A. mu.c.c,uria.O u r S O M A c a m eo u t i n 1 9 6 8 b u t n o A. n~u. sc~ariuince then has ye tbeen found in Pak is ta n o r Ka shmir : there have beenn u m er o u s r ep o r t s o f f i n d s b u t v o u ch e r s p ec i m en shave not been deposi ted in herbar ia. Dr . Roy Watl ing,mycolog is t o f the Royal Botan ic Garden o f Ed in-burgh. spe nt three weeks in the f ield in 1978 on agenera l su rvey o f the Kashmir ar ea , in the v ic in i ty o fSr inag ar . H e co l lec ted in s tands o f b i r ch in two areasbu t he ar r ived there la te in the g rowing season andmoreo ver the season was d ry . In hi s p rin ted r ep or t ' hewrites . "The species A. mu.sc,aria is almost cer tainlyn a t i ve t o t h e Herulu-7one of nor thern Ind ia." The re hef o u n d Ht,tulu utilis f r o m 9 ,0 0 0 f ee t u p t o t h e t i m b e r

W a t l i n g , Ro y a n d N o r m a M . G r e g o r y : " l. a rg e r 1 -u n gif r o m K a s h m i r , " R i o v r r H a n d X X X I I , H r u n s w i c k,f e d u ~ i ~ i u ,1980. J C r a m e r .

Meal of the Buddha 60 1

line a t 10,500 feet but n o A. muscaria . In the Nor th -wes tern Himalayas the b i r ch g rows in termixed wi thRh odo den dro n in scrub-vegeta t ion u p to 11 ,500 f ee t .

W e may th ink we are f eel ing the f rus t ra t ions o f theA r y an s b u t b y co m p ar i s o n w i t h t h em w e a r e m ak i n gonly lac kadais ical effor ts to f ind a few voucher speci-mens , whereas the Brahmans mus t have developedurgen t need fo r quan t i t i es o f f ru i t ing bod ies to d ry ,and then t o r ef la te , and b r ing to the p ress ing s tones .Thei r needs mu s t have been cons tan t ly increasing wi ththe increas ing popu la t ion . Whatever may have beenthe case la ter . the r e la t ions a t f i r s t w i th the nat iveswere su re ly hos ti l e . The nat ives seem to have com e tooccupy the in termedia te mounta in heigh ts , p rec i se lywhere A . mu.ccaria g r o w s an d w h e r e t h e R g V ed a t i m ean d ag a i n s ay s So m a g r o w s . A s we k n o w f r o m t h e~ a t a p u r h a B r i h m a c a . t h e B r ah m an s d ep en d ed f o rthe i r S om a supp l ies, in la rge par t a t l eas t, o n thenat ives l iving in the m ounta in s . Th e supp ly dependedon the weather and the s ta te o f the r e la t ions wi th thenatives. whereas the needs were swell ing with everyg en e r a t i o n . l 'h e B r ah m an s m u s t h av e f o u n d i t i n th e i rin teres t to cu l t iva te the Dasyus an d the Dasyus wouldhave found i t advan tageous to d i scover every spo twhere A . mu.sc,uria grew. abov e a l l the s tands o f b i r chbu t a l so o ther hos t t r ees . ( A . mu.sc,ariu has beenrepor ted la te ly f rom Tami lnadu . especia l ly f rom theNilgir i Hil ls , in Southern India, but i ts presence therehas been a t t r ibu ted by mycolog is t s to p lan t ings o fexo t ic con i f er s in the pas t cen tu ry . ) Mos t o f the Som asacr if ices mus t have used ma ke-do phane rogam ic suh-s t i tu tes and in the pos t -Vedic Brahmanas and o therwrit ings we learn how the pr iests f rom ear ly t imesfaced this scarci ty with such make-do plants .

T h e B r ah m an s p r o b ab l y co n t i n u ed t o t r ad e w i t ht h e m o u n t a i n s o f A f g h an is t an s eek i n g So m a , an d w i t ht h e H i n d u K u s h . b u t t h e re i s n o k n o w i n g w h e th e rthese t r ibesmen were f r iend ly , perhaps in termi t ten t ly .T h e A f , h a n i s r a n J o u r n al 6 .2 . 1979 . anno unced thef inding of A . m u.sc,uriu in Nur i s tan . in the Shetu lVal ley h igh in the Hin du Kush in the ex t r em e nor th -e a s t o f t h e c o u n t r y . T h e a u t h o r s , G h o l a m M o c h t a ran d H ar t m u t G ee r k en o f K ab u l , ta l k ed w i t h t h r ee o l dcodger s . os tens ib ly hahi tubs of the "ravens ' bread."c l a i m ed t o b e A. n~u.sc,uria r o m w h i ch an i n eb ri a t in gconcoction is made. The episode is insuff iciently docu-m en t ed t o p e r m i t co n c l u s i on s ab o u t i ts b ea r i n g o nAmaniru n~usc ,ur ia and the Soma ques t ion . 'Thei rr epor t an teda tes the Russ ian invas ion .

'The use of subst i tutes by the Aryans must havebeen a r e luc tan t ly adop ted p rac t ice from the s tar t .They ar e ment ioned fo r the fi r s t t ime in the las t ha tcho f h y m n s i n co r p o r a t ed i n t o t h e can o n . M an d a l a X 85


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Journal qf the American Oriental Society 102.4 (1982)

t h r o u g h t o t h e en d , 1 91 . I n SOMA we fa i led to takei n t o co n s i d e r a t io n t h es e h y m n s o f M an d a l a X. sincet h ey w er e ad m i t t ed t o t h e can o n a t a l a t e s t ag e ,shor t ly before the Vedic age ende d . But so me year sag o Profe ssor Clif ford W right , in a lecture del iveredat Cam br idge Univers i ty , took the pos i t ion tha t manyo f t h o s e h y m n s , t h e l a st t o b e ad m i t t ed t o t h e can o n .on s t ron g sty li s t ic g roun ds were by n o means th e las tto be composed . There i s a ver se in these hymns tha ts p eak s o f t h e s u b s ti t u te s . T h a t h y m n m ay w e l l h avebeen composed cen tu r ies ear l ie r :

R g V e d a X 8 5. 3: O n e t h i n k s o n e d r i n k s S o m a b e c a u s ea p l a n t i s c r u s h ed . T h e S o m a t h a t t h eB r a hm a n s k n o w t h a t n o o n e dr in k s.

This con form s to ou r p resen t th ink ing : the scarc ity o fSo m a w as n o t t o b e ex p l a i n ed b y t h e s p r ead o f t h eA r y an s s o u t h w ar d . t h en ea s t w ar d d o w n t h e Y am u nZand beyond the conf luence wi th the Ganges . Thescarc i ty had a lways ex is ted , and the make-do subs t i -tu tes had been a ch ron ic p rob lem.

M E M O R A N D U M BY WA1.POL.A KAHiJL.A OF T H E E . 4K L .Y S O i J K C ' E S

F O R T H E M E A N I N G OF S O K A R A IfADDA V"'

Th e or ig inal Canonic a l Pal i passage f rom the Maka -purinihhanasutta of the I>i~hanik@,a.Pal i I ' ex t Soci -e ty ed i t ion (London 196h) , Vol . I!. p. 127:

.Arhu Xho Cundo katnniarui~urto assd ruttr~,a cca-vena .vuke nrlvvane paniruni kh adan i~ani ho;un~~.a?rpa!i~~aOapc~tva ca Hhuga-ahilraii ,s~ikuramadrfa~~unirsuro kalanr arocoi~esi: Kulo hhante. ni!ihirum hhar-ran 't i

T h e n a t t h e e n d o f t h a t n i g h t , C u n d a , t h e s m i t h ,having made ready in h i s house hard and sof t de l i -c ious food . and a l s o a b ig quant i ty of .siikarurtir~ddu\~u.a n n o u n c e d t h e t i m e t o t h e E x a l t e d O n e , s a yi n g: ' T h et ime. Lord . has come. the meal i s ready . '

In explaining sukarama(1dai~ain this passage the PaliC o m m en t a r y o f t h e Dighanikctya. Sumarigala~~ilri..tini,Pali Te xt So ciety ed. (Lo nd on . 1971), Vol. 11, p . 568.gives three dif ferent opinions:

Siikararnadrfaavanri n Zrirarunassa n arijinnassa ekaje! -!hnka.nikaras.sa pavarrarnamsam. Tam kira niurfufic. kva siniddlmri ca hot;. Tum pu!ij~udaper\~idrfhhu-katn pacai~crva'riarrho. ( C o l o m b o e d . of t h e Sutnan-~nlavilLZsini, P a r t 1, ( 1 9 1 8 ) p . 3 9 5 a d d s w i t h i nbracke ts ) : [Eke hhananti: siikararnuddavum punurnuduodunussu puiic~u~ora.va~ii.sapacana~~idhana.tsanamani crun'/r ~surho uvupunutn nfina pclhananiam.Kec,i hhannnri: .vukurumarfdavani na nu rasa~ ~ana~~i dhr.rum pnna rasu~.anasarrh~gacchati, rum Cund~nuRh a~ uv uf o urinihhunam na hha\~e~.sd'ri asa,,un~pu! i~~~ tr anr i . ]

Silkarurnadduva m e a n s m e a t a v a i la b l e (i n t h e m a r k e t )of an exce l len t ( f i r s t - ra te ) p ig ne i ther too young nortoo o ld . This i s sof t and fa t ty . 'Having ma de i t ready' :having coo ked i t wel l is the sense . (Some say : \ilkara-niadda\fo i s t h e n a m e f o r a c u l i n a r y p r e p a r a t i o n o fsof t r i ce ma de in t o a bro th wi th the f ive products ofthe cow. ' jus t a s grrvrrp5na i s the name of a cu l inaryp r e p a r a t i o n . O t h e r s s a y : sLikarumuddu~,as a chemicalpre par atio n [el ixir] . I t is found in the science ofc h e m i s t r y . r h a t c h e m i c a l p r e p a r a t i o n [ e li xi r] w a sm a d e by C u n d a t h i n k i n g t h a t t h e parinihhanu o f t h eE x a lt e d O n e m ~ g h t o t t a k e p l a ce . )

T h e s t o r y o f C u n d a o f f e r i n g .ttiharamadrlui~ut o t h eBuddh a occur s exact ly in the same way in ano thercanon ica l Pal i t ex t , I'rlana. T h e Paramutrhu;otihC,C o m m e n t a r y o n t he C!clrina (Co lom bo. 1920), p . 279.in exp la in ing .stik(~ramarh/u\~agives four dif ferentop in ions :

S~ikuranloifrfavani s~ihrussu rnud~rsinirfclhar!r ur8at-ranrumsan 'ti MahHat thaka thHyam vutmni . Krc,i punus~ikura tnudd uvan't i na s~ikarurnam.vat?i. \~iXar rhimaddita~~u~~taka[ iro ' f i,adanti. Aiitir: slikarrhi muti-ditaj~parfesearum uhic,c,hattun i. Apurc. pana .\!ikuru-tnudda\fani namu ekut !~ a.sa~.anan'rr haninl.\u. Talihi ('undo kat?7mZra/~utto lja l3hugu1.Z purinihhG~,i.s-.\ali'ri tu tva ?q?,rje\fa naira [~ ar ih h~ if i; rr ~~ lu e crra-raratn rr!!hc>l:r5'ti Surrhu ~~i ruj h~r ruknrn~ ~urU~ ~udisi'tivadanri.

I t i s sa id in the Grea t Commentary (.Mah~u!!huXu-tho)' t h a t silkaramurfdar~as sof t and fa t ty pork ( f leshof p ig) ava ilab le ( in the marke t ) . But some say : tlikuru-nludduva does no t mean pork ( f lesh of p ig) . bu t
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WASSON:Th e last Meal of the Buddha

bamboo shoot (bamboo sprout) trodden by pigs;others say that it is mushroom grown on a spottrodden by pigs; still others have maintained thatsiikorarnocldavu is a certain elixir. They say thatC'unda, the smith, having heard that the Exalted Onewould attain parinihhana that day (lit.. today) thoughttha t it would be good if He could live longer aftereating this (preparation). and offered it wishing theMaster's longevity.

' Five products of the cow: I) milk, 2) curd. 3) buttermilk.4) fresh butter. 5) clarified butter (ghee). W. R. [WalpolaRahula is a Buddhist monk of our day and he renders inEnglish the Sanskrit word p a f i c a ~ u y v uas befits our times. Inthe past, millennia p a f i i ~ a ~ u i ~ v a I ) milk.or represented:2) coagulated or sour milk, 3) butter. 4) urine, and 5) dung.R.G.W.]' The M a h ~ o ! t h a k u f h aGreat Commentary) is the most

important of the ancient or~glnal inhala commentaries dat-ing back at least to the 3rd century H . c . , on which are basedthe present avai lable I'ali commentar ies of the 5th century9.c ., including the Commentaries on the I ) i ~ h u n i k m aandthe l !danu from which these two commentarial passages aretaken. W.R.

EPILOGUEWhen 1 began working with Gordon Wasson on S O M A .

almost twenty years ago. we had, at first. no suspicion thatSoma might have been a mushroom: we just wished tocollect the texts relating to Soma and look at them with abotanical as well as an lnd olo g~c al ye. It was only when I

casually mentioned to RGW the urine-drinking, Soma-drinking episode in the Muhahharuru that he thought ofAmaniro muscoria as a possible identity for Soma, but fromthat moment on he became increasingly convinced that thlswas the case. 1 was certain that t he evidence proved Somawas an entheogen (we called it an hallucinogen then), andthat it was not a form of alcohol (as had been theretoforewidely believed) but was a drug provoking an ecstasy of avery special kind. Here is a truth of great importance in thestudy of later Indian religion and this was the major contrl-bution that RGW had made to Ved ~c tudies.

I was, however, not yet convinced that Soma was amushroom. I felt that the arguments rested primarily on theinterpretation of adjectives, many of them words for colors.and mythological traits, many of which applied to other godsas well, permitting other interpretations as well as the Inter-pretation t hat identified S oma w ~ t h he fly-agaric. As anIndologist, rather than a botanist. I still feel that the broaderhypothesis that Soma was an entheogen-is more signif-icant than the narrower one that it was a mushroom. Overthe years, however, the new evidence that RGW has broughtto light, particularly the evidence l ~nk ing he Buddha's lastmeal to Soma through the double links of the Vedic PutiXaand the Santal p u f k u , does in fact make it seem likely thatSoma was a mushroom, as RGW believed from the firstmoment. and, when we recall the religious role of urinementioned above. specifically the fly-agaric. But each of thethree levels of the hypothesis -that Soma was an entheogen.a mushroom. and the fly-agaric adds a valuable dimensionto our understanding of both Vedic and post-Vedic religion.

The Last Meal of the Buddha,Wasson,1982,JAOS

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