Vulture Peak

Gijjhakuta
Vulture Peak

Vulture Peak from above
Location
Gijjhakuta
Range Rajgir hills
Coordinates 25°00′06.0798″N 85°26′47.3022″E / 25.001688833°N 85.446472833°ECoordinates: 25°00′06.0798″N 85°26′47.3022″E / 25.001688833°N 85.446472833°E

The Vulture Peak (Gijjhakuta, sanskrit : Gṛdhrakūṭa, hindi : गृद्घराज पर्वत), 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 the Buddhist sutras both in the Theravada Pali Canon[1][2] and in the Mahayana sutras, as the place where the Buddha gave a particular sermon. Among the latter are the Heart Sutra, the Lotus Sutra and the Suramgamasamadhi sutra, as well as many other Prajnaparamita Sutras.

It is explicitly mentioned in the Lotus Sutra in 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.[3]

Notes

  1. ↑ "The Sona Sutta: About Sona". Retrieved 2012-02-12.
  2. ↑ "The Daruka-Khanda Sutta: The Woodpile". Retrieved 2012-02-12.
  3. ↑ Reeves, Gene (2008). The Lotus Sutra: A Contemporary Translation of a Buddhist Classic. Wisdom Publications. pp. 296–297. ISBN 0-86171-571-3. compare with the Vakkali Sutta of the Pali Canon

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