The death of the Buddha, or Mahaparinirvana, Gandhara 2-3rd century.

Attendants to the Parinirvana, Gandhara, Victoria and Albert museum.

In Buddhism, parinirvana (Sanskrit: परिनिर्वाण parinirvāṇa; Pali: परिनिब्बाण parinibbāṇa; Chinese: 般涅槃, bō niè pán) is the final nirvana, usually understood to be within reach only upon the death of the body of someone who has attained complete awakening (bodhi). It is the ultimate goal of Buddhist practice and implies a release from the cycle of deaths and rebirths as well as the dissolution of all worldly physical and mental aggregates or skandhas (form, feeling, perception, mental fabrications and consciousness). Download high resolution version (862x653, 374 KB)The Paranirvana of the Buddha. ... Download high resolution version (862x653, 374 KB)The Paranirvana of the Buddha. ... Standing Buddha sculpture, ancient region of Gandhara, northern Pakistan, 1st century CE, Musée Guimet. ... Gandhāra (Sanskrit: गन्धार, Persian; Gandara, Waihind) (Urdu: گندھارا) is the name of an ancient Indian Mahajanapada, currently in northern Pakistan (the North-West Frontier Province and parts of northern Punjab and Kashmir) and eastern Afghanistan. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 295 pixelsFull resolution (1571 × 579 pixel, file size: 1. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 295 pixelsFull resolution (1571 × 579 pixel, file size: 1. ... The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the worlds largest and finest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a collection of over 4 million objects. ... A silhouette of Buddha at Ayutthaya, Thailand. ... The Sanskrit language ( , for short ) is a classical language of India, a liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Jainism, and one of the 23 official languages of India. ... The title given to this article is incorrect due to technical limitations. ... ( Sanskrit: ; Pali: निब्बान Nibbāna; Vietnamese: Niết bàn; Chinese: 涅槃; Mandarin Pinyin: nièpán, Cantonese: nihppùhn; Japanese: nehan ); Korean: ì—´ë°˜, yeolbhan; Thai: nibpan นิพพาน); Tibetan mya-ngan-las-das-pa; Mongolian É£asalang-aca nögcigsen), is a Sanskrit word that literally means to cease blowing (as when a candle flame... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Bodhi (बोधि) is the Pāli and Sanskrit word for the awakened or knowing consciousness of a fully liberated yogi, generally translated into English as enlightenment. It is an abstract noun formed from the verbal root budh (to awake, become aware, notice, know or understand), corresponding to the verbs bujjhati (P... Rebirth in Buddhism is the doctrine that the consciousness of a person (as conventionally regarded), upon the death or dissolution of the aggregates (skandhas) which make up that person, becomes one of the contributing causes for the arising of a new group of skandhas which may again be conventionally considered... The skandhas (Sanskrit: Pāli: Khandha; literally: heap or bundle) are the five constituents or aggregates through which the functioning and experience of an individual is created according to Buddhist phenomenology. ...

The parinirvana of Gautama Buddha (Pali: Gotama Buddha) is depicted in the Pali Mahaparinibbana Sutta. Standing Buddha sculpture, ancient region of Gandhara, northern Pakistan, 1st century CE, Musée Guimet. ... For the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, a text of East Asian Mahayana Buddhism, see Nirvana Sutra. ...

The Buddhist term, Mahaparinirvana, meaning "great, complete Nirvana" is also encountered. The word "Mahaparinirvana" usually refers to the ultimate state of Nirvana (everlasting, highest peace and happiness) entered by an Awakened Being (Buddha) or "arhat" (Pali: Arahant) at the moment of physical death, when the mundane skandhas (constituent elements of the ordinary body and mind) are shed and only the Buddhic skandhas remain (this in Mahayana Buddhism). However, it can also refer (in the Mahayana) to the same inner spiritual state reached during a Buddha's physical lifetime too. In the Mahayana Buddhist scripture entitled the Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra, the Buddha teaches that unlike "ordinary" Nirvana, "Mahaparinirvana" is the highest state or realm realised by a perfect Buddha, a state in which that Buddhic being awakens to "the Eternal, Bliss, the Self, and the Pure". Only in Mahaparinirvana is this True Self ("atman") of the Buddha said to be fully discernible. Media:Example. ... A Chinese Luohan statue from the Liao Dynasty in Hebei Province, China In the sramanic traditions of ancient India (most notably those of Mahavira and Gautama Buddha) arhat (Sanskrit) or arahant (Pali) signified a spiritual practitioner who had—to use an expression common in the tipitaka—laid down the burden... Relief image of the bodhisattva Guan Yin from Mt. ... Nirvana Sutra or Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra (Chinese: Niepan Jing (涅槃經); Japanese: Nehangyō (涅槃経)) is one of the major texts of Mahāyāna Buddhism. ...

In Hinduism and Yoga parinirvana is called Mahasamadhi. Mahasamādhi (not to be mistaken with samadhi) in Dharmic Traditions is the state of consciously leaving ones body. ...

See also

• The life of the Buddha
• Mahaparinirvana Sutra

Standing Buddha sculpture, ancient region of Gandhara, northern Pakistan, 1st century CE, Musée Guimet. ... Nirvana Sutra or Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra (Chinese: Niepan Jing (涅槃經); Japanese: Nehangyō (涅槃経)) is one of the major texts of Mahāyāna Buddhism. ...

External links

• Complete translation of the Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra

• SN VI.15: Parinibbana Sutta - Total Unbiding
• Maha-parinibbana Sutta - The Great Discourse on the Total Unbinding
• The Life of Buddha in Legend and Art