Cunda the Smithperson
3 discourses
Cunda the smith of Pāvā fed the Buddha his last meal — and the meal itself became the teaching. When the sūkaramaddava he offered was followed by the Buddha's grave illness, the Buddha had Ānanda reassure him that the offering of the Tathāgata's final meal bears fruit equal to the meal that preceded the awakening, and that no evil should be laid at the donor's door (DN 16, UD 8.5). He asked his own question, the ten courses of action unskillful and skillful and where each leads (AN 10.176), and his home at Pāvā heard the Saṅgīti recited in concert (DN 33).
Discourses
The Buddha declares four ascetics to Cunda: the victor delighting in Nibbāna, the teacher analyzing the Dhamma, the practitioner living mindful and restrained, and the unrestrained corrupter wandering in counterfeit disguise.
PTS 16–17After eating his final meal from Cunda the smith and enduring severe illness, the Buddha instructs Ānanda to console the donor regarding the supreme merit of the offering.
PTS 81–84The Buddha’s final journey from Rājagaha to Kusinārā, detailing the conditions for non-decline, his illness and relinquishment of the life force, his last instructions to the Saṅgha, his final Nibbāna between the twin sāla trees, the cremation, and the distribution of the relics.
PTS 2.72–2.168