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The Vulture Peak (
Pali Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or ''Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of ''Theravāda'' Buddhism ...
: गिज्झकूट,
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
: गृद्धकूट), also known as the Holy Eagle Peak or Gridhakūta (or Gādhrakūta), was the Buddha's favorite retreat in
Rajagaha Rajgir, meaning "The City of Kings," is a historic town in the district of Nalanda in Bihar, India. As the ancient seat and capital of the Haryanka dynasty, the Pradyota dynasty, the Brihadratha dynasty and the Mauryan Empire, as well as the d ...
(now Rajgir, or Rajagrih). It was the scene for many of his discourses. Rajgir is located in
Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...
, India. It is so named because it resembles a sitting vulture with its wings folded.


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 Buddhist texts are those religious texts which belong to the Buddhist tradition. The earliest Buddhist texts were not committed to writing until some centuries after the death of Gautama Buddha. The oldest surviving Buddhist manuscripts a ...
in the
Pāli Canon The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant early Buddhist canon. It derives mainly from the Tamrashatiya school. During th ...
of
Theravada Buddhism ''Theravāda'' () ( si, ථේරවාදය, my, ထေရဝါဒ, th, เถรวาท, km, ថេរវាទ, lo, ເຖຣະວາດ, pi, , ) is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school' ...
and in the
Mahayana sutras The Mahāyāna sūtras are a broad genre of Buddhist scriptures (''sūtra'') that are accepted as canonical and as ''buddhavacana'' ("Buddha word") in Mahāyāna Buddhism. They are largely preserved in the Chinese Buddhist canon, the Tibet ...
as the place where the Buddha gave certain sermons. Among the sermons are the '' Heart Sutra'', the ''
Lotus Sutra The ''Lotus Sūtra'' ( zh, 妙法蓮華經; sa, सद्धर्मपुण्डरीकसूत्रम्, translit=Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtram, lit=Sūtra on the White Lotus of the True Dharma, italic=) is one of the most influ ...
'' and the '' Śūraṅgama Samādhi Sūtra'' as well as many
prajnaparamita A Tibetan painting with a Prajñāpāramitā sūtra at the center of the mandala Prajñāpāramitā ( sa, प्रज्ञापारमिता) means "the Perfection of Wisdom" or "Transcendental Knowledge" in Mahāyāna and Theravāda B ...
sutras. It is explicitly mentioned in the ''Lotus Sutra'', chapter 16, as the Buddha's pure land:


Gallery

File:Monk in the hills around Vulture Peak Rajgir, Bihar, India.jpg, Monk in the hills around Vulture Peak File:Meditation area, Griddhakuta Hill, Rajgir.jpg, Meditation area File:Rajgir - 035 Gijjhakuta from Above (9242176293).jpg, View from above File:Mulagandhakuti in Vulture Peak.jpg, Vulture Peak File:Rajgir - 037 Chanting (9242149699).jpg, Buddhist assembly


References


Notes


Bibliography

*


External links


''Vulture Peak''
on Dhamma Wiki
''elevation''
on buddhadhyana {{Indian Buddhist Caves * Mountains of Bihar Nalanda district Buddhist sites in Bihar