Lord Buddha’s last spoken words

The Buddha’s last words were spoken to his disciples in the Mallas’s sāl-tree grove near Kusinārā. However, nothing that Lord Buddha ever said was directly written down. Rather, his words were transmitted orally until written down (the Tipitaka) in 300 BCE. I think it’s reasonable to assume that some errors would have crept in over that oral period, I can’t imagine otherwise. Thus each Sutta begins with the statement, “I have heard it said” or words to that effect.

The Mahāparinibbāna Sutta – the story of the great extinguishing is the text that recounts this event happening between 486 and 483 BCE (there is no agreement):

Atha kho bhagavā bhikkhū āmantesi – handa dāni, bhikkave, āmantayāmi vo: “vayadhammā saṅkhārā appamādena sampādethā”ti. Ayaṃ tathāgatassa pacchimā vācā.

Yet, recently, I was puzzled when told that Lord Buddha’s sacred last spoken words were translated into English as: ”Work out your own salvation with fear and diligence.” The quotation, more or less, appears to be that from Philippians 2:12 of which there are different versions depending on the translation.

It’s clearly not a proper translation of the Buddha’s last words. Yet, the phrase has a dignified history. It apparently was first applied in a Buddhist context, in paraphrase from the King James Bible, by Sir James George Frazer. He used the idea of Buddhist ascetics “working out their salvation,” but did not link it directly to the Buddha’s last words. It was T.W. Rhys Davids, in his translation of the Digha Nikaya, who picked up on Frazer’s usage to translate the Buddha’s last words:

Then the Blessed One addressed the brethren, and said, ‘behold now, brethren, I exhort you, saying, “Decay is inherent in all component things! Work out your salvation with diligence!’ This was the last word of the Tatha-gata.

Lord Buddha’s sacred last words were spoken in Pali, an ancient language that does not lend itself for easy translation into English, this is demonstrated by the varied available translations. The complexities arise as each word has many possibilities of meaning, and, of course, huge cultural differences exist between then and now. I don’t mean to be precious, but the long oral transmission would have added complexities of meaning on top of everything else, I can’t imagine it otherwise. Thus Lord Buddha’s words would have undergone changes that would further undergo changes and contortions by translators, and no doubt will continue to do so.

Jayarava offers the following translation of the phrase following an earnest examination of the Pali text and its many possible meanings into English:

All compounded things, all experiences (mental and physical), all phenomena by their very nature decay and die, and are disappointing: it is through being not-blind-drunk on, obsessed by, or infatuated with, the objects of the senses that you succeed in awakening, or obtain liberation.

Or more succinctly:

All things are disappointing, [it is] through vigilance [that] you succeed.

I offer here my personal contribution. I make no claim that it is based on Lord Buddha’s final words but rather follows from my insights as an enthusiastic Buddhist practitioner:

Realise that all things (conditioned phenomena) are unsatisfactory, and overcome your fear to work out your own salvation with determination and diligence, for time is short.

May love and kindness radiate to all beings in all realms. With Metta!