The Buddha died after eating a meal often called “pig’s delight” (Skt. sukaramaddava, lit. “soft” or “mild pig”) offered to him by the metalworker, Cunda Kammāraputta, in his mango grove in Pava, between November and January, en route to Kapilavastu, the place of his birth. The nature of this meal is uncertain. It might have been pork (the Buddha was not vegetarian) or mushrooms. The food disagreed with him. He directed that it be buried and died some 15 to 18 hours later in Kushinagar, after he had resumed his journey. There are multiple theories about the cause of the Buddha’s death, including:


  • food poisoning;
  • murder;
  • a medicine gone wrong (the Buddha had previously announced to Ananda that he was dying);
  • suicide.

However, the most cogent theory is probably that of Dr. Mettanando Bhikkhu, who analyzed the factual details of the Buddha’s death in the Mahaparinibbana Sutta and concluded based on medical diagnostic criteria that he died of mesenteric infarction, a blockage in the arteries or veins that supply the bowel, a common disease of the elderly (the Buddha was 80), and that the Buddha’s final episode of this disease was triggered by a large meal.