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pyre was lit by Agnikumāra gods and it was cooled by Meghakumāra gods. The last mortal remains of both were carried away by the Indra's of the upper and lower (subterranean) heavens. On both the occasions, the Indras and their gods were very much stricken with grief. There is, however, an important difference between the two, viz., that whereas at the funeral of Mahavira, the leadingmost role was played by the gods, human beings taking only a subsidiary role, at the funeral of the Buddha, human beings were the principal participants, and the gods only witnessed the occasion by remaining invisible in the sky. What the gods wanted about the Buddha's funeral and how they wanted it to be performed was communicated by the arhat- monks to the Mallas, The Buddhist account of (the participation by the gods appears to be more realistic,
In their final years, both moved out from Rājagrha. Mahāvira chose Pāvā for his monsoon retreat and he passed away at this place in the last quarter of the newmoon night in the month of Kārtika. We have no record of any important event which might have occurred between Păvă and Rājagrha, nor any to indicate that Mahăvira taken ill before he passed away. As to the Buddha, we have a complete record of his wandering from Rājagrha to Kusinārā, and he is stated to have died for having taken a pig's meat. The date of his death has been accepted to be the full-moon night of the month of Vaisakha. But according to the Sarvāstivāda tradition, the Buddha(too) passed away on the full-moon night in the month of Kārtika (3).
Before their liberation, both delivered special sermons. Mahavira's sermon was a long one, but that of the Buddha was brief. There were many questions and answers on both the occasions. Many questions were asked by the disciples and all ere duly answered by their respective masters. In both the traditions, however, some of the questions appear to be later interpolations and perhaps were not in the original. At a later period, these have been placed in the mouths of their respective leaders according to the needs of their followers. On the night during which he passed away, Mahavira initiated Has tipala into monkhood with his own hands, and the Buddha did the same to Subhadra Parivrājaka.
