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With his monks, the Buddha reached the bank of the river Kakuttha. He took his bath. He crossed through the river and came to a mango grove at the other bank.. While taking rest there, the Buddha said to Ananda,
"Ananda! If, in future, anyone blames Cunda, the son of Karmara saying, 'Abus Cunda! You have earned to gain, rather, you have suffered a severe loss; by eating the food served by you, the Tathāgata lost his life', then you remove this stigma from Cunaa. You tell Cunda. 'You have earned a gain, a good gain; the Tathāgata entered into liberation by accepting food from thee'; and tell him further that two meals of the Buddha are of equal merit, viz., one preceding his enlightenment and the other preceding his liberation"".
Moving out from the mango grove on the bank of the river Kokuttha, Bhagavan Buddha took the road to Kus inārā. Having crossed through the river Hiranyavati, he reached the săla forest at Kusinārā named Upavattana which belonged to the Mallas. In a grove made by sala trees, his cot was spread whereon he lay with his head towards the north.
At that time, the long-lived Upavana stood before the Buddha helping him with a fan. Suddenly the Buddha burst out,
"Get out, bhikṣus, get ye out from my presence".
"At this Ananda asked,
"?
"Bhagavan! Why so"
The Lord said,
"Ananda! Gods from the ten heavens (lokas)have assembled to see the Tathagata for the last time. All around this sala forest, upto a distance of 12 yojanas, there is no vacant space even as much as to accomodate the tip of a hair. The gods are being irritated because of the obstruction caused by the monk with a fan in his hand".
