Religion:List of the named Buddhas

"The Seven Buddhas", at Sanchi (1st century BCE/CE). Six Buddhas of the past are represented, together with the current Buddha, Gautama Buddha, with his Bodhi Tree (at the extreme right). In the central section are three stupas alternating with four trees with thrones in front of them, adored by figures both human and divine. These represent six Buddhas of the past (namely: Vipassī Buddha, Sikhī Buddha, Vessabhū Buddha, Kakusandha Buddha, Koṇāgamana Buddha and Kassapa Buddha) with the current Buddha, Gautama Buddha. Three are symbolized by their stupas, and four by the trees under which each respectively attained enlightenment. The tree on the extreme right is the pipal tree of Gautama Buddha and the one next to it is the banyan tree of Kassapa Buddha. The identification of the others is less certain.

Buddhist men at the Sule Pagoda in Yangon, Myanmar, paying homage to the 29 Buddhas described in Chapter 27 of the Buddhavamsa

Sumedha, the youth who would after many reincarnations become Gautama Buddha, receiving his niyatha vivarana (prediction of future Buddhahood) from Dīpankara Buddha

In countries where Theravāda Buddhism is practiced by the majority of people, such as Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, it is customary for Buddhists to hold elaborate festivals, especially during the fair weather season, paying homage to the 29 Buddhas described in the Buddhavamsa. The Buddhavamsa is a text which describes the life of Gautama Buddha and the 27 Buddhas who preceded him, along with the future Metteyya Buddha. The Buddhavamsa is part of the Khuddaka Nikāya, which in turn is part of the Sutta Piṭaka. The Sutta Piṭaka is one of three main sections of the Pāli Canon of Theravāda Buddhism.

The first three of these Buddhas—Taṇhaṅkara, Medhaṅkara, and Saraṇaṅkara—lived before the time of Dīpankara Buddha. The fourth Buddha, Dīpankara, is especially important, as he was the Buddha who gave niyatha vivarana (prediction of future Buddhahood) to the Brahmin youth who would in the distant future become the bodhisattva Gautama Buddha. After Dīpankara, 25 more noble people (ariya-puggala) would attain enlightenment before Gautama, the historical Buddha.

Many Buddhists also pay homage to the future (and 29th) Buddha, Maitreya. According to Buddhist scripture, Maitreya will be a successor of Gautama who will appear on Earth, achieve complete enlightenment, and teach the pure Dharma. The prophecy of the arrival of Maitreya is found in the canonical literature of all Buddhist sects (Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana), and is accepted by most Buddhists as a statement about an event that will take place when the Dharma will have been forgotten on Jambudvipa (the terrestrial realm, where ordinary human beings live).

Maitreya Buddha from the 2nd century Gandharan Art Period

The Seven Buddhas of Antiquity

In the earliest strata of Pali Buddhist texts, especially in the first four Nikayas, only the following seven Buddhas, The Seven Buddhas of Antiquity (Saptatathāgata), are explicitly mentioned and named:

1. Vipassī
2. Sikhī
3. Vessabhū
4. Kakusandha
5. Koṇāgamana
6. Kassapa
7. Gautama

One sutta called Cakkavatti-Sīhanāda Sutta from an early Buddhist text called the Digha Nikaya also mentions that following the Seven Buddhas of Antiquity, a Buddha named Maitreya is predicted to arise in the world.

However, according to a text in the Theravada Buddhist tradition from a later strata (between 1st and 2nd century BCE) called the Buddhavamsa, twenty-one more Buddhas were added to the list of seven names in the early texts. Other later Buddhist texts hold that each kalpa has 1,000, and Metteya to be the fifth and future Buddha of the bhadrakalpa. The previous kalpa was the vyuhakalpa (Glorious aeon), and the present kalpa is called the bhadrakalpa (Auspicious aeon). Just as the Theravada tradition adds the names of 21 Buddhas to this initial list of seven Buddhas, Mahayana Buddhism adds even more names of Buddhas, sometimes claiming that there has been, is, and/or will be infinite number of Buddhas.

According to the Theravada tradition, the seven Buddhas named in the early Buddhist texts are said to be of the following number in the specified kalpa, bridging the vyuhakalpa and the bhadrakalpa:

1. Vipassī (the 998th Buddha of the vyuhakalpa)
2. Sikhī (the 999th Buddha of the vyuhakalpa)
3. Vessabhū (the 1000th and final Buddha of the vyuhakalpa)
4. Kakusandha (the first Buddha of the bhadrakalpa)
5. Koṇāgamana (the second Buddha of the bhadrakalpa)
6. Kassapa (the third Buddha of the bhadrakalpa)
7. Gautama (the fourth and present Buddha of the bhadrakalpa)

Historical mentions of previous Buddhas

Koṇāgamana (the second Buddha of the bhadrakalpa)

The Koṇāgamana Buddha, second Buddha of the bhadrakalpa, is mentioned in a 3rd-century BCE inscription by Ashoka at Nigali Sagar, in today's Nepal. There is an Ashoka pillar at the site today. Ashoka's inscription in the Brahmi script is on the fragment of the pillar still partly buried in the ground. The inscription made when Emperor Asoka at Nigali Sagar in 249 BCE records his visit, the enlargement of a stupa dedicated to the Kanakamuni Buddha, and the erection of a pillar:

"Devanam piyena piyadasin lajina- chodasavasa bhisitena Budhasa Konakamanasa thube-dutyam vadhite Visativa sabhisitena –cha atana-agacha-mahiyite silathabe-cha usa papite"
“His Majesty King Priyadarsin in the 14th year of his reign enlarged for the second time the stupa of the Buddha Kanakamuni and in the 20th year of his reign, having come in person, paid reverence and set up a stone pillar”.

"Budha-sa Konākamana-sa" ("Of the Kanakamuni Buddha") inscription in the Brahmi Script, at Nigali Sagar, 250 BCE

According to Xuanzang, Koṇāgamana's relics were held in a stupa in Nigali Sagar, in what is now Kapilvastu District in southern Nepal.

Gautama Buddha (Sakyamuni, the fourth and present Buddha of the bhadrakalpa)

The historical Buddha, Gautama, also called Sakyamuni ("Sage of the Shakyas), is mentioned epigraphically on the Pillar of Ashoka at Rummindei (Lumbini in modern Nepal). The Brahmi script inscription on the pillar gives evidence that Ashoka, emperor of the Maurya Empire, visited the place in 3rd-century BCE and identified it as the birth-place of the Buddha.

The words "Bu-dhe" and "Sa-kya-mu-nī" in Brahmi script, on the Rummindei pillar of Ashoka.

When King Devandmpriya Priyadarsin had been anointed twenty years, he came himself and worshipped (this spot) because the Buddha Shakyamuni was born here. (He) both caused to be made a stone bearing a horse (?) and caused a stone pillar to be set up, (in order to show) that the Blessed One was born here. (He) made the village of Lummini free of taxes, and paying (only) an eighth share (of the produce).

—The Rummindei Edict, one of the Minor Pillar Edicts of Ashoka.

The 29 named Buddhas

	Pāli name	Sanskrit name	Class(Varṇa)	Birthplace	Parents	Bodhirukka (tree of enlightenment)	Incarnation of Gautama
1	Taṇhaṅkara	Tṛṣṇaṃkara	Kshatriya	Popphavadi	King Sunandha and Queen Sunandhaa	Rukkaththana
2	Medhaṅkara	Medhaṃkara		Yaghara	Sudheva and Yasodhara	Kaela
3	Saraṇaṅkara	Śaraṇaṃkara		Vipula	Sumangala and Yasawathi	Pulila
4	Dīpaṃkara	Dīpaṃkara	Brahmin	Rammawatinagara	Sudheva and Sumedhaya	Pipphala	Sumedha (also Sumati or Megha Mānava, a rich Brahman)
5	Koṇḍañña	Kauṇḍinya	Kshatriya	Rammawatinagara	Sunanda and Sujata	Salakalyana	Vijitawi (a Chakravarti in Chandawatinagara of Majjhimadesa)
6	Maṅgala	Maṃgala	Brahmin	Uttaranagara (Majhimmadesa)	Uttara (father) and Uttara (mother)	A naga	Suruchi (in Siribrahmano)
7	Sumana	Sumanas	Kshatriya	Mekhalanagara	Sudassana and Sirima	A naga	King Atulo, a Naga
8	Revata	Raivata	Brahmin	Sudhannawatinagara	Vipala and Vipula	A naga	A Veda-versed Brahman
9	Sobhita	Śobhita	Kshatriya	Sudhammanagara	Sudhammanagara (father) and Sudhammanagara (mother)	A naga	Sujata, a Brahman (in Rammavati)
10	Anomadassi	Anavamadarśin	Brahmin	Chandawatinagara	Yasava and Yasodara	Ajjuna	A Yaksha king
11	Paduma	Padma	Kshatriya	Champayanagara	Asama (father) and Asama (mother)	Salala	A lion
12	Nārada	Nārada		Dhammawatinagara	King Sudheva and Anopama	Sonaka	A tapaso in Himalayas
13	Padumuttara	Padmottara	Kshatriya	Hansawatinagara	Anurula and Sujata	Salala	Jatilo, an ascetic
14	Sumedha	Sumedha	Kshatriya	Sudasananagara	Sumedha (father) and Sumedha (mother)	Nipa	Native of Uttaro
15	Sujāta	Sujāta		Sumangalanagara	Uggata and Pabbavati	Welu	A chakravarti
16	Piyadassi	Priyadarśin		Sudannanagara	Sudata and Subaddha	Kakudha	Kassapa, a Brahmin (at Siriwattanagara)
17	Atthadassi	Arthadarśin	Kshatriya	Sonanagara	Sagara and Sudassana	Champa	Susino, a Brahman
18	Dhammadassī	Dharmadarśin	Kshatriya	Surananagara	Suranamaha and Sunanada	Bimbajala	Indra, the leader of the gods (devas)
19	Siddhattha	Siddhārtha		Vibharanagara	Udeni and Suphasa	Kanihani	Mangal, a Brahman
20	Tissa	Tiṣya		Khemanagara	Janasando and Paduma	Assana	King Sujata of Yasawatinagara
21	Phussa	Puṣya	Kshatriya	Kāśi	Jayasena and Siremaya	Amalaka	Vijitavi
22	Vipassī	Vipaśyin	Kshatriya	Bandhuvatinagara	Vipassi (father) and Vipassi (mother)	Pāṭalī (Stereospermum chelonoides)	King Atula
23	Sikhī	Śikhin	Kshatriya	Arunavattinagara	Arunavatti and Paphavatti	Puṇḍarīka (Mangifera indica)	Arindamo (at Paribhuttanagara)
24	Vessabhū	Viśvabhū	Kshatriya	Anupamanagara	Suppalittha and Yashavati	Sāla (Shorea robusta)	Sadassana (in Sarabhavatinagara)
25	Kakusandha	Krakucchanda	Brahmin	Khemavatinagara	Aggidatta, the purohita Brahman of King Khema, and Visakha	Sirīsa (Albizia lebbeck)	King Khema
26	Koṇāgamana	Kanakamuni	Brahmin	Sobhavatinagara	Yaññadatta, a Brahman, and Uttara	Udumbara (Ficus racemosa)	King Pabbata of a mountainous area in Mithila
27	Kassapa	Kāśyapa	Brahmin	Baranasinagara	Brahmadatta, a Brahman, and Dhanavati	Nigrodha (Ficus benghalensis)	Jotipala (at Vappulla)
28	Gotama (current)	Gautama (current)	Kshatriya	Lumbini	King Suddhodana and Māyā	Assattha (Ficus religiosa)	Gautama, the Buddha
29	Metteyya	Maitreya	Brahmin	Ketumatī	Subrahma and Brahmavati	Nāga (Mesua ferrea)

See also

• List of Buddhas
• List of bodhisattvas
• Ten Bodhisattas
• Thirty-five Confession Buddhas
• Five Tathagatas
• Praises to the Twenty-One Taras
• Bhadrakalpikasutra
• List of Buddha claimants
• Glossary of Buddhism

References

• Beal, S (1875). The romantic legend of Sâkya Buddha: from the Chinese-Sanscrit. London: Trubner & Company, Ludgate Hill. https://archive.org/stream/cu31924023164209#page/n5/mode/2up. 
• Malalasekera, GP (2007). Dictionary of Pāli proper names. Delhi, India: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited. ISBN 978-81-208-3020-2. https://books.google.com/books?id=8Au_lIP1ZnQC&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:%22Gunapala+Piyasena+Malalasekera%22#v=onepage&q&f=false. 
• Buswell Jr., RE; Lopez Jr., DS (2014). The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism (1st ed.). Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. pp. 106, 776. ISBN 978-0-691-15786-3. https://books.google.com/books?id=DXN2AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA106&lpg=PA106&dq=Buddhas+of+the+present+kalpa#v=onepage&q=Buddhas%20of%20the%20present%20kalpa&f=false. 

Further reading

• Law, BC, ed (1938). "The lineage of the Buddhas". The Minor Anthologies of the Pali Canon: Buddhavaṃsa, the lineage of the Buddhas, and Cariyā-Piṭaka or the collection of ways of conduct (1st ed.). London: Milford. 
• Takin, MV, ed (1969). "The lineage of the Buddhas". The Genealogy of the Buddhas (1st ed.). Bombay: Bombay University Publications. 
• Vicittasarabivamsa, U (1992). "Chapter IX: The chronicle of twenty-four Buddhas". in Ko Lay, U; Tin Lwin, U. The great chronicle of Buddhas, Volume One, Part Two (1st ed.). Yangon, Myanmar: Ti=Ni Publishing Center. pp. 130–321. http://www.dhammatalks.net/Books14/Mingun_Sayadaw-The_Great_Chronicle_of_Buddhas_Vol-1_Part-2.pdf.