Buddhavamsa

The Buddhavamsa (“Chronicle of Buddhas”) is a Pali text of the Khuddaka Nikaya describing the lives of 24 past Buddhas - from Dipankara (the first Buddha encountered by the Bodhisatta Sumedha) through Kassapa, and culminating with Gotama (the historical Buddha). It establishes the lineage of Buddhas that situates Metteyya/Maitreya as the 29th.

Structure

The text consists of 27 chapters (one per Buddha + introduction and Metteyya chapter):

• Chapter 1: The Initial Resolution (Durenidana)
• Chapters 2-26: Individual biographies of 25 past Buddhas (Dipankara through Kassapa)
• Chapter 27: Gotama Buddha’s own chronicle
• Brief mention of Metteyya as the future Buddha

Key Theme

The Sumedha episode: the ascetic Sumedha prostrates before Dipankara Buddha and resolves to attain Buddhahood himself rather than entering nibbana. Dipankara prophesies that Sumedha will become Gotama Buddha in a distant future age. This is the foundational narrative of the bodhisattva path in Theravada.

Sources

Pali root text: Available in bilara-data (SuttaCentral, CC0). Repository: root/pli/ms/sutta/kn/bv/ on github.com/suttacentral/bilara-data.

English translations:

• I.B. Horner (Pali Text Society, 1975) - Minor Anthologies III - under copyright until 2051.
• No CC0 or Public Domain English translation currently available.
• Bhikkhu Sujato has not yet translated the Buddhavamsa into English.

Cross-References

• DN 26 - Metteyya prophecy (CC0)
• Anagata-vamsa - post-canonical chronicle of future Buddhas
• Arya-Maitreya-vyakarana - Sanskrit parallel