Mahâ-Parinibbâna-Suttanta: The Book of the Great Decease

p. 47 16. 'Again, Ânanda, when a Bodhisatta deliberately and consciously quits his mother's womb, then the earth quakes and trembles and is shaken violently. This is the fourth cause, proximate and remote, of the appearance of a mighty earthquake. 17. 'Again, Ânanda,' when a Tathâgata arrives at the supreme and perfect enlightenment, then this earth quakes and trembles and is shaken violently. p. 48 This is the fifth cause, proximate and remote, of the appearance of a mighty earthquake. 18. 'Again, Ânanda, when a Tathâgata founds the sublime kingdom of righteousness, then this earth quakes and trembles and is shaken violently. This is the sixth cause, proximate and remote, of the appearance of a mighty earthquake. 19. 'Again, Ânanda, when a Tathâgata consciously and deliberately rejects the remainder of his life, then this earth quakes and trembles and is shaken violently. This is the seventh cause, proximate and remote, of the appearance of a mighty earthquake. 20. 'Again, Ânanda, when a Tathâgata passes entirely away with that utter passing away in which nothing whatever is left behind, then this earth quakes and trembles and is shaken violently. This is the eighth cause, proximate and remote, of the appearance of a mighty earthquake. ------------------------ 21. 'Now of eight kinds, Ânanda, are these assemblies. Which are the eight[1]? Assemblies of nobles, Brâhmanas, householders, and Samanas, and the angel hosts of the Guardian Angels, the Great Thirty-Three, Mâra, and Brahma.