The Buddha’s Fire Miracles

Abstract

In this article I examine a few selected early discourses in which the Buddha manifests miracles that involve a display of fire. My main aim in what follows is to attempt to discern stages in the textual depiction of such miraculous performances through comparative study of the relevant passages in the extant parallel versions. The cases I will be studying are Sakka’s visit (1), a visit to Brahmā (2), Pāţikaputta’s challenge (3), and the twin miracle (4), after which I will take a brief look at the fire element in the early discourses (5).