The Great Chronicle of Buddhas
by Ven. Mingun Sayadaw | 1990 | 1,044,401 words
This page describes Sammasambuddha contained within the book called the Great Chronicle of Buddhas (maha-buddha-vamsa), a large compilation of stories revolving around the Buddhas and Buddhist disciples. This page is part of the series known as the Dhamma Ratanā. This great chronicle of Buddhas was compiled by Ven. Mingun Sayadaw who had a thorough understanding of the thousands and thousands of Buddhist teachings (suttas).
Buddha attributes (2): Sammāsambuddha
(Sammā, truly, correctly, saṃ, on one’s own; buddho knower of all knowable things.)
The Buddha discovered the Truth by His own intellect and insight, unaided by anyone. Paccekabuddhas also discover the Truth by their own intellect and insight. But they are not able to teach the Truth, which they discover, to other persons, they do not deserve the epithet Sammāsambuddha. They are only called Saṃbuddha. The ariya disciples know the Truth only with the assistance of some teachers and they are able to preach it to others, but, since they do not discover the Truth by themselves, they are also not called Sammāsambuddha. They are only called Sammābuddha. The Buddhas are Saṃbuddha, knower of the Truth and all knowable things through Self-Enlightenment. They are also Sammābuddha because they can teach the Four Truths to their disciples each according to their capacity, and in the language they can understand. So, a combination of these two qualities makes the Buddha deserving of the title Sammāsambuddha.
Therefore, the four magga-ñāṇas that enable the Buddha to know, unaided, all knowable things with Omniscience at the highest level, is this attribute called Sammāsambuddha. The mind-body continuum of the five aggregates of the Buddha is the possessor of this attribute.