Which Buddhist text traditionally records the Buddha’s final advice before his death?

The Mahaparinibbana Sutta traditionally records the Buddha’s final advice before his death.

The Mahaparinibbana Sutta is a long discourse in the Pali Canon describing the Buddha’s final journey, illness, death, and parinirvana. It includes his instructions to the monastic community, accounts of his visits to several places, and details about the events surrounding his passing at Kusinara.

A famous teaching associated with the text urges practitioners to rely on themselves and the teaching, while another well-known final statement emphasizes that conditioned things are subject to decay and encourages diligent practice. The exact wording and translations vary among editions.

The text is not the same as the Dhammapada, a collection of short verses, or the Satipatthana Sutta, which presents a major meditation framework. Mahaparinibbana is the Pali title; the Sanskrit parallel is commonly called the Mahaparinirvana Sutra, though that name can also refer to a distinct Mahayana text.