user-1: Some people said to me that , Gautama Buddha never made claims about himself that he had gained enlightenment and on the other hand, some people say that's not true.
Some people have also said to me that this news of enlightenment was probably initiated by one of his disciples after his death.
Here is my question:
Who claimed that Lord Buddha said that that "he obtained enlightenment"?

user254: One reference is Ariyapariyesana Sutta: The Noble Search (MN 26).
The Translator's Introduction says,

Some scholars have suggested that, of the many autobiographical accounts of the Buddha's Awakening presented in the Pali canon, this is the earliest.

It is "autobiography" i.e. a quote of the Buddha's own words.
It doesn't say "enlightened" but then again "enlightened" is an English-language word.

Wikipedia: Enlightenment (spiritual)
Used in a religious sense, enlightenment translates several Buddhist terms and concepts, most notably bodhi,kensho, and satori. Related terms from Asian religions are kaivalya and moksha (liberation) in Hinduism, Kevala Jnana in Jainism, and ushta in Zoroastrianism.

("Bodhi" is also translated "awake" as mentioned in OyaMist's answer).
What MN 26 does say is (translated):

Then, monks, being subject myself to birth, seeing the drawbacks of birth, seeking the unborn, unexcelled rest from the yoke, Unbinding, I reached the unborn, unexcelled rest from the yoke: Unbinding. Being subject myself to aging... illness... death... sorrow... defilement, seeing the drawbacks of aging... illness... death... sorrow... defilement, seeking the aging-less, illness-less, deathless, sorrow-less, unexcelled rest from the yoke, Unbinding, I reached the aging-less, illness-less, deathless, sorrow-less, unexcelled rest from the yoke: Unbinding. Knowledge & vision arose in me: 'Unprovoked is my release. This is the last birth. There is now no further becoming.'

That i.e. "reaching the unborn", "unbinding", "release", and "no further becoming" are descriptions or paraphrases of an Arahant -- i.e. the final stage of awakening.
In summary it is the Buddha's own assertion -- which the people who met him sooner or later agreed with.
There's a more explicit version in MN 85

The Realized One is Perfected, a fully awakened Buddha. Listen up, mendicants: I have achieved the Deathless! I shall instruct you, I will teach you the Dhamma. By practicing as instructed you will soon realize the supreme end of the spiritual path in this very life. You will live having achieved with your own insight the goal for which gentlemen rightly go forth from the lay life to homelessness.’
I was able to persuade the group of five mendicants. Then sometimes I advised two mendicants, while the other three went for alms. Then those three would feed all six of us with what they brought back. Sometimes I advised three mendicants, while the other two went for alms. Then those two would feed all six of us with what they brought back.
As the group of five mendicants were being advised and instructed by me like this, they soon realized the supreme end of the spiritual path in this very life.


user106: I propose to take MN 12 as his selfdeclaration. It contains his "Lion's roar", in which he gives characterization of the focus and of the depth of his understanding and knowledge won in the phase after his life-threatening ascese. This example (long!, explicite!) is in the Pali-canon, in the "middle-length discourses" ("Majjhima Nikaya"), Sutta No. 12.

A good resource for the pali-canon in english (and many parallel translations) is at suttacentral.net.
The Majjhima Nikaya index is at MN and the episode/sutta has the name "Mahāsīhanāda Sutta" /"The Longer Discourse on the Lion’s Roar" (direct link to translation by Bhikkhu Sujato, see as well many parallels in various translations there).

But note: what is described there is more the/a complex concept of "awakening"; I wouldn't give it a term like "seeking for enlightenment" - this latter term seems to me to be an absurdely narrow-fenced effect-/event-thinking compared with the long and detailed report of the whole process of "awakening".

user13709: The Buddha once said:

MN85:49.2: While I was traveling along the road between Gayā and Bodhgaya, the Ājīvaka ascetic Upaka saw me
MN85:49.3: and said,
MN85:49.4: ‘Reverend, your faculties are so very clear, and your complexion is pure and bright.
MN85:49.5: In whose name have you gone forth, reverend? Who is your Teacher? Whose teaching do you believe in?’
MN85:49.6: I replied to Upaka in verse:
MN85:49.7: ‘I am the champion, the knower of all,
MN85:49.8: unsullied in the midst of all things.
MN85:49.9: I’ve given up all, freed in the ending of craving.
MN85:49.10: Since I know for myself, whose follower should I be?
MN85:49.11: I have no teacher.
MN85:49.12: There is no-one like me.
MN85:49.13: In the world with its gods,
MN85:49.14: I have no counterpart.
MN85:49.15: For in this world, I am the perfected one;
MN85:49.16: I am the supreme Teacher.
MN85:49.17: I alone am fully awakened,
MN85:49.18: cooled, extinguished.
MN85:49.19: I am going to the city of Kāsi
MN85:49.20: to roll forth the Wheel of Dhamma.
MN85:49.21: In this world that is so blind,
MN85:49.22: I’ll beat the deathless drum!’
MN85:49.23: ‘According to what you claim, reverend, you ought to be the Infinite Victor.’
MN85:49.24: ‘The victors are those who, like me,
MN85:49.25: have reached the ending of defilements.
MN85:49.26: I have conquered bad qualities, Upaka—
MN85:49.27: that’s why I’m a victor.’
MN85:49.28: When I had spoken, Upaka said: ‘If you say so, reverend.’ Shaking his head, he took a wrong turn and left.

An opportunity for spiritual practice was lost here...

DN34:2.1.138: Furthermore, a Realized One has arisen in the world.
DN34:2.1.139: And a person is reborn in a central country. But they have wrong view and distorted perspective:
DN34:2.1.140: ‘There’s no meaning in giving, sacrifice, or offerings. There’s no fruit or result of good and bad deeds. There’s no afterlife. There are no duties to mother and father. No beings are reborn spontaneously. And there’s no ascetic or brahmin who is well attained and practiced, and who describes the afterlife after realizing it with their own insight.’
DN34:2.1.141: This is the sixth lost opportunity for spiritual practice.

Focusing on attainments is often an obstacle to practice. Indeed, Buddhists frown on claiming attainments and the Buddha himself is only recorded as saying "Ekomhi sammāsambuddho" (i.e., "I alone am fully awakened") once, to Upaka.
The past is gone. Yet right now, right here, we can all practice together the Noble Eightfold Path.

-1: <p>Some people said to me that , Gautama Buddha <em><strong>never made claims</strong></em> about himself that he had gained <em><strong>enlightenment</strong></em> and on the other hand, some people say that's not true.</p>
<p>Some people have also said to me that this <em><strong>news of enlightenment</strong></em> was probably initiated by one of his disciples after his death.</p>
<p>Here is <em><strong>my question</strong></em>:</p>
<p>Who claimed that <em><strong>Lord Buddha said that that &quot;he obtained enlightenment&quot;</strong></em>?</p>
 254: <p>One reference is <a href="https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.026.than.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Ariyapariyesana Sutta: The Noble Search (MN 26)</a>.</p>
<p>The <em>Translator's Introduction</em> says,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Some scholars have suggested that, of the many autobiographical accounts of the Buddha's Awakening presented in the Pali canon, this is the earliest.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It is &quot;autobiography&quot; i.e. a quote of the Buddha's own words.</p>
<p>It doesn't say &quot;enlightened&quot; but then again &quot;enlightened&quot; is an English-language word.</p>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enlightenment_(spiritual)" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Wikipedia: Enlightenment (spiritual)</a></p>
<p>Used in a religious sense, enlightenment translates several Buddhist terms and concepts, most notably bodhi,kensho, and satori. Related terms from Asian religions are kaivalya and moksha (liberation) in Hinduism, Kevala Jnana in Jainism, and ushta in Zoroastrianism.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>(&quot;Bodhi&quot; is also translated &quot;awake&quot; as mentioned in OyaMist's answer).</p>
<p>What MN 26 does say is (translated):</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Then, monks, being subject myself to birth, seeing the drawbacks of birth, seeking the unborn, unexcelled rest from the yoke, Unbinding, I reached the unborn, unexcelled rest from the yoke: Unbinding. Being subject myself to aging... illness... death... sorrow... defilement, seeing the drawbacks of aging... illness... death... sorrow... defilement, seeking the aging-less, illness-less, deathless, sorrow-less, unexcelled rest from the yoke, Unbinding, I reached the aging-less, illness-less, deathless, sorrow-less, unexcelled rest from the yoke: Unbinding. Knowledge &amp; vision arose in me: 'Unprovoked is my release. This is the last birth. There is now no further becoming.'</p>
</blockquote>
<p>That i.e. &quot;reaching the unborn&quot;, &quot;unbinding&quot;, &quot;release&quot;, and &quot;no further becoming&quot; are descriptions or paraphrases of an Arahant -- i.e. the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_stages_of_awakening" rel="nofollow noreferrer">final stage of awakening</a>.</p>
<p>In summary it is the Buddha's own assertion -- which the people who met him sooner or later agreed with.</p>
<p>There's a more explicit version in <a href="https://suttacentral.net/mn85/en/sujato" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MN 85</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>The Realized One is Perfected, a fully awakened Buddha. Listen up, mendicants: I have achieved the Deathless! I shall instruct you, I will teach you the Dhamma. By practicing as instructed you will soon realize the supreme end of the spiritual path in this very life. You will live having achieved with your own insight the goal for which gentlemen rightly go forth from the lay life to homelessness.’</p>
<p>I was able to persuade the group of five mendicants. Then sometimes I advised two mendicants, while the other three went for alms. Then those three would feed all six of us with what they brought back. Sometimes I advised three mendicants, while the other two went for alms. Then those two would feed all six of us with what they brought back.</p>
<p>As the group of five mendicants were being advised and instructed by me like this, they soon realized the supreme end of the spiritual path in this very life.</p>
</blockquote>
 106: <p>I propose to take <em>MN 12</em> as his selfdeclaration. It contains his <em>&quot;Lion's roar&quot;</em>, in which he gives characterization of the focus and of the depth of his understanding and knowledge won in the phase after his life-threatening ascese. This example (long!, explicite!) is in the Pali-canon, in the &quot;middle-length discourses&quot; (&quot;Majjhima Nikaya&quot;), Sutta No. 12.</p>
<hr />
<p>A good resource for the pali-canon in english (and many parallel translations) is at <a href="https://suttacentral.net" rel="nofollow noreferrer">suttacentral.net</a>.</p>
<p>The Majjhima Nikaya index is at <a href="https://suttacentral.net/mn?view=normal" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MN</a> and the episode/sutta has the name &quot;Mahāsīhanāda Sutta&quot; /&quot;The Longer Discourse on the Lion’s Roar&quot; (direct link to translation by <a href="https://suttacentral.net/mn12/en/sujato" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Bhikkhu Sujato</a>, see as well many <code>parallels</code> in various translations there).</p>
<hr />
<p><em>But note: what is described there is more the/a complex concept of &quot;awakening&quot;; I wouldn't give it a term like &quot;seeking for enlightenment&quot; - this latter term seems to me to be an absurdely narrow-fenced effect-/event-thinking compared with the long and detailed report of the whole process of &quot;awakening&quot;.</em></p>
 13709: <p>The Buddha once said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="https://suttacentral.net/mn85/en/sujato#mn85:49.2" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MN85:49.2</a>: While I was traveling along the road between Gayā and Bodhgaya, the Ājīvaka ascetic Upaka saw me<br />
<a href="https://suttacentral.net/mn85/en/sujato#mn85:49.3" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MN85:49.3</a>: and said,<br />
<a href="https://suttacentral.net/mn85/en/sujato#mn85:49.4" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MN85:49.4</a>: ‘Reverend, your faculties are so very clear, and your complexion is pure and bright.<br />
<a href="https://suttacentral.net/mn85/en/sujato#mn85:49.5" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MN85:49.5</a>: In whose name have you gone forth, reverend? Who is your Teacher? Whose teaching do you believe in?’<br />
<a href="https://suttacentral.net/mn85/en/sujato#mn85:49.6" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MN85:49.6</a>: I replied to Upaka in verse:<br />
<a href="https://suttacentral.net/mn85/en/sujato#mn85:49.7" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MN85:49.7</a>: ‘I am the champion, the knower of all,<br />
<a href="https://suttacentral.net/mn85/en/sujato#mn85:49.8" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MN85:49.8</a>: unsullied in the midst of all things.<br />
<a href="https://suttacentral.net/mn85/en/sujato#mn85:49.9" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MN85:49.9</a>: I’ve given up all, freed in the ending of craving.<br />
<a href="https://suttacentral.net/mn85/en/sujato#mn85:49.10" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MN85:49.10</a>: Since I know for myself, whose follower should I be?<br />
<a href="https://suttacentral.net/mn85/en/sujato#mn85:49.11" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MN85:49.11</a>: I have no teacher.<br />
<a href="https://suttacentral.net/mn85/en/sujato#mn85:49.12" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MN85:49.12</a>: There is no-one like me.<br />
<a href="https://suttacentral.net/mn85/en/sujato#mn85:49.13" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MN85:49.13</a>: In the world with its gods,<br />
<a href="https://suttacentral.net/mn85/en/sujato#mn85:49.14" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MN85:49.14</a>: I have no counterpart.<br />
<a href="https://suttacentral.net/mn85/en/sujato#mn85:49.15" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MN85:49.15</a>: For in this world, I am the perfected one;<br />
<a href="https://suttacentral.net/mn85/en/sujato#mn85:49.16" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MN85:49.16</a>: I am the supreme Teacher.<br />
<a href="https://suttacentral.net/mn85/en/sujato#mn85:49.17" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MN85:49.17</a>: I alone am fully awakened,<br />
<a href="https://suttacentral.net/mn85/en/sujato#mn85:49.18" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MN85:49.18</a>: cooled, extinguished.<br />
<a href="https://suttacentral.net/mn85/en/sujato#mn85:49.19" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MN85:49.19</a>: I am going to the city of Kāsi<br />
<a href="https://suttacentral.net/mn85/en/sujato#mn85:49.20" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MN85:49.20</a>: to roll forth the Wheel of Dhamma.<br />
<a href="https://suttacentral.net/mn85/en/sujato#mn85:49.21" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MN85:49.21</a>: In this world that is so blind,<br />
<a href="https://suttacentral.net/mn85/en/sujato#mn85:49.22" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MN85:49.22</a>: I’ll beat the deathless drum!’<br />
<a href="https://suttacentral.net/mn85/en/sujato#mn85:49.23" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MN85:49.23</a>: ‘According to what you claim, reverend, you ought to be the Infinite Victor.’<br />
<a href="https://suttacentral.net/mn85/en/sujato#mn85:49.24" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MN85:49.24</a>: ‘The victors are those who, like me,<br />
<a href="https://suttacentral.net/mn85/en/sujato#mn85:49.25" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MN85:49.25</a>: have reached the ending of defilements.<br />
<a href="https://suttacentral.net/mn85/en/sujato#mn85:49.26" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MN85:49.26</a>: I have conquered bad qualities, Upaka—<br />
<a href="https://suttacentral.net/mn85/en/sujato#mn85:49.27" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MN85:49.27</a>: that’s why I’m a victor.’<br />
<a href="https://suttacentral.net/mn85/en/sujato#mn85:49.28" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MN85:49.28</a>: When I had spoken, Upaka said: ‘If you say so, reverend.’ Shaking his head, he took a wrong turn and left.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>An opportunity for spiritual practice was lost here...</p>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="https://suttacentral.net/dn34/en/sujato#dn34:2.1.138" rel="nofollow noreferrer">DN34:2.1.138</a>: Furthermore, a Realized One has arisen in the world.<br />
<a href="https://suttacentral.net/dn34/en/sujato#dn34:2.1.139" rel="nofollow noreferrer">DN34:2.1.139</a>: And a person is reborn in a central country. But they have wrong view and distorted perspective:<br />
<a href="https://suttacentral.net/dn34/en/sujato#dn34:2.1.140" rel="nofollow noreferrer">DN34:2.1.140</a>: ‘There’s no meaning in giving, sacrifice, or offerings. There’s no fruit or result of good and bad deeds. There’s no afterlife. There are no duties to mother and father. No beings are reborn spontaneously. And there’s no ascetic or brahmin who is well attained and practiced, and who describes the afterlife after realizing it with their own insight.’<br />
<a href="https://suttacentral.net/dn34/en/sujato#dn34:2.1.141" rel="nofollow noreferrer">DN34:2.1.141</a>: This is the sixth lost opportunity for spiritual practice.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Focusing on attainments is often an obstacle to practice. Indeed, Buddhists frown on claiming attainments and the Buddha himself is only recorded as saying &quot;Ekomhi sammāsambuddho&quot; (i.e., &quot;I alone am fully awakened&quot;) once, to Upaka.</p>
<p>The past is gone. Yet right now, right here, we can all practice together the Noble Eightfold Path.</p>
