[241]
"I shall recite a verse of praise:
where the earth-gods dwell,
there they too have made their abode —
they who resort to mountain clefts,
resolute, concentrated (samāhitā),
many, secluded like lions,
who have mastered the terror that makes the hair stand on end,
their minds bright, pure,
limpid and unclouded."
Knowing the five hundred and more
in the wood of Kapilavatthu,
the Teacher thereupon addressed
the disciples who delight in the teaching:
"The hosts of devas have drawn near —
know them, bhikkhus!"
And they, having heard the Buddha's instruction,
made an ardent effort (ātappa).
Knowledge (ñāṇa) appeared to them,
the vision of non-human beings:
some saw a hundred,
a thousand, then seventy thousand;
some saw a hundred thousand
non-human beings;
and some saw a boundless host —
all the quarters were pervaded.
Having directly known all that
and surveyed it, the One with Vision,
the Teacher, thereupon addressed
the disciples who delight in the teaching:
"The hosts of devas have drawn near —
know them, bhikkhus,
whom I shall proclaim to you
in words, in due order."
Seven thousand yakkhas,
earth-gods of Kapilavatthu,
possessed of psychic power (iddhi), radiant,
beautiful, glorious —
rejoicing, they have come
to the wood, to the assembly of bhikkhus.
Six thousand yakkhas of Hemavata,
of diverse hue,
possessed of psychic power, radiant,
beautiful, glorious —
rejoicing, they have come
to the wood, to the assembly of bhikkhus.
Three thousand yakkhas of Sātāgiri,
of diverse hue,
possessed of psychic power, radiant,
beautiful, glorious —
rejoicing, they have come
to the wood, to the assembly of bhikkhus.
Thus these sixteen thousand yakkhas,
of diverse hue,
possessed of psychic power, radiant,
beautiful, glorious —
rejoicing, they have come
to the wood, to the assembly of bhikkhus.
Five hundred yakkhas of Vessāmitta,
of diverse hue,
possessed of psychic power, radiant,
beautiful, glorious —
rejoicing, they have come
to the wood, to the assembly of bhikkhus.
Kumbhīra of Rājagaha,
whose abode is Mount Vepulla,
whom more than a hundred thousand
yakkhas wait upon —
Kumbhīra of Rājagaha:
he too has come to the assembly in the wood.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.