[130] Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Sāvatthī, in the Jetavana, Anāthapiṇḍika's Park. There the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus: "Bhikkhus!" "Venerable sir," those bhikkhus replied to the Blessed One. The Blessed One said this:
Bhikkhus, there are these thirty-two marks of a Great Man (mahāpurisalakkhaṇa) belonging to a Great Man (mahāpurisa), endowed with which a Great Man has two destinies (gati) only, and no other: if he dwells in a house, he becomes a king, a wheel-turning monarch (cakkavatti), righteous, a king of Dhamma, lord of the four quarters, victorious, who has attained stability in his realm and is endowed with the seven treasures. These seven treasures are his, namely: the wheel-treasure, the elephant-treasure, the horse-treasure, the gem-treasure, the woman-treasure, the householder-treasure, and the counsellor-treasure as the seventh. More than a thousand sons are his — valiant, of heroic build, crushers of opposing armies. Having conquered this earth bounded by the ocean — free of stakes, free of marks, free of thorns; rich, prosperous, secure, blessed, free of affliction — without the rod, without the sword, by Dhamma, with equity, he dwells over it. But if he goes forth from the household life into homelessness, he becomes an Arahant, a Perfectly Enlightened One, with the veil rolled back in the world.
What, bhikkhus, are those thirty-two marks of a Great Man, endowed with which a Great Man has two destinies only, and no other: if he dwells in a house, he becomes a king, a wheel-turning monarch … but if he goes forth from the household life into homelessness, he becomes an Arahant, a Perfectly Enlightened One, with the veil rolled back in the world?
1. Here, bhikkhus, the Great Man has feet that are well planted. And in that the Great Man has feet that are well planted, this too, bhikkhus, is for the Great Man a mark of a Great Man.
2. Furthermore, bhikkhus, on the soles of the Great Man's feet wheels have arisen, each with a thousand spokes, with rim and hub, complete in every respect. And in that on the soles of the Great Man's feet wheels have arisen, each with a thousand spokes, with rim and hub, complete in every respect, this too, bhikkhus, is for the Great Man a mark of a Great Man.
3. Furthermore, bhikkhus, the Great Man has long heels.
4. He has long fingers.
5. His hands and feet are soft and tender.
6. His hands and feet are marked as with a net.
7. His ankles are set high.
8. His calves are like an antelope's.
9. Standing, and without stooping, he touches and strokes both knees with the palms of his hands.
10. His male organ is enclosed in a sheath.
11. He is golden in colour; his skin has the sheen of gold.
12. His skin is delicate; and because of the delicacy of his skin, dust and dirt do not adhere to his body.
13. His body-hairs grow singly, each hair arisen in its own pore.
14. His body-hairs turn upward; the upturned hairs are blue-black, the colour of collyrium, curling in ringlets, turning to the right.
15. His frame is straight, like Brahmā's.
16. He has fullness of flesh in seven places.
17. The front of his body is like a lion's.
18. The space between his shoulders is filled out.
19. He has the rounded proportion of the banyan tree: as is his body, so is his arm-span; as is his arm-span, so is his body.
20. His trunk is evenly rounded.
21. His faculties of taste are supremely acute.
22. His jaw is like a lion's.
23. He has forty teeth.
24. His teeth are even.
25. His teeth are without gaps.
26. His canine teeth are gleaming white.
27. His tongue is very large.
28. His voice is like Brahmā's; he speaks like the karavīka bird.
29. His eyes are deep blue.
30. His eyelashes are like an ox's.
31. A tuft of hair (uṇṇā) has arisen between his eyebrows, white and soft, like cotton down. And in that a tuft of hair has arisen between the Great Man's eyebrows, white and soft, like cotton down, this too, bhikkhus, is for the Great Man a mark of a Great Man.
32. Furthermore, bhikkhus, the Great Man has a head crowned as with a turban (uṇhīsa). And in that the Great Man has a head crowned as with a turban, this too, bhikkhus, is for the Great Man a mark of a Great Man.
These, bhikkhus, are those thirty-two marks of a Great Man, endowed with which a Great Man has two destinies only, and no other: if he dwells in a house, he becomes a king, a wheel-turning monarch … but if he goes forth from the household life into homelessness, he becomes an Arahant, a Perfectly Enlightened One, with the veil rolled back in the world.
These thirty-two marks of a Great Man, bhikkhus, seers who are outsiders also retain; but they do not know: "It is through the doing of this kamma … that he obtains this mark."
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.