[388]
The seer Asita, in his daytime abiding, saw
the company of the Thirty gods, joyful and delighted,
together with Sakka their lord — devas clad in clean garments —
holding up cloth and praising exceedingly.
Seeing the devas glad at heart and elated,
he paid them reverence and said this there:
"Why is the host of devas so exceedingly pleased?
On account of what do you take up cloth and make merry?
Even when there was the encounter with the asuras —
victory for the gods, the asuras defeated —
even then there was no hair-raising thrill such as this.
What marvel have the Maruts seen, that they so rejoice?
They whistle and they sing and they play music,
they clap their arms and they dance.
I ask you, dwellers on Meru's summit:
quickly dispel my doubt, good sirs."
[The deities:]
"That Bodhisatta, the excellent jewel beyond compare,
has been born in the human world for welfare and happiness,
in the village of the Sakyans, in the Lumbinī country:
therefore we are gladdened, so exceedingly pleased.
He, the supreme of all beings, the foremost person,
the bull of men, highest of all creatures,
will set the Wheel rolling in the grove named after the seers,
like a mighty lion roaring, the overlord of beasts."
Hearing that sound, he hastened down
and then went to the dwelling of Suddhodana.
Seated there, he said this to the Sakyans:
"Where is the prince? I too desire to see him."
Then the Sakyans showed to the one called Asita
their son, the prince, like blazing gold
wrought with consummate skill at the mouth of the crucible,
shining with splendor, of flawless complexion.
Seeing the prince blazing like a crested flame,
pure as the lord of stars coursing through the sky,
like the burning sun in autumn freed from clouds,
he was filled with joy and gained abundant rapture (pīti).
The Maruts held up in the sky a parasol
of many ribs and a thousand circles;
yak-tail whisks with golden handles swept up and down,
yet those holding the whisks and parasol were not seen.
When the matted-haired seer called Kaṇhasiri saw him —
like an ornament of gold upon a pale-red woolen cloth,
with the white parasol borne above his head —
elated in mind and joyful, he received him.
And having received the bull of the Sakyans,
he who was eagerly examining him — a master of marks and mantras —
lifted up his voice with confident mind:
"Unsurpassed is this one, supreme among two-footed beings."
Then, calling to mind his own departure,
downcast, he shed tears.
Seeing the seer weeping, the Sakyans said:
"Surely there will be no danger to the prince?"
Seeing the Sakyans distressed, the seer said:
"I recall nothing harmful for the prince,
nor will there be any danger for him;
this one is not inferior — be of assured mind.
This prince will attain the summit of full awakening (sambodhi);
he, the seer of the supreme purity,
will set rolling the Wheel of Dhamma, compassionate for the welfare of the many;
his holy life (brahmacariya) will be spread wide.
But of my life here not long remains;
before then my death will come to pass.
I shall not hear the Dhamma of the one of peerless strength:
therefore I am stricken, overtaken by misfortune, anguished."
Having produced abundant rapture in the Sakyans,
that liver of the holy life went out from the inner palace.
Taking compassion himself upon his own nephew,
he urged him on toward the Dhamma of the one of peerless strength:
"When you hear from another the cry of 'Buddha!' —
'one attained to full awakening, he lays open the path of the Dhamma' —
go there and, inquiring for yourself,
live the holy life with that Blessed One."
Instructed by him whose mind was set on his welfare — that Such One,
who foresaw in the future the supreme purity —
Nāḷaka, with an accumulated store of merit,
dwelt with sense faculties (indriya) guarded, awaiting the Victor (jina).
Hearing the cry at the noble Victor's setting the Wheel in motion,
he went and saw the bull of seers; inspired with confidence,
he asked the excellent sage about the supreme sagehood (moneyya),
now that the bidding of the one called Asita had come to pass.
The Introductory Narrative (vatthukathā) is concluded.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.