[84] (10)
[The Venerable Gavampati recited:]
Listen to where there then took place
a meeting of a yakkha and of merchants,
and to how [they spoke], the one with the other:
listen, all of you, to that well-spoken exchange.
The king who was named Pāyāsi,
one of fame, gone to fellowship with the earth-deities (bhummā devā),
rejoicing in his own mansion (vimāna),
he, a non-human, addressed human beings:
[The yakkha Serissaka:]
"In a forest of dread, a haunt of non-human beings,
in a wilderness scant of water, scant of food,
in the midst of the forest track, so hard to travel —
O men whose wits are lost through dread of the winding way!
Here are no fruits, nothing made of roots;
there is no fuel — whence, then, any food here,
apart from dust and from sands,
scorching, hot, and cruel?
Barren upland is this, a heated pan,
comfortless, comparable to the world beyond;
this is an ancient dwelling-place of the fierce,
a tract of ground that seems accursed.
So then — for what reason, hoping for what,
have you entered this region,
come together all in a rush:
from greed (lobha), from fear, or altogether confused?"
[The merchants:]
"Caravan-leaders in Magadha and in Aṅga,
we loaded up abundant merchandise;
we travel to the land of Sindhu-Sovīra,
desiring wealth, longing for profit.
Unable to endure our thirst by day,
and looking with compassion upon our draught-teams,
we all came on at this pace,
having taken to the road by night, at an untimely hour.
Faring ill, gone astray from the road,
confounded as the blind, utterly lost in the forest,
in the midst of the forest track, so hard to travel,
we know not the direction, our minds bewildered.
And seeing this, never seen before —
this most excellent mansion, and yourself, O yakkha —
hoping now for life beyond what went before,
at the sight we are delighted, glad, uplifted."
[The yakkha:]
"To the far shore of the ocean, and to this forest,
to the cane-brake and beyond, and the peg-path road,
to rivers and the fastnesses of mountains —
to many a quarter you go for the sake of wealth.
Having pressed into the domains of others,
beholding the people of foreign realms —
what marvel you have heard, or even seen,
that, dear sirs, let us hear from you."
[The merchants:]
"A greater marvel than this, O prince,
we have neither heard nor even seen:
beholding all this, surpassing what is human,
of flawless beauty, we cannot be sated.
Lotus-pools set in the sky send forth their streams,
rich in flowers, with many a white lotus;
and those trees, laden with never-failing fruit,
waft fragrances exceeding sweet.
Pillars of beryl, raised a hundred high,
with long facets of crystal and of coral,
of cat's-eye gem together with ruby —
these pillars are made of shining gem-essence.
A thousand-pillared thing of matchless potency —
above them, goodly, stands this mansion,
set at intervals with gems, its golden railings interwrought,
and fairly roofed over with plates of glowing gold.
Of choicest Jambu-river gold, well burnished,
furnished with terrace, stairway, and flooring,
firm and graceful and well proportioned,
exceedingly pleasing, of which the gaze never tires.
Within the jewelled [mansion] is food and drink in plenty;
surrounded by a company of celestial nymphs (accharā),
resounding with muraja and ālambara drums and music,
you are saluted with praise and homage.
You rejoice, wakened [to delight] by your throngs of women,
in this excellent, entrancing palace-mansion,
inconceivable, endowed with every excellence,
like King Vessavaṇa in Naḷinī.
Are you a deva, or are you a yakkha,
or the lord of devas in human form?
The merchants, the caravan-leaders, ask you:
declare it — what yakkha are you by name?"
[The yakkha:]
"I am the yakkha named Serissaka,
warden of the wilderness, keeping guard upon the forest track;
I watch over this region,
doing the word of King Vessavaṇa."
[The merchants:]
"Was it gained by chance? Did it come about for you by [mere] change?
Was it made by yourself, or given by the devas?
The merchants, the caravan-leaders, ask you:
how was this delightful [mansion] gained by you?"
[The yakkha:]
"Not gained by chance, nor come about for me by [mere] change,
not made by myself, nor indeed given by the devas:
by my own deeds that were not evil,
by merits (puñña) was this delightful [mansion] gained by me."
[The merchants:]
"What was your observance (vata)? What, then, your holy life (brahmacariya)?
Of what well-practised [conduct] is this the result (vipāka)?
The merchants, the caravan-leaders, ask you:
how was this mansion gained by you?"
[The yakkha:]
"My appellation was 'Pāyāsi'
when I exercised kingship over the Kosalans:
one of the base view 'there is nothing', a miser, of evil character,
and a proclaimer of annihilation was I then.
But there was an ascetic, Kumārakassapa,
of great learning (bahussuta), a brilliant speaker, eminent:
he then gave me a talk on the Dhamma
and dispelled for me the contortions of views.
Having heard his talk on the Dhamma,
I declared myself a lay follower (upāsaka):
I abstained from the destruction of life (pāṇātipāta),
I shunned what was not given in the world,
I was no drinker of intoxicants, and I spoke no falsehood,
and with my own wife I was content.
That was my observance; that, then, my holy life;
of that, well practised, this is the result:
by those very deeds that were not evil,
by merits was this mansion gained by me."
[The merchants:]
"True, it seems, was what men of wisdom said —
the word of the astute is not otherwise:
'Wherever the doer of merit goes,
there he rejoices, having the pleasures he desires;
wherever there are sorrow and lamentation,
slaughter and bonds and affliction,
thither goes the doer of evil:
he is never freed from a bad destination.'
Yet the company appeared as though dazed,
turned turbid, as it were, at this moment:
from what cause, then, O prince, has dejection come
upon this company and upon you?"
[The yakkha:]
"These sirīsa groves, dear sirs —
divine, sweet fragrances they breathe;
they suffuse this mansion with their scent
by day and by night, dispelling the darkness.
And of these, with the passing of every hundred years,
the seed-pods split ripe, one by one:
[so is it known that] a human century has passed
since first I arose here in this company.
Standing in this mansion, dear sirs,
for five hundred celestial years,
I shall then fall away through the exhaustion of life-span, the exhaustion of merit:
by that very sorrow I am stricken faint."
[The merchants:]
"How should one such as you grieve,
having gained an incomparable mansion for so long?
It is surely those who arise [here] for but a brief spell,
those of scanty merit, who might grieve."
[The yakkha:]
"Fitting for me is that admonition,
in that you speak to me a word of affection.
You, dear sirs, are under my protection:
go in safety wherever you wish."
[The merchants:]
"When we have gone to the land of Sindhu-Sovīra,
desiring wealth, longing for profit,
then, our ventures [accomplished], with liberality brought to fullness,
we shall hold a lavish festival for Serissaka."
[The yakkha:]
"Do not hold a festival for Serissaka;
yet all of which you speak shall come to be yours.
Shun evil deeds,
and resolve upon application to the Dhamma.
There is in this company a lay follower,
of great learning, endowed with virtue and observance,
faithful and open-handed and most amiable,
discerning, contented, and intelligent.
Knowingly he would speak no falsehood,
nor would he intend the hurt of another;
he would utter no calumny that divides,
but would speak speech gentle and kindly.
Respectful, deferential, disciplined,
harmless, purified in the higher virtue (adhisīla),
that person supports his mother and his father
righteously — one of noble conduct.
For his mother's and father's sake, I deem,
he seeks wealth, and not for his own sake;
and when his mother and father have passed away,
inclining to renunciation (nekkhamma), he will live the holy life.
Upright, not crooked, not treacherous, without guile,
he would not deal by way of quibbling pretext:
such a one, a doer of well-done deeds,
standing firm in the Dhamma — how should he come by suffering (dukkha)?
For his sake I have made myself manifest;
therefore, merchants, do you behold me.
Save for him, you would indeed have turned to ashes,
bewildered upon the road, utterly lost in the wilderness —
that [would have come] swiftly and lightly, at another's hands.
Happy indeed is the meeting with a good man."
[The merchants:]
"What is his name? And what work does he do?
What is his appellation, and what his clan?
We too, O yakkha, wish to see him —
him out of compassion for whom you have come here.
A gain indeed for him whom you hold dear!"
[The yakkha:]
"He who is the barber, 'Sambhava' by name,
a lay follower, who earns his living by comb and barber's gear —
know him: he is your own servant.
And do not despise him: he is most amiable in virtue."
[The merchants:]
"We know the one of whom you speak, O yakkha;
but we did not know that he was such a one.
We too shall honour him, O yakkha,
having heard your lofty word."
[The yakkha:]
"Whatever men there are in this [caravan] —
young, old, or of middle years —
let them one and all ascend the mansion:
let them behold the fruit of the merits even of a miser!"
[The concluding verses:]
There, each of them, [crying] "I first!",
putting that barber at their head,
one and all they ascended the mansion,
like Masakkasāra, [the abode] of Vāsava.
There, each of them, [crying] "I first!",
declared themselves lay followers:
they abstained from the destruction of life,
they shunned what was not given in the world,
they were no drinkers of intoxicants, and they spoke no falsehood,
and each with his own wife was content.
There, each of them, [crying] "I first!",
having declared themselves lay followers,
the caravan set forth rejoicing,
given leave, again and again, by the yakkha's power.
Having gone to the land of Sindhu-Sovīra,
desiring wealth, longing for profit,
with gains brought to fullness according to their endeavour,
they returned unscathed to Pāṭaliputta.
Having gone each to his own home, safe and well,
reunited with their children and wives,
joyful of heart, glad, delighted,
they held a lavish festival for Serissaka:
they had the Serissaka precinct built.
Such is association with good men;
of great potency is devotion to the virtues of the Dhamma (dhammaguṇa):
because of a single lay follower,
one and all those beings came to happiness.
The Serissaka Mansion, the tenth [is ended].
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.