Sīhāsanivagga

Suttapiṭaka · Khuddakanikāya · Therāpadāna (1) · Vol. 32 · Section 14

[14] There was a great company¹ of the Blessed One Siddhattha; and they, gone for refuge to the Buddha, had faith in the Tathāgata. Having all assembled and taken counsel, they were building a pavilion (māḷa) for the Teacher; not obtaining a single pillar, they searched through the great forest. Seeing them in the forest, I approached the company then; raising my joined palms in reverence, I questioned the company. Questioned by me, those virtuous lay followers (upāsakā) explained: "We wish to build a pavilion, but a single pillar cannot be obtained." "Grant the single pillar to me; I shall give it to the Teacher. I will bring the pillar — may you be free from concern." They bestowed the pillar upon me, confident, with gladdened minds; then, turning back from there, they went each to his own home. Not long after the company² had gone, I then gave³ the pillar; delighted, with a delighted mind, I raised it up first of all. Through that confidence of mind (cittappasāda) I was reborn in a celestial mansion (vimāna); lofty was my dwelling, raised up seven stories high. While drums were being sounded, I ever amused myself; in the fifty-fifth aeon I was a king named Yasodhara. #1–2 M., Yu.: mahāpūgagaṇo, °gaṇe. 3 Po., M.: ahāsahaṃ. There too my dwelling was raised up seven stories, furnished with a superb gabled chamber, single-pillared, delightful. In the twenty-first aeon I was a warrior-noble (khattiya) named Udena; there too my dwelling, seven-storied, was finely adorned. Into whatever womb I am reborn — the state of a deva or of a human — I experience all this¹: this is the fruit of the single pillar. In the ninety-fourth aeon from now, since I then gave that pillar², I know of no bad destination (duggati): this is the fruit of the single pillar. The four analytic insights (paṭisambhidā), and these eight liberations (vimokkha), and the six superknowledges (chaḷabhiññā) have been realized; the Buddha's teaching has been done. Thus indeed the Venerable Elder Ekatthambhika spoke these verses. The Apadāna of the Elder Ekatthambhika is concluded. Third: the Apadāna of the Elder Nanda (13)

English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.