[22]
Desiring to offer an oblation, I had food made ready,
and stood in a spacious pavilion, waiting upon the brahmins.
Then I saw the Fully Awakened One Piyadassī, of great fame,
the guide of all the world, the Self-Existent One (sayambhū), the person supreme —
the Blessed One, resplendent, attended by his disciples,
shining like the sun, proceeding along the street.
Raising my joined palms, I made my own mind serene with confidence,
and invited him by mind alone: "Let the Great Sage come!"
Knowing my intention, the Teacher, unsurpassed in the world,
approached my door with a thousand whose taints (āsava) were destroyed (khīṇāsava).
"Homage to you, O thoroughbred of men! Homage to you, O supreme among men!
Having ascended the mansion, may you be seated upon the lion throne (sīhāsana)."¹
¹ Variant readings: Burmese ed., "nisidataṃ"; European ed., "nisida tvaṃ."
Tamed, with a tamed retinue, crossed over, the best of those who bring others across,
having ascended the mansion, he sat down upon the excellent seat.
Whatever provisions (āmisa) stood ready in my own house,
those I presented to the Buddha, confident, with my own hands.
With confident mind, glad, thrilled with joy, my palms joined in reverence,
I pay homage to the Buddha supreme: "Oh, the magnificence of the Buddha!
While many whose taints were destroyed — [noble ones] of the eight [kinds] — sat in attendance upon him, eating:
this majesty is yours alone; I go to you for refuge."
And the Blessed One Piyadassī, eldest of the world, bull among men,
seated amid the Saṅgha of bhikkhus, spoke these verses:
"He who has fed the Saṅgha, upright in nature and concentrated,
and the Tathāgata, the Fully Awakened One — listen to me as I speak.
Twenty-seven times shall he exercise rulership among the devas;
delighting in his own kamma, he shall rejoice in the deva world.
Ten and eight times [eighteen times] shall he become a wheel-turning monarch (cakkavatti);
five hundred times shall he hold kingship over the earth, dwelling upon the land."
Plunging into the wilderness, the forest, the woodland haunted by tigers,
and exerting the striving (padhāna), I have burned up the defilements (kilesa).
It was eighteen hundred aeons ago that I gave that gift;
I know of no bad destination (duggati) — this is the fruit of the gift of food.
The four analytical knowledges (paṭisambhidā), and these eight liberations (vimokkha) too,
and the six superknowledges (chaḷabhiññā) have been realized: the Buddha's teaching has been done.
Thus indeed did the Venerable Sumaṅgala the Elder speak these verses.
The Apadāna of Sumaṅgala the Elder is concluded.
Summary (uddāna):
Sīhāsanī, Ekatthambhī, Nanda, and Cullapanthaka,
Pilinda together with Rāhula, Vaṅganta, and Raṭṭhapālaka,
Sopāka, and Maṅgala too — just these ten in the second chapter;
and one hundred and thirty-seven verses are set forth herein.
The Sīhāsaniya Chapter, the second.
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The Third Chapter: the Subhūti Chapter (Subhūtivagga)
First, the Apadāna of Subhūti the Elder (21)
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.