[24]
The Victor (jina) named Padumuttara, gone beyond all dhammas,
having blazed like a mass of fire, the Fully Awakened One attained final Nibbāna (parinibbuto).
The great multitude, having assembled, venerated the Tathāgata;
having made a well-wrought pyre, they laid his body upon it.
Having performed the funeral rites, they brought the relic (dhātu) together there;
all of them, devas together with humans, built a stūpa (thūpa) for the Buddha.
The first tier was made of gold, and the second made of gems;
the third was made of silver, the fourth made of crystal.
The tier there that was fifth was made of ruby;
the sixth was of cat's-eye gem (masāragalla), and above it was made of every kind of jewel.
The walkway was made of gems, the railing made of jewels;
the stūpa, made entirely of gold, rose upward a yojana.
The devas, having gathered there, then took counsel together:
"We too shall build a stūpa for the Lord of the World, the Steadfast One (tādī).
"There is no separate relic; the body is a single solid mass;
upon this Buddha-stūpa we shall make a casing (kañcuka)."
The devas, with the seven kinds of jewels, extended it another yojana;
the stūpa, two yojanas in height, dispelled the darkness.
The nāgas, having gathered there, then took counsel together:
"Both humans and devas have built a stūpa for the Buddha.
"Let us not prove negligent — they together with the devas are diligent;
we too shall build a stūpa for the Lord of the World, the Steadfast One."
Bringing together sapphire, great sapphire, and the radiant gem,
they covered over the Buddha-stūpa.
Thus far the Buddha-shrine (cetiya) was made all of gems,
risen three yojanas in height, then giving forth light.
And the garuḷas, having gathered, then took counsel together:
"Humans, devas, and nāgas have built a stūpa for the Buddha.
"Let us not prove negligent — they together with the devas are diligent;
we too shall build a stūpa for the Lord of the World, the Steadfast One."
They made a casing for the stūpa, likewise all made of gems;
they too extended the Buddha-shrine by a yojana in its length.
Four yojanas in height, the Buddha-stūpa shone;
it illumined all the directions like the hundred-rayed [sun] arisen.
And the kumbhaṇḍas, having gathered, then took counsel together:
"Humans and devas, and nāgas and garuḷas as well,
"have each built a supreme stūpa for the best of Buddhas.
Let us not prove negligent — they together with the devas are diligent.
"We too shall build a stūpa for the Lord of the World, the Steadfast One;
with jewels we shall cover over the extended Buddha-shrine."
They too extended the Buddha-shrine by a yojana in its length;
the stūpa, five yojanas in height, then shone forth.
The yakkhas, having gathered there, then took counsel together:
"Humans, devas, nāgas, kumbhaṇḍas, and garuḷas as well,
"have each built a supreme stūpa for the best of Buddhas.
Let us not prove negligent — they together with the devas are diligent.
"We too shall build a stūpa for the Lord of the World, the Steadfast One;
with crystal we shall cover over the extended Buddha-shrine."
They too extended the Buddha-shrine by a yojana in its length;
the stūpa, six yojanas in height, then shone forth.
And the gandhabbas, having gathered, then took counsel together:
"Humans, devas, nāgas, garuḷas, kumbhaṇḍas, and yakkhas
"have built the Buddha-stūpa; herein we alone have built nothing;
we too shall build a stūpa for the Lord of the World, the Steadfast One."
Having made seven railings, they built up as far as the walkway;
then the gandhabbas had the stūpa made entirely of gold.
Seven yojanas in height, the stūpa then shone forth;
night and day could not be told apart: there was light at all times.
The moon and the sun together with the stars did not surpass its radiance;
and all around, for a hundred yojanas, it blazed as a lamp.
At that time, whatever humans venerated the stūpa
did not climb upon the stūpa: they cast [their offerings] up into the sky.
A yakkha stationed by the devas, Abhisammata by name,
would set the banner or the garland of flowers up on high.
They did not see that yakkha; they saw the garland as it went;
having seen this, they departed, and all went to a good destination (suggati).
Humans who were opposed to the word [of the Buddha] (pāvacana), and those who had confidence in the dispensation (sāsana),
desiring to behold the marvel, venerated the stūpa.
At that time I was a poor man in the city of Haṃsavatī;
seeing the people overjoyed, I then thought thus:
"Mighty is that Blessed One, whose relic-house is of such a kind!
And these multitudes, well pleased, are unsated in the honor they do.
"I too shall do honor to the Lord of the World, the Steadfast One;
I shall be an heir in his dhammas in time to come."
My outer cloth, well washed by a washerman,
I fastened to the tip of a bamboo and hoisted as a banner in the sky.
Abhisammata took it and bore my banner through the sky;
seeing the banner tossed by the wind, I conceived delight still more.
Having gladdened my mind (citta) there, I approached an ascetic;
having paid homage to that bhikkhu, I asked him of the result (vipāka) of the banner.
He spoke to me, engendering joy and rapture (pīti) in me:
"You shall experience the result of that banner at all times.
"Elephants, horses, chariots, foot-soldiers — the army of four divisions —
shall constantly surround you: this is the fruit of the gift of a banner.
"Sixty thousand instruments of music, and drums finely adorned,
shall constantly surround you: this is the fruit of the gift of a banner.
"Eighty-six thousand women, finely adorned,
in variegated garments and ornaments, wearing gem-set earrings,
"with lovely faces, smiling, shapely, slender-waisted,
shall constantly surround you: this is the fruit of the gift of a banner.
"For thirty thousand aeons you shall delight in the world of the devas;
eighty times, as lord of the devas, you shall exercise rule over the devas.
"A thousand times you shall be a king, a wheel-turning monarch (cakkavatti);
and regional kingship, extensive, beyond calculation by count, [shall be yours].
"In a hundred thousand aeons, arisen in the family of Okkāka,
the Teacher named Gotama shall appear in the world.
"Passing away from the world of the devas, urged on by the bright root [of merit],
conjoined with meritorious kamma, you shall become a kinsman of Brahmā (a brahmin).
"Casting off eighty koṭis [of wealth] and many slaves and workmen,
you shall go forth in the dispensation of the Blessed One Gotama.
"Having pleased the Fully Awakened One, Gotama the bull of the Sakyans,
you shall be the Teacher's disciple, Upavāṇa by name."
The deed done a hundred thousand [aeons ago] has shown its fruit to me here:
as [swift as] the flight of a well-loosed arrow, I have burnt up my defilements (kilesa).
For me, when I was a wheel-turning monarch, sovereign over the four continents,
banners would ever be raised for three yojanas all around.
In the hundred-thousandth aeon from this one, that deed which I did then —
I know of no bad destination (duggati): this is the fruit of the gift of a banner.
The four analytic insights (paṭisambhidā), and these eight liberations (vimokkha) too,
and the six superknowledges (chaḷabhiññā) have been realized: the Buddha's teaching has been fulfilled.
Thus indeed did the Venerable Elder Upavāṇa speak these verses.
The Apadāna of the Elder Upavāṇa is concluded.
Third: the Apadāna of the Elder Tīṇisaraṇāgamaniya (23).
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.