[3]
Not far from the Himavant there is a mountain named Lambaka; there my hermitage was well made, my leaf-hall well built.
A little river with shallow banks, its fords lovely, delighting the mind, strewn with pure white sand, ran not far from my hermitage.
Free of gravel, free of steep drops, sweet-watered, without taint of smell, the little river flows along there, adorning my hermitage.
Crocodiles and makaras here, suṁsumāras too, and turtles glide along the river there, adorning my hermitage.
Pāṭhīna and pāvusa fish, valaja, muñja, and rohita, and vagguḷas leap and dart about, adorning my hermitage.
On both banks of the river, trees in flower and trees in fruit hang low on either side, adorning my hermitage.
Mango and sāla trees, tilaka, pāṭalī, and sinduvāra: divine fragrances waft about; they stand in blossom in my hermitage.
Campaka and salaḷa and nīpa, nāga, punnāga, and ketaka: divine fragrances waft about; they stand in blossom in my hermitage.
Atimutta and asoka and bhaginīmālā in blossom, aṅkola and bimbijāla too, in blossom in my hermitage.
Ketaka and kadalī, kebuka and tiṇasūlikā: divine fragrances waft about, adorning my hermitage.
Kaṇikā and kaṇṇikāra, asana and añjana in plenty: divine fragrances waft about, adorning my hermitage.
Puṇṇāga and giripuṇṇāga and koviḷāra in blossom: divine fragrances waft about, adorning my hermitage.
Uddālaka and kuṭaja, kadamba and bakula in plenty: divine fragrances waft about, adorning my hermitage.
Āḷaka and isimugga, plantain and citron trees, nourished with fragrant water, bear their fruits.
Some lotuses are in flower, others stand forth in bud; others, their petals falling, stand blossomed in the pond at that time.
The lotuses form their pods, the lotus-fibres push forth; overspread with water-chestnut leaves, they beautify the pond at that time.
Nayita and ambagaṇḍī, uttarā and bandhujīvaka: divine fragrances waft about; they stand in blossom by the pond at that time.
Pāṭhīna and pāvusa fish, valaja, muñja, and rohita, saṅkula and maggura too, dwell in the pond at that time.
Crocodiles and suṁsumāras, tantiggāhas and rakkhasas, ogāhas and pythons dwell in the pond at that time.
Pigeons and ravihaṃsas, cakkavākas, farers of the river, kokilas, parrots, and mynahs live in dependence on that lake.
Kukkutthakas and kuḷīrakas, pokkharasātakas of the wood, dindibhas and parrot-chicks live in dependence on that lake.
Geese and herons and peacocks, kokilas and lambacūḷakas, campakas and jīvajīvakas live in dependence on that lake.
Owls and poṭṭhasīsas, ospreys and hawks in plenty, and the great black birds live in dependence on that lake.
Pasada deer and boars, wolves and jackals in plenty, rohiccas and suttapotas live in dependence on that lake.
Lions and tigers and leopards, bears, wolves, and hyenas, and tuskers in rut, [ichor] broken forth at three points, live in dependence on that lake.
Kinnaras and monkeys too, and workers of the woods besides, trackers and hunters too, live in dependence on that lake.
Tinduka trees and piyālas, madhukas and kāsamārīs constantly bear their fruits not far from my hermitage.
Kosumbhas, salaḷas, and nīpas, laden with luscious fruit, constantly bear their fruits not far from my hermitage.
Harītakas and āmalakas, mangoes, jambus, and vibhedakas, kolas, bhallātakas, and billas — these bear their fruits.
Āluva roots and kalambas, biḷāli tubers and takkaḷas, jīvakas and sambakas too are abundant in my hermitage.
Not far from the hermitage was a pond well fashioned, its water limpid, its water cool, its fords lovely, delighting the mind.
Covered over with paduma and uppala lotuses, mingled with white puṇḍarīkas, overspread with mandālakas: a divine fragrance breathes forth.
In a wood thus perfect in every part, in flower and in fruit, in a hermitage well made and delightful, I was then dwelling —
virtuous, accomplished in the observances, a meditator ever delighting in jhāna, attained to the power of the five superknowledges (abhiññā): the ascetic Suruci by name.
Twenty-four thousand pupils attended upon me; all of them were brahmins, of good birth and of renown.
Versed in the marks, in the legends, with the glossaries and the ritual manuals, masters of the word and grammarians, they had reached perfection in their own doctrine.
Skilled in portents, in omens, and in the marks, well trained in [the lore of] earth and of the mid-air, were these pupils of mine.
Of few wishes, prudent, of little food, free of greed, content with gain or none, they ever surrounded me.
Meditators delighting in jhāna, wise, of peaceful mind, composed, aspiring to [the state where] nothing is, they ever surrounded me.
Perfected in the superknowledges, delighting in the domain of their fathers, faring through mid-air, wise, they ever surrounded me.
Restrained in the six doors, imperturbable, their faculties well guarded, holding aloof [from company], those wise ones, my pupils, were hard to assail.
With the cross-legged sitting, with standing, and with walking they passed the night: my pupils, hard to assail.
By what excites lust they were not enticed, at what provokes hate they were not angered, by what breeds delusion they were not deluded: my pupils, hard to assail.
Putting their psychic power (iddhi) to the proof, they exercised it at all times; they set the very earth a-quaking: in their vying, hard to assail.
And in their sporting, those pupils sported the sport of jhāna: they would fetch fruits from the Jambu tree: my pupils, hard to assail.
Some go to Goyāna, others to Pubbavideha, and others to Uttarakuru: my pupils, hard to assail.
They send their carrying-loads before them, and themselves come on behind; by the twenty-four thousand the sky was covered over.
Some [took food] cooked upon a fire, some without fire; some had their teeth alone for mortar; some pounded [their food], some [ground it] on stones; some fed on fruit fallen of itself.
Some plunged into the waters at evening and at morning, delighting in purity; some went sprinkling themselves with water: my pupils, hard to assail.
With nails and hair of the armpit grown long, with grimy teeth, with dust-laden heads, yet fragrant with the fragrance of virtue: my pupils, hard to assail.
Assembling at early morning, those matted-hair ascetics of blazing austerity would declare their gains and their lack of gain, and then depart into the sky.
As they set forth a great sound went up; at the sound of their antelope-hides the deities were made glad.
To every quarter they set forth, seers coursing in mid-air; upheld each by his own strength, they went wherever they would.
Shakers of the earth were these, all of them farers of the sky; of blazing power, hard to overbear, as the ocean is not to be stirred.
Some seers kept to standing and walking, some to the sitter's vigil; some fed on what falls of itself: my pupils, hard to assail.
These dwelt in loving-kindness (mettā), seekers of the welfare of all that breathes; not one exalted himself, nor did they disparage anyone.
Fearless as the lion-king, mighty as the elephant-king, hard to assail as a tiger, they would come into my presence.
Bearers of the sciences (vijjādhara) and deities, nāgas, gandhabbas, and rakkhasas, kumbhaṇḍas, dānavas, and garuḷas live in dependence on that lake.
And they, laden with matted locks and carrying-loads, clad in hides for upper garment, all of them faring through mid-air, live in dependence on that lake.
Fitting company each for each, bearing reverence one for another — among the twenty-four thousand not a stray sound was found.
Setting foot to foot with care, low of sound, well restrained, they all drew near and venerated me with their heads.
Surrounded by those pupils, calm and given to austerity, I dwelt in the hermitage there, a meditator delighting in jhāna.
With the fragrance of the seers' virtue, and with both fragrances besides — of the flowers, and of the fruit of the fruiting trees — the hermitage was made fragrant.
Night from day I knew not; discontent was not found in me; instructing my own pupils, I gained gladness more and more.
As the flowers came to blossom and as the fruits were ripening, divine fragrances breathed forth, adorning my hermitage.
Risen from concentration (samādhi), ardent and prudent, taking up my carrying-load, I plunged into the forest.
Well trained in portents, in dreams also, and in the marks, I bore in mind at that time the mantra-texts then current.
The Blessed One Anomadassī, Eldest of the world, Bull among men, the Fully Awakened One, desiring seclusion, drew near to the Himavant.
Having entered the Himavant, the foremost Sage of compassion, folding his legs crosswise, sat down, the Supreme among men.
Him I saw, the Fully Awakened One, radiant, ravishing the mind, like a blue lotus all aglow, like the sacrificial fire ablaze.
Blazing like a tree of lamps, like the lightning in the heavens, like a sāla-king in full flower, I beheld the Leader of the World.
This nāga, this Great Hero, the Sage who makes an end of suffering (dukkha) — coming to the sight of him, [beings] are released from all suffering.
Having seen him, the God above gods, I studied his marks: "Is he a Buddha, or is he not? Come, let me behold the One with Eyes."
Wheels of a thousand spokes appear upon his supreme feet: seeing those marks of his, I came to certainty concerning the Tathāgata.
Taking up a broom, I swept there and then; then, bringing together eight flowers, I worshipped the Best of Buddhas.
Having worshipped him — that Buddha crossed over the flood, free of taints (āsava) — setting my antelope-hide upon one shoulder, I paid homage to the Leader of the World:
"The knowledge (ñāṇa) whereby the Fully Awakened One dwells free of taints — that knowledge shall I proclaim: hear me as I speak.
"You have raised up this world, O Self-Become One (sayambhū) of boundless benefit; coming to the sight of you, they cross over the stream of doubt.
"You are the Teacher, the crest, the banner and the sacrificial post of living beings, their final resort and their support, their lamp, supreme among two-footed kind.
"The water in the ocean might be measured out by the jarful; but your knowledge, O All-Knowing One, none is able to measure.
"The earth might be held, set on the pan of a balance; but your knowledge, O All-Knowing One, none is able to measure.
"Space might be measured off with a cord or with a finger; but your knowledge, O All-Knowing One, none is able to measure.
"Let one leave aside the water of the great ocean and the whole of the earth: set against the Buddha's knowledge, they do not serve for a compare.
"They in the world with its devas whose thought is astir — all these, O One with Eyes, are held within the net of your knowledge.
"By whatever knowledge you attained the whole supreme awakening, by that knowledge, O All-Knowing One, you crush the adherents of other sects (paratitthiya)."
Having recited these verses, the ascetic Suruci by name, spreading out his antelope-hide, sat down upon the earth.
"Plunged eighty-four thousand [yojanas] into the mighty deep, and towering just as high above — such, they say, is the king of mountains:
"so high uprisen is Neru, and so far in length and breadth; yet were it ground to powder, by division of count, into hundreds of thousands of crores [of pieces],
"then, a tally being set [for each], [that powder] would come to exhaustion; but your knowledge, O All-Knowing One, none is able to measure.
"Whoso should hem in the water with a net of fine mesh — whatever creatures are in the water, all would come within the net:
"even so, O Great Hero, the many sectarians (titthiya), plunged headlong into the tangle of views, bewildered by their false grasping —
"by your pure knowledge, whose seeing nothing obstructs, these are held within the net: they do not overpass your knowledge."
And the Blessed One at that time, Anomadassī of great renown, the Victor, having risen from concentration, surveyed the quarter.
The sage Anomadassī had a disciple, Nisabha by name; surrounded by a hundred thousand of peaceful mind, steadfast ones,
taint-destroyed, pure, endowed with the six superknowledges, steadfast — discerning the Buddha's thought, he drew near to the Leader of the World.
Standing there in mid-air, they circumambulated him; revering him with joined palms, they descended into the Buddha's presence.
The Blessed One Anomadassī, Eldest of the world, Bull among men, the Victor, seated amid the Saṅgha of bhikkhus, made manifest a smile.
Varuṇa by name, the attendant of the Teacher Anomadassī, setting his robe upon one shoulder, asked the Leader of the World:
"What now, Blessed One, is the cause of the Teacher's smile? For Buddhas do not make manifest a smile without a cause."
The Blessed One Anomadassī, Eldest of the world, Bull among men, seated in the midst of the bhikkhus, uttered this verse:
"He who has worshipped me with flowers, and moreover has extolled my knowledge — him will I proclaim: hear me as I speak."
Discerning the Buddha's utterance, all the devas together with men, longing to hear the true Dhamma, drew near to the Fully Awakened One.
In the ten world-systems the hosts of devas, of great might, longing to hear the true Dhamma, drew near to the Fully Awakened One.
"Elephants, horses, chariots, footmen — an army of the four limbs — shall constantly surround him: this is the fruit of the worship of the Buddha.
"Sixty thousand instruments of music, and drums well ornamented, shall constantly attend upon him: this is the fruit of the worship of the Buddha.
"Sixteen thousand women, well adorned, in raiment and ornament of many hues, wearing jewelled earrings,
"fair of face, smiling, shapely, slender of waist, shall constantly surround him: this is the fruit of the worship of the Buddha.
"For a hundred thousand aeons he shall take delight in the world of devas; a thousand times shall he be a wheel-turning king, a monarch in the land;
"a thousand times lord of the devas shall he exercise celestial rule; and wide dominion over regions shall be his, beyond reckoning by count.
"When his last existence comes round, he shall pass to the human state; the brahmin lady Sārī by name shall bear him in her womb.
"By the name and family of his mother shall this man be known: Sāriputta by his name, keen of wisdom shall he be.
"Casting away eighty crores, he shall go forth owning nothing; seeking the state of peace, he shall wander over this earth.
"In an aeon beyond measure from now, one sprung of the Okkāka line, Gotama by family name, shall be Teacher in the world.
"Heir of that one in his dhammas, his bosom son, formed of the Dhamma, Sāriputta by name shall be the chief disciple.
"This Gaṅgā, the Bhāgīrasī, issuing from the Himavant, flows on to the great sea, gratifying the mighty deep:
"even so shall this Sāriputta, able and confident in the three, having reached the perfection of wisdom, satisfy living beings.
"From the Himavant [on the one side] to the ocean, the mighty deep, the sand that lies between is beyond reckoning by count:
"even that could yet be counted out entire, so far as reckoning goes; but of Sāriputta's wisdom there shall be no end.
"While a tally was being set, the sands of the Gaṅgā would be spent; but of Sāriputta's wisdom there shall be no end.
"The waves of the great ocean are beyond reckoning by count: even so, of Sāriputta's wisdom there shall be no end.
"Having won the favour of the Fully Awakened One, Gotama, Bull of the Sakyans, having reached the perfection of wisdom, he shall be the chief disciple.
"The Wheel of Dhamma set rolling by the Sakyan son, the steadfast one, he shall keep rolling after him rightly, raining down the rains of Dhamma.
"All this having known by direct knowledge, Gotama, Bull of the Sakyans, seated in the Saṅgha of bhikkhus, shall set him in the foremost place."
Ah, well done was the deed I wrought for the Teacher Anomadassī, service rendered to whom has brought me to perfection in all things!
The deed done [aeons] beyond measure ago showed me its fruit here: as with the speed of an arrow well loosed, I burned up my defilements.
Seeking the unconditioned (asaṅkhata), Nibbāna, the unshaken state, sifting all the sectarians, I wandered on through existence.
As a man stricken with disease would seek about for a remedy, and would search through all his wealth to win release from the disease,
so I, seeking the unconditioned, Nibbāna, the deathless state, five hundred times without a break went forth into the seer's going-forth.
Laden with the burden of matted locks, clad in a hide for upper garment, having reached the perfection of the superknowledges, I went to the world of Brahmā.
There is no purity in outside [creeds], the Victor's dispensation set apart; whatever beings have understanding are purified in the Victor's dispensation.
This [quest] of mine was from desire for the goal — for I did not sit idle therein; seeking the unconditioned, I ranged through false teachings.
As a man in quest of heartwood, having felled the plantain, should split it, and would find no heartwood there — for of heartwood it is empty:
even so the sectarians in the world, folk many and of divers views: empty are they of the unconditioned, as the plantain is of heartwood.
When my last existence came round, I became a kinsman of Brahmā [a brahmin]; forsaking great possessions, I went forth into the homeless state.
The first recitation-section.
A reciter, a bearer of the mantras, gone to the far shore of the three Vedas, was the brahmin Sañjaya by name: under him I made my dwelling.
O Great Hero, your disciple, the brahmin Assaji by name, hard to assail, of blazing power, was then walking for alms.
Him I saw, that man of wisdom, a sage composed in sagehood, his mind at peace, a great nāga, like a lotus in full bloom.
At the sight of him — well tamed, pure of mind, a bull [among men], most excellent, a hero — the thought arose in me: "This one will be an Arahant.
"Gracious is his bearing, comely and well restrained, tamed in the supreme taming: he will be a seer of the Deathless (amata).
"What now if I asked this glad-hearted one the supreme goal? If, being asked, he answers, I shall question him yet further."
Behind him, as he walked his round for alms, I followed after, awaiting my opportunity to ask of the deathless state.
When he had come within the street, I approached and asked him: "Of what family are you, O hero? Whose pupil are you, good sir?"
Asked by me, he answered, unafraid as a maned lion: "A Buddha has arisen in the world: I am his pupil, friend."
"Of what sort, O great hero, O true-born one of great renown, is your Buddha's teaching, the Dhamma? Tell it me well, good sir, I pray."
Asked by me, he declared the whole profound and subtle way, the slayer of the dart of craving (taṇhā), the dispeller of all suffering:
"Whatever dhammas spring from a cause, of these the Tathāgata has told the cause, and that which is their cessation (nirodha): thus does the Great Ascetic teach."
When the question had been thus resolved, I attained the first fruit: dust-free, stainless I became, on hearing the Victor's teaching.
Hearing the Sage's utterance, seeing the Dhamma supreme, having plunged deep into the true Dhamma, I uttered this verse:
"This indeed is the Dhamma, if it be but so much: you have penetrated the sorrowless state, unseen [by us], let slip these many myriads of aeons.
"I who, in search of the Dhamma, ranged through false teachings — that goal of mine is now attained: this is no time for me to be heedless."
Gladdened by Assaji, having attained the unshaken state, seeking my companion, I went to the hermitage.
Seeing me from afar off, my companion, well trained, perfect in deportment, spoke these words:
"Serene of face and eye are you; the sage's state itself is seen. Have you attained the Deathless, Nibbāna, the state that passes not away?
"You come as one endowed with beauty, like one wrought to imperturbability, like one tamed in the tamer's taming: are you at peace, O brahmin?"
"The Deathless has been attained by me, the dispelling of sorrow's dart. Do you too attain it: let us go into the Buddha's presence."
Saying "It is well," my well-trained companion consented; and grasping hand with hand, we came into your presence:
"We shall both go forth, O son of the Sakyans, in your presence." Having come to your dispensation, we dwell free of taints.
Kolita is foremost in psychic power; I have gone to the far shore of wisdom: both together, as one, we make the dispensation shine.
With aspiration unfulfilled, I ranged through false teachings; coming to the sight of you, my aspiration has been fulfilled.
Established upon the earth, trees flower in their season; divine fragrances waft about, and they delight all that breathes:
even so I, O Great Hero, O Sakyan son of great renown, established in your dispensation, seek my season to flower.
Seeking the flower of liberation, the release from the round of existence, by the gaining of liberation's flower I delight all that breathes.
Throughout the whole Buddha-field, O One with Eyes, the Great Sage alone excepted, there is none who equals the wisdom of this son of yours.
Well disciplined are your pupils, well trained your following; tamed in the supreme taming, they surround you always.
Meditators delighting in jhāna, wise, of peaceful mind, composed, sages accomplished in sagehood, they surround you always.
Of few wishes, prudent, wise, of little food, free of greed, content with gain or none, they surround you always.
Forest-dwellers, delighting in the ascetic practices, meditators, coarse of robe, delighting wholly in seclusion, wise, they surround you always.
Those upon the way and those established in fruit, trainees endowed with fruit, and aspirants to the supreme goal, they surround you always.
Stream-enterers free of stain, once-returners likewise, non-returners and Arahants: they surround you always.
Skilled in the establishments of mindfulness (satipaṭṭhāna), delighting in developing the factors of awakening (bojjhaṅga), your disciples, the many, all of them, surround you always.
Skilled in the bases for success (iddhipāda), delighting in the development of concentration, given to the right exertions (sammappadhāna), they surround you always.
Bearing the three true knowledges (tevijjā) and the six superknowledges, gone to perfection in psychic power, attained to the perfection of wisdom, they surround you always.
Such, O Great Hero, are these pupils of yours, well trained, hard to assail, of blazing power: they surround you always.
Surrounded by those pupils, restrained and austere, fearless as the king of beasts, you shine like the lord of stars.
Established upon the earth, the growths of the earth flourish; they come to abundance, and they show forth their fruit:
like unto the earth are you, O Sakyan son of great renown: established in your dispensation, [beings] obtain the deathless fruit.
The Sindhu and the Sarassatī, the Candabhāgā rivers, the Gaṅgā and the Yamunā, the Sarabhū, and then the Mahī:
as these flow onward, the sea receives them all; they cast off their former name, and it is known simply as "the sea":
even so these four castes, having gone forth in your presence, cast off their former name and are known as "sons of the Buddha."
As the moon, free of stain, coursing in the element of space, outshines with its lustre all the throngs of stars in the world:
even so do you, O Great Hero, ringed round amid devas and men, outsurpassing them throughout the Buddha-field, blaze forth at every time.
A wave arisen in the deep does not overpass the shore: breaking upon all the shore-line, [the waves] are shattered and dispersed:
even so the sectarians in the world, folk many and of divers views: fain to cross beyond the Dhamma, they do not overpass you, the Sage.
And if they come at you with contradictions, O One with Eyes, coming into your very presence, they become but shattered dust.
As kumudas and mandālakas in plenty, born in the water, are fouled by the water, and by mud and by mire:
even so many beings, born into the world, grow up oppressed by lust and hatred, as the kumuda in the mire.
As the lotus, water-born, shines forth amid the water, unsoiled by the water — for pure is its filamented bloom:
even so you, O Great Hero, Great Sage born into the world, are unsoiled by the world, as the lotus by the water.
As in the month of Rammaka many water-flowers bloom, nor overstep that month — for that is their season for blooming:
even so are you, O Sakyan son, come to bloom with your liberation; [beings] do not overstep your dispensation, as the lotus [does not overstep] the water.
As the sāla-king in full blossom breathes forth divine fragrance, and, ringed by other sālas, the sāla-king shines exceedingly:
even so you, O Great Hero, blossoming with the Buddha's knowledge, ringed round by the Saṅgha of bhikkhus, shine like the sāla-king.
As the rocky Himavant is a healing herb for all that breathes, an abode of nāgas and asuras, of deities also:
even so you, O Great Hero, are as a healing herb for living beings. Those bearing the three true knowledges and the six superknowledges, gone to perfection in psychic power,
instructed, O Great Hero, by you, the Compassionate One, delight in the delight of the Dhamma: they dwell within your dispensation.
As the lion, king of beasts, coming forth from his lair and surveying the four quarters, roars aloud his roar three times,
and all the beasts take fright at the roaring of the beast-king — for so does this one of noble breed at all times set the herds a-tremble:
so when you thunder, O Great Hero, this earth trembles; those ripe for awakening awaken; the hosts of Māra take fright.
All the sectarians take fright at your roaring, O Great Sage — scattered like a rabble of crows, as beasts before the king of beasts.
Whosoever in the world, as heads of companies, are styled "teachers," they teach to their assembly a doctrine passed from hand to hand:
but not so do you, O Great Hero, teach the Dhamma to living beings: having yourself awakened to the truths and to the whole of what pertains to awakening,
knowing the dispositions and the latent tendencies, the strength and weakness of the faculties, discerning the capable and the incapable, you thunder like the great rain-cloud.
Were an assembly seated filling to the rim of the world-sphere, holding divers views, divided in their thinking — then, for the severing of their perplexity,
knowing the minds of every one, the Sage, skilled in similes, by expounding but a single question would sever the perplexity of living beings.
Were the earth filled full with [men] the like of Upatissa, and all of them, with joined palms, were to extol the Leader of the World,
extolling him even for an aeon, they would extol him with praise upon praise; yet they could not compass his measure: measureless is the Tathāgata.
And even as the Great Victor has now been extolled by [my] own strength, so, proclaiming him for crores of aeons, would they proclaim him even so.
If any deva or man, be he never so well trained, should presume to take his measure, he would win nothing but vexation.
Established in your dispensation, O Sakyan son of great renown, having reached the perfection of wisdom, I dwell free of taints.
I crush the sectarians utterly; I keep the Victor's dispensation in motion: today I am the General of the Dhamma (dhammasenāpati) in the dispensation of the Sakyan son.
The deed done [aeons] beyond measure ago showed me its fruit here: as with the speed of an arrow well loosed, I burned up my defilements.
Whatever man should bear a burden ever upon his head would be worn with misery beneath the burden: even such was the burden that I bore.
Burning with the three fires, I wandered on through existences, laden with the burden of existence, as though Mount Neru had been heaved up [upon me].
But now the burden is laid down by me; the existences are dismantled; all that was to be done is done in the dispensation of the Sakyan son.
Throughout the whole Buddha-field, the Bull of the Sakyans alone excepted, I am the foremost in wisdom: an equal of me there is not.
Well skilled in concentration, gone to perfection in psychic power, did I so wish, this very day I could conjure forth a thousand [forms].
Master of the successive abidings, the Great Sage taught me the teaching: cessation is my couch.
Mine is the divine eye (dibbacakkhu), purified; I am skilled in concentration, given to the right exertions, delighting in developing the factors of awakening.
All that is to be attained by a disciple has all been done by me; the Lord of the World alone excepted, an equal of me there is not.
Skilled in the attainments (samāpatti), a swift gainer of the jhānas and the liberations (vimokkha), delighting in developing the factors of awakening, I have reached the perfection of the disciple's virtues.
Through [my] contact with the disciple's virtues, through understanding, [I bear] reverence for the Supreme among men; my mind, held together by faith, is ever [given] to my fellows in the holy life.
Like a snake whose fangs are drawn, like a bull whose horns are severed, with conceit and insolence laid down, I approach the company with weighty reverence.
Had my wisdom visible form, it would be a match for the lords of the earth: this is the fruit of my praising the knowledge of the Blessed One Anomadassī.
The Wheel of Dhamma set rolling by the Sakyan son, the steadfast one, I keep rolling after him rightly: this is the fruit of praising his knowledge.
May no man of evil wishes ever be joined with me, none slack in energy (vīriya), of little learning, wanting in conduct: may such a one nowhere be joined with me.
But one of great learning, intelligent, well composed in the virtues, given to the calming of the heart — let him stand even upon my head.
Therefore I say to you — blessings be upon you! — as many as are here assembled: be of few wishes and content, ever giving gifts.
He at the first sight of whom I became dust-free and stainless — he is my teacher, the wise one, the disciple Assaji by name.
His pupil am I, and today I have become the General of the Dhamma; having attained perfection in every way, I dwell free of taints.
He who was my teacher, the disciple Assaji by name — in whatever quarter he dwells, that [quarter] I keep at my head.
Remembering this deed of mine, Gotama, Bull of the Sakyans, seated in the Saṅgha of bhikkhus, set me in the foremost place.
The four analytical insights (paṭisambhidā), and the eight liberations besides, the six superknowledges have been realized: done is the Buddha's teaching.
Thus indeed did the Venerable Elder Sāriputta utter these verses.
The Apadāna of the Elder Sāriputta is concluded.
The fourth: the Apadāna of the Elder Mahāmoggallāna (2).
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.