[329] When a deva passes from the company of devas
with the exhaustion of his life span,
three sounds ring out
from the devas voicing their gladness:
"Go from here, good sir, to a good destination (sugati),
to companionship with human beings;
having become a human, gain
unsurpassed faith (saddhā) in the true Dhamma (saddhamma).
May that faith of yours, as one settled in it,
take root and stand established,
unshaken for as long as life shall last,
in the true Dhamma so well proclaimed.
Having done what is wholesome with the body,
and much that is wholesome with speech,
having done with the mind what is wholesome —
free of affliction, without acquisition (nirūpadhi) —
then, having made abundant merit,
productive of acquisition (opadhika), through giving,
establish others in the excellent true Dhamma,
in the holy life (brahmacariya)."
Out of this compassion the devas
rejoice over the one who is passing away —
even as the wise [honor] the Deva of Devas:
"Come, deva, again and again!"
Stirred with a sense of urgency (saṃvega) was I then,
when the host of devas had assembled:
"To what womb, indeed, shall I go
when I have passed away from here?"
Knowing my sense of urgency,
an ascetic with developed faculties,
desiring to lift me up,
came into my presence.
Sumana was he by name,
a disciple of Padumuttara;
having instructed me in the meaning and in the Dhamma,
he stirred me with urgency at that time.
The Twelfth Recitation Section (bhāṇavāra).
Having heard his word,
I made my mind (citta) confident in the Buddha;
and having saluted that wise one,
I met my end right there.
Spurred on by that bright root of merit,
I myself was reborn in that very place;
dwelling in a mother's womb,
to be carried by a mother once again.
Passing away from that body,
I arose among the Thirty (Tidasa);
in the whole interval between
I saw no grief (domanassa) at that time.
Passing away from Tāvatiṃsa,
I descended into my mother's womb;
and having come forth from that strait,
I knew no suffering (dukkha) at all.
When I was seven years from birth
I entered the monastery
of the Blessed One Gotama,
the Sakyan son, the steadfast one (tādī).
When the fundamental teaching (pāvacana) had spread wide,
when the dispensation was known to the many,
I saw there the bhikkhus,
doers of the Teacher's instruction.
There is a city named Sāvatthī;
the king there was the Kosalan;
in a chariot yoked with elephants
he drove up to the supreme Bodhi tree.
When I saw his elephant
I recollected my former deed;
lifting my joined palms (añjali) in reverence,
I went along to the gathering.
At just seven years from birth
I went forth into homelessness.
The disciple named Ānanda,
he who attended upon the Buddha —
intelligent and resolute,
possessed of mindfulness (sati) and of great learning —
gladdening the mind of the king,
that one of great splendor sent him on his way.
Having heard the Dhamma from him,
I recollected my former deed;
and standing in that very spot
I attained arahantship.
Arranging my robe over one shoulder,
raising my joined palms upon my head,
I saluted the Fully Awakened One
and uttered these words:
"Taking up a niguṇḍi flower,
I set it upon the lion throne
of the Buddha Padumuttara,
lord of the two-footed, the steadfast one.
By that deed, O lord of the two-footed,
eldest of the world, bull of men,
I have attained the unshaken state,
leaving behind victory and defeat.
In the twenty-five-thousandth of eons [from now],
there were khattiyas, rulers of men —
eight abbudas
and eight nirabbudas of them.
The four analytical insights (paṭisambhidā),
and also these eight liberations (vimokkha),
and the six superknowledges (chaḷabhiññā) have been realized;
the Buddha's dispensation has been fulfilled."
Thus indeed did the Venerable Elder Nigguṇḍipupphiya speak these verses.
The Apadāna of the Elder Nigguṇḍipupphiya is concluded.
Eighth: The Apadāna of the Elder Sumanāveḷiya (328)
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.