[394] In the city of Haṃsavatī I was the master of a street. Having gathered my kinsmen together, I spoke these words:
"A Buddha has arisen in the world, an unsurpassed field of merit; he is the recipient of the oblations of all the world.
Khattiyas, townsmen, and wealthy brahmins, with confident minds, glad at heart, have performed the communal duty (pūgadhamma).
Elephant-riders, soldiers of the ranks, charioteers, and foot-soldiers, with confident minds, glad at heart, have performed the communal duty.
The Uggas and the sons of kings, the merchants and the brahmins, with confident minds, glad at heart, have performed the communal duty.
Confectioners and cooks, bath-attendants and garland-makers, with confident minds, glad at heart, have performed the communal duty.
Dyers and weavers, tailors and barbers, with confident minds, glad at heart, have performed the communal duty.
Arrow-makers and turners, leather-workers and carpenters, with confident minds, glad at heart, have performed the communal duty.
Smiths and goldsmiths, and workers in tin and copper likewise, with confident minds, glad at heart, have performed the communal duty.
Hired servants and cloth-workers, and slaves and laborers in great number, each according to his own strength, have performed the communal duty.
Water-carriers and wood-carriers, plowmen and grass-gatherers, each according to his own strength, have performed the communal duty.
Flower-sellers and garland-sellers, greengrocers and fruit-vendors, each according to his own strength, have performed the communal duty.
Courtesans and water-jar slave-women, cake-sellers and fishwives too, each according to her own strength, have performed the communal duty.
Having all assembled, bound together as a single company, we shall render a service (adhikāra) to the unsurpassed field of merit."
Having heard my words, they straightaway formed themselves into a company; they had a well-made attendance hall (upaṭṭhānasālā) built for the Saṅgha of bhikkhus.
When that hall was completed, elated, with gladdened mind, and accompanied by them all, I approached the Fully Awakened One.
Having approached the Fully Awakened One, the Protector of the World, the Bull among Men, and having venerated the Teacher's feet, I spoke these words:
"These three hundred men, O Hero, a company united, dedicate to you, O Sage, this well-made attendance hall. May the One with Vision accept it in front of the Saṅgha of bhikkhus."
Before the three hundred he spoke these verses:
"The three hundred together with their leader have followed in accord as one; having wrought [this deed], you shall all partake of attainments.
When your final existence is reached, you shall behold Nibbāna — the unsurpassed state of coolness, unaging, deathless, secure."
Thus did the Buddha, unsurpassed in omniscience, declare; and having heard the Buddha's word, I experienced joy.
For thirty thousand eons I delighted in the world of the devas; five hundred times, as overlord of the devas, I exercised celestial kingship.
A thousand times I was a king, a wheel-turning monarch (cakkavatti); and [I enjoyed] extensive local kingship beyond reckoning by count.
Here, in human kingship, my kinsmen were my assembly. When my final existence was reached, there was a brahmin named Vāseṭṭha,
whose stored-up treasure was eighty koṭis: I was his son. Sela was my name, and I had gone to perfection in the six branches [of Vedic learning].
While roaming on a walking-tour, honored by my own pupils, I saw the ascetic named Keṇiya, laden with his burden of matted hair,
who had made ready an oblation; and I spoke these words: "Is it a giving in marriage, or a taking in marriage, or has the king been invited by you?"
[Keṇiya replied:] "Desiring to offer an oblation to the brahmin esteemed as a god — I am not inviting the king; no [such] oblation of mine is found.
Nor is there for me a giving in marriage; a taking in marriage of mine is not found. He who begets joy for the Sakyans, the best in the world with its devas,
he who is bent on the good and welfare of all the world, the bringer of happiness to all beings — he has been invited by me today; this preparation is for him.
He whose radiance is like the hue of the timbarūsaka fruit, immeasurable, incomparable, unequaled in form — the Buddha has been invited for the morrow.
Burnished as at the mouth of the forge, glowing like embers of khadira wood, like lightning, the Great Hero — that Protector has been invited by me.
Like a fire upon a mountain-top, like the moon on the night of the full moon, like the color of a fire of reeds — that Buddha has been invited by me.
Unterrified, passed beyond fear, the Sage who makes an end of existence, like a lion, the Great Hero — that Buddha has been invited by me.
Skilled in the qualities of a Buddha, not to be overborne by others, like a great elephant (nāga), the Great Hero — that Buddha has been invited by me.
Skilled in [what leads to] the far shore of the true Dhamma (saddhamma), the peerless Buddha-nāga, like a bull, the Great Hero — that Buddha has been invited by me.
Of infinite splendor, of measureless fame, adorned with all the varied marks, like Sakka, the Great Hero — that Buddha has been invited by me.
Self-mastered, leader of a company, majestic and splendorous, hard to assail, like Brahmā, the Great Hero — that Buddha has been invited by me.
Of exalted qualities, bearer of the Ten Powers (dasabala), gone to the far shore of strength surpassing strength, like the earth, the Great Hero — that Buddha has been invited by me.
Strewn through with virtue and steadfastness, astir with consciousness of the Dhamma, like the ocean, the Great Hero — that Buddha has been invited by me.
Hard to assail, hard to overpower, unshaken, risen aloft, sublime, like Mount Neru, the Great Hero — that Buddha has been invited by me.
Of infinite knowledge (ñāṇa), unequaled, beyond weighing, gone to the summit, like the sky, the Great Hero — that Buddha has been invited by me."
The Fifteenth Recitation Section (bhāṇavāra).
"The support of those stricken with fear, the shelter of those who go to him for refuge, the giver of consolation, the Great Hero — that Buddha has been invited by me.
The resort of those endowed with intelligence, the field of merit for seekers of happiness, a mine of jewels, the Great Hero — that Buddha has been invited by me.
The consoler, the maker of devas, the giver of the fruits of the ascetic life (sāmaññaphala), like a rain-cloud, the Great Hero — that Buddha has been invited by me.
The hero raised on high in the world, the dispeller of all darkness, like the sun, the Great Hero — that Buddha has been invited by me.
The Sage who shows the true nature [of things] amid objects and liberations, like the moon, the Great Hero — that Buddha has been invited by me.
The Buddha, exalted in the world, adorned with the marks, immeasurable, the Great Hero — that Buddha has been invited by me.
He whose knowledge is beyond measure, whose virtue is beyond compare, whose liberation is without equal — that Buddha has been invited by me.
He whose steadfastness is without equal, whose strength is beyond conceiving, whose exertion is supreme — that Buddha has been invited by me.
Lust, hatred, and delusion — poisons all — have been extirpated [in him]; like a healing antidote, the Great Hero — that Buddha has been invited by me.
The dispeller — like a healing herb — of the sickness of the defilements (kilesa), fraught with much suffering (dukkha), like lightning, the Great Hero — that Buddha has been invited by me."
"'Buddha!' — you utter that cry, and that cry is exceedingly hard for me to come by. Hearing the proclamation 'Buddha!', rapture (pīti) arose in me.
My rapture, not to be contained within, streamed forth without; and I, with mind enraptured, spoke these words:
'Where, then, is that Blessed One, the eldest of the world, the Bull among Men? Going there, I shall pay homage to the giver of the fruits of the ascetic life.
Raising your right arm — thrilled with joy, with palms joined in reverence — point out to me the King of the Dhamma, the dispeller of the dart of sorrow.'
[Keṇiya replied:] 'See this great grove, rising like a great storm-cloud, dark blue like collyrium, showing like the very sea:
there dwells that Buddha, the tamer of the untamed, the Sage, training those who are fit for training, awakening them to the states that partake of awakening (bodhipakkhiya).'
As one athirst seeks water, as one hungering seeks food, as a cow yearns for her calf — even so did I seek out the Victor (Jina).
Knowing right conduct and courtesy, [versed in] the restraint that befits the Dhamma, I instructed my own pupils as they went into the Victor's presence:
'Blessed Ones are hard to approach, like lions that range alone; setting foot after foot [with care], come along, young men.
Like a dreadful venomous serpent, like the maned king of beasts, like a tamed bull-elephant in rut — so hard to approach are Buddhas.
Keeping back cough and sneeze, young men, setting foot after foot [with care], draw near into the Buddha's presence.
Buddhas hold seclusion in esteem; they love quiet; they are hard to approach, hard to draw near to; they are revered in [the world] with its devas.
When I am asking a question or exchanging friendly greetings, then be noiseless; stand as though become sages.
The true Dhamma that he teaches — the secure, for the attainment of Nibbāna — attend to that very meaning: fair is the hearing of the true Dhamma.'
Having approached the Fully Awakened One, I exchanged greetings with the Sage; and when that talk was concluded, I examined the marks.
Two marks I did not see; thirty marks I saw. The Sage, by psychic power (iddhi), showed the private part enclosed in a sheath;
and putting forth his tongue, the Victor touched his ear-openings and his nostrils, and covered wholly the full expanse of his forehead.
Having seen his marks, complete together with the secondary characteristics, and having come to the conclusion 'a Buddha!', I went forth together with my pupils.
Together with three hundred I went forth into homelessness; before half a month had passed, we all attained quenching (nibbuti).
Together we had done the deed in the unsurpassed field of merit; together we had wandered on [in the round]; together they turned back from it.
Having given the rafters, I abided by the communal duty; by that deed well done I obtain eight grounds:
I am honored in the [four] quarters; my possessions are beyond measure; I am a support for all; dread is not found in me;
illnesses are not found in me; I preserve a long life; I am of delicate skin; and when the rains have set in, I dwell within a dwelling.
Having given the eight rafters, I abided by the communal duty; the analytical knowledges (paṭisambhidā) and arahantship (arahatta) — this is my final, eighth [ground].
With every consummation consummated, the task done, free of taints (āsava), 'Aṭṭhagopānasī' ('Eight-Rafters') by name is your son, O Great Sage.
Having given the five pillars, I abided by the communal duty; by that deed well done I obtain five grounds:
through loving-kindness (mettā) I am unshakable; I am of wealth unfailing; my word is one to be heeded; nor do I in any way come to ruin;
my mind is unwavering; I am without hardness of heart toward anyone. By that deed well done, I am stainless in the Dispensation.
Respectful, deferential, his task done, free of taints, your disciple, O Great Hero — a bhikkhu — venerates you, O Sage.
Having had a well-made couch fashioned, I set it up in the hall; by that deed well done I obtain five grounds:
I am born in a lofty family; I become one of great wealth; I am possessed of every excellence; stinginess is not found in me;
when a journey is wished for by me, a palanquin stands ready, and together with that most excellent palanquin I go wherever I wish.
By that gift of the couch I dispelled all darkness; attained to all the superknowledges (abhiññā) and powers, the elder venerates you, O Sage.
The tasks of others and my own tasks — all tasks have I accomplished; by that deed well done I entered the city where fear is not.
In the finished hall I gave the requisites for its use; by that deed well done I arrived at supremacy.
Whatever tamers there are in the world, who tame elephants and horses — subjecting them to torments of many kinds, they tame them with cruelty.
Not so do you, O Great Hero, tame men and women: without rod, without weapon, you tame them in the supreme taming.
Extolling the excellence of giving, skilled in teaching, the Sage, by discoursing upon a single question, awakened the three hundred.
Tamed by the charioteer, fully liberated, free of taints, attained to all the superknowledges and powers, we are quenched in the extinction of the acquisitions (upadhi).
It was a hundred thousand eons from this one that I then gave that gift: all fears have been passed beyond — this is the fruit of the gift of a hall.
Welcome indeed was my coming into the presence of my Buddha: the three true knowledges (vijjā) have been attained; the Buddha's teaching has been done.
My defilements have been burned away; all existences have been extirpated; like an elephant that has burst its bonds, I dwell free of taints.
The four analytical knowledges, and these eight liberations (vimokkha), and the six superknowledges have been realized; the Buddha's teaching has been done."
Thus indeed did the Venerable Sela, together with his following, speak these verses in the presence of the Blessed One.
The Apadāna of the Elder Sela is concluded.
Third: the Apadāna of the Elder Sabbakittika (393)
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.