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Blazing like a kaṇikāra tree, shining like a tree of lamps,
radiant like the morning star, like lightning in the sky;
fearless and unterrified, like the maned lion, king of beasts;
making the light of knowledge (ñāṇa) shine forth, crushing the hosts of the sectarians (titthiya);
lifting up this world, cutting off all doubt —
fearless like the king of beasts — I saw the Leader of the World.
I was a brahmin bearing matted hair and antelope hide, upright and majestic;
taking my bark-cloth robe, I spread it at his feet.
Taking black sandalwood (kāḷānusāriya), I anointed the Tathāgata;
and when I had anointed the Fully Awakened One, I praised the Leader of the World:
"You lift up this world, O Great Sage who has crossed the flood (ogha);
you shine with the light of knowledge — knowledge excellent and supreme.
You have set rolling the Wheel of Dhamma; you crush the sectarians of other paths;
a bull victorious in battle, you have made the earth quake.
Just as in the great ocean a wave breaks upon the edge of the shore,
even so upon your knowledge every view (diṭṭhi) breaks apart.
When fine-meshed nets have been cast upon a lake,
the creatures gone within the net are straightaway hard-pressed;
even so, O Sire, the sectarians in the world, deluded, clinging to their own truths,
turn about within your excellent knowledge.
You are the very support of those being swept along in the flood, for you are the protector of the kinless,
the refuge of those who stand amid peril, the final resort of those who long for release.
Faring alone, without an equal, endowed with loving-kindness and compassion (mettā-karuṇā),
wise, devoted to relinquishment, wielding mastery, steadfast (tādī), an abode of virtues;
a sage, rid of delusion, imperturbable, free of doubt,
contented, you have cast out hatred (dosa) — stainless, restrained, and pure.
Passed beyond the ties, with intoxication gone, you possess the three true knowledges (vijjā), gone to the end of existence;
passed beyond the boundary, revering the Dhamma, your beneficence spread wide, a sower of welfare.
You are a deliverer, like a ship; a bringer of assurance, like a treasure-store;
fearless like a lion, like a tamed king of elephants."
Having extolled the Great Sage Padumuttara with these ten verses,
and having bowed at the Teacher's feet, I then stood silent.
Padumuttara, knower of the world, receiver of oblations,
the Teacher, standing amid the Saṅgha of bhikkhus, spoke these verses:
"He who has extolled my virtue, my wisdom, and my Dhamma —
him shall I extol in turn: listen to my words.
For sixty thousand aeons he will delight in the world of the devas;
overcoming the other devas, he will wield sovereignty.
Afterwards, having renounced, urged on by the root of his bright deeds,
he will go forth in the dispensation of the Blessed One Gotama.
Having gone forth, shunning evil action of body,
having fully understood all the taints (āsava), he will attain final Nibbāna, free from taints."
And just as a thundering cloud satiates this earth,
even so, O Great Hero, did you satisfy me with the Dhamma.
Having praised the Leader of the World — his virtue, his wisdom, and his Dhamma —
I have attained the supreme peace, Nibbāna, the imperishable state.
Oh, would that that Blessed One, the One with Vision (cakkhumā), might remain long!
Might I come to know what is not yet known; might I see the Deathless state (amata pada)!
This is my last birth (jāti); all existences have been utterly uprooted;
having fully understood all the taints, I dwell free from taints.
A hundred thousand aeons from now it was that I extolled the Buddha;
I know of no bad destination: this is the fruit of extolling.
My defilements (kilesa) have been burned away; all existences have been utterly uprooted;
all taints are utterly destroyed; now there is no renewed existence.
Welcome indeed was my coming into the presence of my Buddha;
the three true knowledges have been attained; the Buddha's teaching has been fulfilled.
The four analytical knowledges (paṭisambhidā), and these eight liberations (vimokkha),
and the six direct knowledges (abhiññā) have been realized; the Buddha's teaching has been fulfilled.
It was thus, indeed, that the Venerable Elder Sabbakittika spoke these verses.
The Apadāna of the Elder Sabbakittika is completed.
The Fourth: the Apadāna of the Elder Madhudāyaka (394)
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.