[403] In dependence on an overhanging crag there dwelt an ascetic named Sobhita;
living on fruit fallen of itself, he abode in the midst of the mountains.
Then, fetching firewood, I kindled a blaze,
seeking the supreme goal, for rebirth in the Brahma world (brahmaloka).
Padumuttara, the Knower of the World, the recipient of oblations (āhuti),
desiring to lift me up, came into my presence:
"What are you doing, O one of great merit? Give me the firewood;
I would tend the fire, and thereby there will be purity for me."
"You are truly fortunate, O human; you understand the deity.
You tend the fire, then; here, take the firewood."
Then, taking the wood, the Victor (jina) kindled the fire;
yet the wood did not burn there — a marvel of the Great Seer.
"Your fire does not blaze up; no oblation of yours is found;
this practice of yours is worthless: tend now my fire."
"Of what sort, O Great Hero, is that which is called your fire?
Explain this to me as well, and let the two of us tend it."
"For the cessation of the states that are causes, for the burning up of the defilements (kilesa),
and the abandoning of envy and avarice — these are my three oblations."
"Of what sort are you, O Great Hero? Of what clan are you, good sir?
Your conduct and practice please me exceedingly."
"I was born in a khattiya family; I have reached the perfection of superknowledge (abhiññā);
all my taints (āsava) are utterly destroyed; now there is no renewed existence (punabbhava)."
"If you are the Buddha, the All-Knowing One, O Maker of Light, O Dispeller of Darkness,
I shall pay homage to you, O deva; you are the one who makes an end of suffering (dukkha)."
Spreading out an antelope hide, I offered him a seat:
"Be seated there, O All-Knowing One; I shall attend upon you."
The Blessed One sat down there upon the well-spread antelope hide;
and having invited the Fully Awakened One, I went to the mountain.
Filling my carrying-load full, I brought back tinduka fruit;
blending it with honey, I gave the fruit to the Buddha.
While I looked on, the Victor then partook of it;
and gazing upon the Leader of the World, I made my mind (citta) serene in him.
Padumuttara, the Knower of the World, the recipient of oblations,
seated in my hermitage, spoke these verses:
"He who, full of confidence, has satisfied me with fruit with his own hands —
him will I proclaim: listen while I speak.
Twenty-five times will he exercise kingship among the devas,
and a thousand times will he be a king, a wheel-turning monarch (cakkavatti).
Discerning the intention of him endowed with former kamma,
food and drink, clothing, and costly bedding,
conjoined with his meritorious deeds, will spring up for him at that very instant;
and he will ever be rejoicing and free from disease.
Into whatever state he is reborn — that of a deva or of a human —
being happy everywhere, he will come to the human state.
A reciter, a bearer of the hymns, one gone to the far shore of the three Vedas,
he will approach the Fully Awakened One and become an arahant."
From the time I can remember myself, from the time I came to years of discretion,
I have known no lack of wealth: this is the fruit of the gift of fruit.
Having attained the sublime Dhamma, I extirpated lust (rāga) and hatred (dosa);
all my taints are utterly destroyed; now there is no renewed existence.
My defilements have been burned up; all existences have been extirpated;
like an elephant that has burst its bonds, I dwell without taints.
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.
The four analytic insights (paṭisambhidā), and also these eight liberations (vimokkha),
and the six superknowledges have been realized; the Buddha's teaching has been done.
Thus indeed did the Venerable Tissametteyya the Elder speak these verses.
The Apadāna of Tissametteyya the Elder is concluded.
The Apadāna of Puṇṇaka the Elder, the Second (402)
[Variant readings recorded in the Siam Raṭṭha edition: (1) Po., Yu.: "hehiti" for "hohiti"; (2) Ma., Yu.: "va" for "ca"; (3) Ma., Yu.: "so" for "te"; (4) Ma.: "…nātha sabbaññu" for "tattha sabbaññū"; (5) Ma., Yu.: "pasādesiṃ" for "pasādesi"; (6) Ma.: "maṃ" for "me"; (7) Ma., Yu.: "pamudito" for "sammudito."]
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.