[409]
Near the peak of an overhanging crag, an ascetic (tāpasa) named Anoma,
I built a well-wrought hermitage and dwelt then in a hut of leaves.
My work of austerity was accomplished; I had attained mastery in my own strength;
valiant in my own asceticism, ardent (ātāpī), sagacious, a sage (muni);
confident in my own doctrine and skilled in the doctrines of others,
able to travel upon the earth and in the sky, and skilled in portents;
free of sorrow, free from harmful undertakings, sparing in food, without greed,
content alike with gain and with loss, a meditator delighting in jhāna, a sage.
At that time the Fully Enlightened One named Piyadassī — the sage supreme and compassionate —
desiring to bring beings across, suffused them with compassion (karuṇā).
Seeing folk ripe for awakening, Piyadassī, the Great Sage,
went throughout the thousand world-systems (cakkavāḷa), a sage giving exhortation.
Desiring to lift me up, he came to my hermitage;
never before had I seen the Victor, nor even heard of him from anyone.
Portents, dreams, and bodily marks were well elucidated to me;
able to travel upon the earth and in the sky, I was skilled in the paths of the constellations.
Having heard of the Buddha, I made my mind (citta) confident in him;
whether standing or sitting, I recollected him at all times.
While I was thus recollecting, the Blessed One too recollected me;
as I recollected the Buddha, rapture (pīti) arose in me at that very instant.
And when the time came round again, the Great Sage approached me;
even when he had arrived I did not know, "This is the Buddha, the Great Sage."
Sympathetic and compassionate, Piyadassī, the Great Sage,
made himself known to me: "I am the Buddha in the world with its devas."
Having recognized the Fully Enlightened One, Piyadassī the Great Sage,
I made my own mind confident and spoke these words:
"All sit upon stools and couches and long chairs;
you too, O one compassionate toward all, be seated upon a resplendent seat."
That very instant I conjured a stool made of every kind of jewel,
and offered to the sage Piyadassī that seat created by psychic power (iddhi).
To him seated upon the jewel stool created by psychic power,
I straightaway gave a rose-apple (jambu) fruit the size of a pot.
Engendering joy in me, the Great Sage partook of it;
then, with mind made confident, I paid homage to the Teacher.
And the Blessed One Piyadassī, Eldest of the World, the Bull of Men,
seated upon the jewel seat, spoke these verses:
"He who has given me the stool made of jewels and the ambrosial fruit (amata) —
him I shall proclaim: listen to me as I speak.
For seventy-seven aeons (kappa) he will delight in the deva world,
and seventy-five times he will be a wheel-turning monarch (cakkavatti).
Thirty-two times, as lord of devas, he will exercise rulership over the devas,
and vast will be his regional kingship, incalculable by reckoning.
He will obtain many a well-wrought couch —
made of gold, made of gleaming substance, made of ruby, and made of jewels.
Even as he walks about, many couches will at all times surround him,
the pleasing one endowed with deeds of merit.
Peaked mansions and palaces and beds of great price,
knowing this one's mind, will spring into being at that very instant.
Sixty thousand elephants adorned with every ornament,
tuskers with girths of gold, clad in golden trappings,
mounted by drivers with lance and goad in hand —
these too will attend upon him: this is the fruit of the jewel stool.
Sixty thousand horses adorned with every ornament,
thoroughbreds by breeding, Sindh steeds, swift bearers,
mounted by riders with bows in hand, armored in hide —
these too will attend upon him: this is the fruit of the jewel stool.
Sixty thousand chariots adorned with every ornament,
covered with leopard-hide and with tiger-hide too, fully arrayed, with banners hoisted,
mounted by charioteers with bows in hand, armored in hide —
these will constantly surround him: this is the fruit of the jewel stool.
Sixty thousand milch cows, cows with the finest bulls and oxen,
will bring forth their calves: this is the fruit of the jewel stool.
Sixteen thousand women adorned with every ornament,
in variegated garments and raiment, wearing gem-set earrings,
with radiant faces, smiling, graceful, slender-waisted —
these will constantly surround him: this is the fruit of the jewel stool.
In eighteen hundred aeons from now, the One with Vision named Gotama,
having dispelled the murk of darkness, will arise as a Buddha in the world.
Owing to the sight of him, this one, possessing nothing, will go forth;
having gratified the Teacher, he will delight in the dispensation (sāsana).
Having heard his Dhamma, he will burn up the defilements (kilesa);
having fully understood all the taints (āsava), he will attain Nibbāna, free of taints."
My energy (viriya), bearing the yoke like a draught-ox, carried me on toward security from bondage (yogakkhema);
aspiring to the supreme goal, I dwell in the dispensation.
This is my last; my final existence (bhava) now runs its course;
with all taints utterly destroyed, there is now no renewed existence (punabbhava).
My defilements have been burned away; all existences have been extirpated;
like an elephant that has burst its bonds, I dwell free of 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 accomplished.
The four analytical knowledges (paṭisambhidā), and these eight liberations (vimokkha) too,
and the six superknowledges (chaḷabhiññā) have been realized; the Buddha's teaching has been accomplished.
It was thus that the Venerable Hemaka the Elder spoke these verses.
The Apadāna of Hemaka the Elder is concluded.
The Eighteenth Recitation Section (bhāṇavāra).
The Eighth: The Apadāna of Todeyya the Elder (408)
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.