[412] Not far from the Himavant stands the mountain named Paduma;
there my hermitage was well wrought, a leaf-hall well built.
There the rivers flow, with beautiful fords, delightful,
clear-watered, cool-streamed — the rivers flow for ever.
Pāṭhīna, pāvusa, valaja, muñja, and rohita fish
adorn those rivers, dwelling in the river at that time.
Covered over with mango and rose-apple trees, with kareri and tilaka likewise,
uddālaka and pāṭali trees adorn my hermitage.
Aṅkolaka and bimbijāla trees, and māyāhara trees in flower,
wafting abroad their fragrance, adorn my hermitage.
Adhimutta and sattalika, nāga (ironwood) and sāl trees in flower,
breathing forth divine fragrances, adorn my hermitage.
Kosumbha, salaḷa, and nīpa, and hatthapāta trees in flower,
breathing forth divine fragrances, adorn my hermitage.
Harītaka and āmalaka (chebulic and emblic myrobalan), mango, rose-apple, vibhedaka (belleric myrobalan),
jujube, marking-nut, and bael — fruits abound at my hermitage.
Kalamba trees and plantains blossom there at my hermitage;
breathing forth divine fragrances, they adorn my hermitage.
Asokapiṇḍī and varī, and nimba (neem) trees in flower,
breathing forth divine fragrances, adorn my hermitage.
Puṇṇāva and giripuṇṇāva, and timira trees blossom there;
breathing forth divine fragrances, they adorn my hermitage.
Nigguṇḍī and sirinigguṇḍī, and campaka trees blossom here;
breathing forth divine fragrances, they adorn my hermitage.
Not far off lies a lotus pool, resounding with the cries of cakkavāka birds,
covered over with mandālaka flowers, with lotuses and water-lilies.
Clear-watered, cool-streamed, with beautiful fords, delightful,
limpid, like unto crystal, [its waters] adorn my hermitage.
There lotuses bloom, white lotuses and blue water-lilies;
covered over with mandālaka flowers, they adorn my hermitage.
Pāṭhīna, pāvusa, balaja, muñja, and rohita fish,
swimming to and fro therein, adorn my hermitage.
Crocodiles and susumāras, turtles, and gahas in plenty,
ogahas and pythons, adorn my hermitage.
Pigeons and ravihaṃsa geese, cakkavākas coursing the rivers,
lapwings and mynas as well, adorn my hermitage.
Nayita trees and ambagandhī (mango-scented) trees, and ketaka (screw-pine) blossoming there,
breathing forth divine fragrances, adorn my hermitage.
Lions and tigers and leopards, bears, wolves, and hyenas,
ranging to and fro in the great wood, adorn my hermitage.
[Sages] laden with the burden of their matted locks, clad in antelope-hide upper garments,
ranging to and fro in the great wood, adorn my hermitage.
Some, wearers of hides (ajina), prudent, of calm conduct,
and all of them of little food — they adorn my hermitage.
Taking up their pole-loads and plunging then into the forest,
eating roots and fruits, they dwell at the hermitage at that time.
They fetch no firewood, nor water for the washing of feet:
by the power of them all it is brought of its own accord.
Eighty-four thousand seers were gathered there,
all of them meditators, seekers of the supreme goal.
Ascetics living the holy life, exhorting [one another], intent [in absorption],
all of them farers through the sky, they dwell at the hermitage at that time.
Every five days they assemble, one-pointed, of calm conduct;
having saluted one another, they depart, each facing his own quarter.
The Victor named Padumuttara, gone to the far shore of all dhammas,
arose at that very time — the Victor, scattering the gloom of darkness.
In the neighborhood of my hermitage there was a yakkha of great power;
he told me of the Fully Awakened One, him named Jalajuttama [“Supreme of the Water-born,” i.e., Padumuttara]:
“This Buddha has arisen — Padumuttara, the Great Sage!
Go quickly, good sir, and wait upon the Fully Awakened One.”
Hearing the yakkha’s words, with a mind serene and confident,
I set the hermitage in order and departed then from the great wood.
As though my garment were ablaze, going forth from the hermitage,
I lodged a single night and drew near to the Guide.
Padumuttara, knower of the world, receiver of oblations,
making plain the four truths, was teaching the deathless state (amataṃ padaṃ).
Taking a lotus in full bloom, I approached the Great Seer;
confident in mind and glad, I paid homage to the Buddha.
Having worshipped the Fully Awakened One, Jalajuttama the Leader,
I arranged my hide over one shoulder and extolled the Leader of the World:
“The knowledge (ñāṇa) whereby the Fully Awakened One dwells here free of taints (āsava) —
that knowledge shall I proclaim: hear me as I speak.
Having cut the stream of saṃsāra, you bring all living beings across;
hearing your Dhamma, they cross over the stream of craving (taṇhā).
You, the Teacher, are as a banner, a standard, as a sacrificial post to living beings;
you stand as their final resort and support, a lamp, supreme among two-footed beings.
As many heads of companies in the world as are styled leaders of caravans,
of them you, O Wise One, are the foremost: they are all comprehended within you.
By your knowledge, O Wise One, you bring the great multitude across;
coming to the sight of you, they shall make an end of suffering (dukkha).
Whatever scents there are that waft abroad in the world, O One with Vision,
none is equal to your fragrance, O Great Sage, field of merit.
Set [beings] free from the realm of beasts and from hell, O One with Vision;
you teach the unconditioned (asaṅkhata), peaceful state, O Great Sage.”
Padumuttara, knower of the world, receiver of oblations,
seated amid the Saṅgha of bhikkhus, spoke these verses:
“He who, full of confidence, with his own hands venerated my knowledge —
him shall I proclaim: hear me as I speak.
For thirty thousand aeons he will rejoice in the world of the devas,
and a thousand times he will be a king, a wheel-turning monarch (cakkavatti).”
Well gained is the gain I have gained, having gladdened the One of Excellent Vows:
having fully understood all taints, I dwell free of taints.
My defilements (kilesa) have been burned away; all existences have been uprooted;
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 done.
The four analytic insights (paṭisambhidā), and these eight liberations (vimokkha) too,
and the six superknowledges (abhiññā) have been realized: the Buddha’s teaching has been done.
Thus indeed did the Venerable Udena the Elder utter these verses.
The Apadāna of Udena the Elder is concluded.
Uddāna (Summary):
Metteyya, the Elder Puṇṇaka, Mettagū, and Dhotaka too;
Upasīva and Nanda, with Hemaka the seventh therein;
Todeyya and Jatukaṇṇī, and Udena of great renown —
herein are three hundred verses, and eighty-three over and above.
The Metteyya Chapter, the Forty-first.
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English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.