[43]
Surrounded by a thousand whose taints (āsava) were destroyed,
the Leader of the World,
devoted to seclusion (viveka),
was going away to retire into solitude.
Clad in an antelope hide,
wandering about with the triple staff,
I saw the Leader of the World
escorted by the Saṅgha of bhikkhus.
Having arranged the antelope hide over one shoulder,
having raised my joined palms upon my head,
having paid homage to the Fully Awakened One,
I praised the Leader of the World:
"Just as the egg-born and the moisture-born,
the spontaneously arisen and the womb-born,
and all the birds, crows and the rest,
ever coursing through the sky¹ —
so whatever living beings exist,
whether percipient or non-percipient,
all of them are comprised
within your knowledge (ñāṇa).
And whatever mountain fragrances there are
on Himavant, supreme among mountains,
all of them, set beside your virtue (sīla),
do not amount even to a fraction.
This world with its devas
had plunged² into the darkness of delusion;
when your knowledge shines forth,
the darknesses are destroyed.
Just as, when the sun has set,
beings are plunged into darkness,
so, when a Buddha has not arisen,
the world is plunged into darkness.
Just as the rising sun
ever dispels the darkness,
so you, O best of Buddhas,
ever destroy the darkness.
[¹ Yu. reads antalikkhe padesagā ("coursing in regions of the sky"). ² Ma. reads mohandhakārapakkhando; Yu. reads …pakkhanto.]
Resolute of self in striving (padhāna),
you are a Buddha in the world with its devas;
through the accomplishment of your deed
you gladden the great multitude of people."
Having heard¹ that and rejoiced,
Padumuttara, the Great Sage,
the wise one rose up into the sky,
like a king of swans in the air.
Having risen up, the Fully Awakened One,
the Great Seer Padumuttara,
the Teacher, standing in the sky,
spoke these verses:
"He by whom this knowledge was praised,
conjoined with similes —
him I shall proclaim;
listen to me as I speak.
Eighteen times
he will be king of the devas;
three hundred times he will dwell upon the earth,
wielding kingship over the land.
And twenty-five times
he will be a wheel-turning monarch (cakkavatti);
[his] regional kingship will be extensive,
incalculable by reckoning.
A hundred thousand aeons hence,
one arisen in the family of Okkāka,
Gotama by name,
will be the Teacher in the world.
Having passed away from Tusita,
impelled by the bright root [of merit],
though being low by birth,
he will be named Upāli.
And afterwards, having gone forth,
having expunged evil,
having fully understood all the taints,
he will attain Nibbāna, free from taints.
And then, pleased, the Buddha Gotama,
son of the Sakyans, of great fame,
will place him in the foremost position (etadagga)
for his mastery of the Discipline (Vinaya)."
[¹ Ma. and Yu. read sabbaṃ ("all [that]").]
Out of faith I went forth;
my task is done, I am taintless;
having fully understood all the taints,
I dwell without taints.
And the Blessed One was compassionate toward me;
I am confident in the Discipline;
satisfied with my own deed,
I dwell without taints.
Restrained in the Pātimokkha
and in the five faculties,
I bear in mind the entire Discipline,
the whole of it a mine of gems.
And the Teacher, unsurpassed in the world,
having known my quality,
seated amid the Saṅgha of bhikkhus,
placed me in the foremost position.
The four analytic insights (paṭisambhidā),
and also these eight liberations (vimokkha),
and the six superknowledges (chaḷabhiññā) have been realized;
the Buddha's teaching has been done.
Thus indeed the Venerable Elder Upāli spoke these verses.
The Apadāna of the Elder Upāli is concluded.
The Second: the Apadāna of the Elder Soṇakoṭiyavessa (42)
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.