[69] At that time I was born as a bird, a supaṇṇa, overlord of the garuḷas;
I saw the stainless Buddha going to Gandhamādana.
Abandoning the garuḷa form, I took upon myself the state of a young man (māṇava);¹
a single cloth was given by me to the Lord of the Two-Footed, the Steadfast One (tādī).
And accepting that cloth, the Buddha, foremost leader of the world,
the Teacher, standing in the sky, spoke these verses:
"By this gift of cloth and by the resolves of his mind (citta),
having abandoned birth as a garuḷa, he shall delight in the world of the devas (devaloka)."
Then the Blessed One Atthadassī, Eldest of the World, Bull of Men,
having praised the gift of cloth, departed facing north.
Whenever I am reborn in existence, I have abundance of cloth;
a canopy appears in the sky — this is the fruit of the gift of cloth.
Seven persons named Aruṇasa,² wheel-turning monarchs of great might,
were lords of men in the thirty-sixth aeon.
The four analytic insights (paṭisambhidā), and also these eight liberations (vimokkha),
the six superknowledges (chaḷabhiññā) have been realized; the Buddha's teaching has been done.
Thus indeed the Venerable Vatthadāyaka the Elder spoke these verses.
The Apadāna of the Elder Vatthadāyaka is concluded.
¹ Po., Yu.: māṇavattaṃ adhārayiṃ; M.: māṇavakaṃ adhārayiṃ. ² M.: Aruṇavā; Yu.: Aruṇakā.
The Eighth: The Apadāna of the Elder Ambadāyaka (68)
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.