[9]
I was the first to see the Sambuddha Padumuttara,
the Eldest of the World, the Guide, who had attained the plane of Buddhahood (buddhabhūmi).
All the yakkhas, as many as there were, gathered at the root of the Bodhi tree;
encircling the Sambuddha, they paid homage with palms joined in reverence.
All the devas, glad at heart, coursed about in the sky:
"This Buddha has appeared, the dispeller of blinding darkness."
From them, transported with joy, a great shout rolled forth:
"We shall burn up the defilements (kilesa) in the teaching (sāsana) of the Fully Self-Enlightened One!"
Knowing the utterance of the devas, proclaimed aloud in speech,
delighted, with delighted mind (citta), I gave the first alms-food (ādibhikkhā).
Knowing my intention, the Teacher, unsurpassed in the world,
seated amid the host of devas, spoke these verses:
"Seven days after renouncing, I attained awakening (bodhi);
this first meal of mine is sustenance for one who lives the holy life (brahmacārī).
He who came here from Tusita and presented alms-food to me —
him I shall proclaim; listen while I speak.
For a full thirty thousand aeons (kappa) he will exercise kingship over the devas;
overpowering all the devas, he will dwell in heaven (tidiva).
Passing away from the deva world, he will go to the human state;
a thousand times a wheel-turning monarch (cakkavatti), he will exercise kingship there.
In a hundred thousand aeons, one arisen in the lineage of Okkāka,
Gotama by clan, will be the Teacher in the world.
Passing away from the Thirty (Tidasa), he will go to the human state;
having gone forth from home, he will dwell for six years.
Then, in the seventh year, the Buddha will declare the truth;
the one named Koṇḍañña will be the first to realize it."
[Edition's variant notes: 1. M., Yu.: "vācāsabhimudīritaṁ." 2. M.: "tiṁsakappasahassāni." 3. Yu.: "sahassaṁva."]
When he departed (in renunciation), I went forth after him; the striving (padhāna) was well performed by me;
in order to burn up the defilements, I went forth into homelessness.
Having attained (omniscience), the All-Knowing Buddha, in the world with its devas,
thereby beat for me the drum of the Deathless (amata) in the great forest.
Now I, that same one, have reached the Deathless, the peaceful, unsurpassed state;
having fully understood all the taints (āsava), I dwell free from taints.
The four analytical insights (paṭisambhidā), and also these eight liberations (vimokkha),
and the six superknowledges (chaḷabhiññā) have been realized; the Buddha's teaching has been fulfilled.
Thus indeed did the Venerable Aññākoṇḍañña the Elder utter these verses.
The Apadāna of the Elder Aññākoṇḍañña is concluded.
The Tenth: The Apadāna of the Elder Piṇḍolabhāradvāja (8)
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.