[121] **The Apadāna of the Elder Mahākaccāyana**
The Victor (jina) named Padumuttara — free from craving (aneja), conqueror of the unconquered — arose as Leader a hundred thousand aeons from now.
A hero, his eyes like lotus petals, his face stainless as the moon, his skin gleaming like gold, his radiance equal to the brilliance of the sun;
captivating the eyes and minds of beings, adorned with the excellent marks, passed beyond every pathway of speech, honored by men and immortals;
the Fully Awakened One, awakening beings, [swift] as the wind, sweet of voice, his heart's continuum bound fast with compassion, confident amid the assemblies —
he teaches the sweet Dhamma connected with the four truths; he lifts up living beings sunk in the mire of delusion (moha).
At that time I was an ascetic (tāpasa) faring alone, my abode the Himavant; going through the sky toward the human world, I beheld the Victor.
Having approached his presence, I listened to the Dhamma teaching of that wise one as he extolled a disciple's great virtue:
"Making plain in detail what I have spoken in brief, he gladdens the assembly and me — such is this Kaccāyana;
I do not see here any other single disciple who is thus; therefore in that respect he is the foremost. Thus, bhikkhus, should you bear it in mind."
Then I, filled with wonder at hearing that delightful utterance, went to the Himavant, and having fetched a heap of flowers,
I worshipped the Refuge of the World and aspired to that position. Then, knowing my disposition, he, the Abode of Refuge, made this declaration:
"Behold this excellent seer, his skin like smelted gold, his body-hair rising, his mind uplifted, standing motionless with joined palms;
joyful, his eyes brimming full, his disposition gone out to the Buddha's virtues, born of the Dhamma, lofty of heart, like one besprinkled with the deathless (amata).
Having heard Kaccāna's virtue, he stands aspiring to that position. In the age to come, of the great sage Gotama
he will be the heir in his teachings, a true-born son fashioned of the Dhamma; Kaccāna will be his name — a disciple of the Teacher.
Greatly learned, of great knowledge (ñāṇa), a sage who knows the [Teacher's] intent, he will attain that position, even as he has been declared by me."
A hundred thousand aeons from now, whatever deed I did then — [by that] I have known no bad destination: this is the fruit of worship of the Buddha.
I fare on in only two existences — divinity and humanity; I know no other destination: this is the fruit of worship of the Buddha.
I know only two families — the khattiyas and the brahmins; I am not born into a low family: this is the fruit of worship of the Buddha.
And in my final existence I was born in the delightful city of Ujjenī, in the line of the purohita of Pajjota the Fierce:
the son of Tipitivaccha — astute, gone to the far shore of the Vedas — and my mother was Candanapadumā; I was Kaccāna, of excellent skin.
Sent by the guardian of the earth to examine the Buddha, I saw the Leader — the gateway to the city of release, an accumulation of virtues —
and having heard his stainless utterance, which cleanses the mire of destinations, I attained the deathless, the peaceful, together with the seven others.
I became a knower of the intent within the Sugata's great thought, and I was established in the foremost position (etadagga), my heart's wish fully accomplished.
My defilements (kilesa) have been burned away; all existences have been extirpated; like an elephant that has sundered its bonds, I dwell free of taints (āsava).
Welcome indeed was it for me, my coming into my Buddha's presence! The three true knowledges (vijjā) have been attained; the Buddha's teaching has been fulfilled.
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 fulfilled.
Thus indeed did the Venerable Elder Mahākaccāyana speak these verses.
The Apadāna of the Elder Mahākaccāyana is concluded.
The Second: the Apadāna of the Elder Vakkali (532)
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.