[124]
The Victor (jina) named Padumuttara, sage (muni) and knower of all the world,
the One with Vision (cakkhumā), arose a hundred thousand aeons (kappa) ago.
An admonisher, an instructor, a deliverer of all living beings,
the Buddha, skilled in teaching, brought a great multitude across.
Sympathetic, compassionate, seeking the welfare of all living beings,
he established all the sectarians (titthiya) who came before him in the five precepts (pañcasīla).
Thus was [the dispensation (sāsana)] free of disorder, empty of sectarians,
and adorned with arahants (arahanta) — masters of themselves, stable ones.
That Great Sage towered fifty-eight cubits (ratana) high,
resembling a golden votive column (kañcanagghiya), bearing the thirty-two excellent marks.
The life-span at that time extended to a hundred thousand years;
remaining so long, he brought a great multitude across.
Then I was a wealthy merchant's son of great renown in Haṃsavatī;
approaching the Lamp of the World, I listened to his teaching of the Dhamma.
When I heard the word of him extolling his own disciple,
the assigner of lodgings for the bhikkhus, I rejoiced.
Having done an act of service (adhikāra) to that Great Seer together with the Saṅgha,
bowing with my head at his feet, I aspired to that position.
Then indeed that Great Hero proclaimed my deed (kamma):
"He who for seven days has fed the Leader of the World together with the Saṅgha —
this one, with eyes like lotus petals, lion-shouldered, golden-skinned,
has fallen at the soles of my feet, aspiring to the highest position.
A hundred thousand aeons hence, sprung from the Okkāka line,
there shall be a Teacher in the world, Gotama by name.
A disciple of that Buddha, renowned by the name of Dabba,
this one shall likewise then be foremost among assigners of lodgings."
By that deed well done, and by intention and resolve,
on abandoning the human body I went to Tāvatiṃsa.
Three hundred times I exercised kingship over the devas,
and five hundred times I was a wheel-turning monarch (cakkavatti).
[I held] extensive regional kingship, incalculable by count;
everywhere I was happy — by the impetus of that kamma.
Ninety-one aeons ago there arose the Leader named Vipassī,
lovely-eyed, seeing into all dhammas.
With a corrupted mind (citta) I reviled a disciple of that Stable One,
one in whom all taints (āsava) were destroyed, though knowing well, "He is pure."
Yet taking a food-ticket (salākā), I gave milk-rice
to the disciples, great seers, of that same Hero among Men.
In this auspicious aeon arose the Kinsman of Brahmā, of great renown,
Kassapa by name, the best of speakers.
Having made the dispensation shine and overcome the base sectarians,
having trained those fit for training, he attained final Nibbāna (nibbuta) together with his disciples.
When the Protector with his pupils had attained final Nibbāna, as the dispensation was sinking to its setting,
the devas, stirred with agitation, wailed, hair dishevelled, faces streaming with tears:
"The Eye of the Dhamma will be extinguished; we shall not see those of good vows,
nor shall we hear the true Dhamma (saddhamma) — alas for our scantness of merit!"
Then this whole earth, though immovable, heaved and quaked (pulāpulī),
and the ocean, as if stricken with sorrow, roared out a piteous cry.
In the four quarters beings not human made the drums resound,
and all around fell thunderbolts, bringers of terror.
Meteors fell from the sky, and a comet appeared;
whirls of flame wreathed in smoke arose, and the beasts cried out piteously.
Seeing those dreadful portents, betokening the setting of the dispensation,
we seven bhikkhus, stirred with urgency, then took counsel:
"Bereft of the dispensation, life is of no use to us;
let us enter the great forest and devote ourselves to the Victor's teaching."
Then in the forest we saw a towering mountain of rock;
climbing it by a ladder, we cast the ladder down.
Then the Elder admonished us: "The arising of a Buddha is exceedingly hard to gain;
faith, hard to gain, has been gained;
and but little of the dispensation remains.
Those who let the moment pass fall into the boundless ocean of suffering (dukkha);
therefore exertion must be made so long as the dispensation stands."
That Elder was an arahant; the one who followed him, a non-returner (anāgāmī);
the rest of us, of good virtue and devoted [to striving], went to the deva-world.
He who had crossed saṃsāra was fully quenched, and one [arose] alone in the Pure Abodes (Suddhāvāsa);
and I, and Pukkusāti, and Sabhiya, and Bāhiya likewise,
and Kumārakassapa too — reborn here and there,
we were released from the bondage of saṃsāra, shown compassion by Gotama.
Among the Mallas, at Kusinārā, I took birth: while I was yet in the womb,
my mother died and was raised upon the pyre,
and from it I fell.
Fallen upon a heap of dabba grass, I was thence renowned as "Dabba";
through the fruit of the holy life (brahmacariya), I was liberated at seven years of age.
Through the fruit of the milk-rice, I came to be endowed with the five factors;
through having reviled one whose taints were destroyed, I was accused many times by the wicked.
Both merit and evil I have now passed beyond;
having attained the supreme peace, I dwell without taints.
I assigned the lodgings, gladdening those of good vows;
the Victor, pleased with that quality, set me in the foremost place (etadagga).
My defilements (kilesa) have been burned away; all existences are utterly uprooted;
like an elephant that has burst its bonds, I dwell without 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 analytical knowledges (paṭisambhidā), and these eight liberations (vimokkha) as well,
and the six superknowledges (chaḷabhiññā) have been realized; the Buddha's teaching has been done.
It was thus that the Venerable Elder Dabbamallaputta spoke these verses.
The Apadāna of the Elder Dabbamallaputta is concluded.
Fifth: the Apadāna of the Elder Kumārakassapa (535).
[Apparatus of the Siam edition (ม. = Burmese edition; ยุ. = European edition): for "tadā hi" ยุ. tadāhaṃ sa; for "nipati" ยุ. patito; for "patthayaṃ" ยุ. patthayi; for "tathā" (hessatiyaṃ) ม. ยุ. tadā; for "tathā" (pañcasatakkhattuṃ) ม. ยุ. satānaṃ; for "cārunayano" ม. cārudassano; for "jotayitvāna" ยุ. …so; for "acalā sā pulāpulī" ม. ยุ. calācalā; for "patiṃsu" ม. phaliṃsu; for "padissatha" ม. ยุ. …ca dissati; for "sadhūmā (jālavaṭṭā ca)" ยุ. sabbathalajasattā ca; for "vināmhākaṃ" ยุ. vinā sammā; for "selapabbataṃ" ม. selamuttamaṃ; for "saddhā" ม. saddhāti; for "vā" ยุ. vo; for "yāva tiṭṭhati sāsanaṃ" ม. ยุ. yāva ṭhāti mune mataṃ; for "mātā" ยุ. pitā; for "citakārūḷhā" ม. ยุ. citāruḷhā.]
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.