[13]
Not far from the Himavant there is a mountain named Kasika;¹
there my hermitage was well made, my hall of leaves well built.
Nārada I was by name; as Kassapa did they know me.
Seeking the path to purity, I dwelt at that time on Kasika.
The Victor (Jina) named Padumuttara, gone beyond all dhammas,
the Fully Awakened One, desiring seclusion, came by the pathway of the wind.
Seeing the radiance of the Great Seer as he passed above the forest canopy,
I set out a wooden couch and spread upon it a hide.
Having set out the seat, and raising my joined palms to my head,
I made known my gladness and spoke these words:
"You, O wise one, are the surgeon, the healer of the afflicted;
grant treatment, O Leader, to me who am overcome by lust.²
Those seeking merit³ who behold you, O Sage, best of Buddhas,
attain the accomplishment of the lasting goal; theirs would be the ageless.
I have nothing fit to give⁴ you, for I feed on fruit that falls of itself;
but I have this seat of mine: be seated on the wooden couch."
The Blessed One sat down there, unalarmed as a maned lion;
and when a moment had passed, he spoke these words:
"Be at ease; do not fear: you have gained the luminous gem (jotirasa);
all that you have wished for, the seat will bring to fulfilment.⁵
Not small⁶ is merit well wrought in the unsurpassed field of merit (puññakkhetta):
he whose mind is well directed⁷ is able to lift himself up.
Through this gift of a seat, and through the aspirations of his intent,
for a hundred thousand aeons he will not go to the downfall (vinipāta).
Fifty times, as lord of the devas, he will exercise celestial rulership;
and eighty times he will be a king, a wheel-turning monarch (cakkavatti).
Extensive regional kingship will be his, incalculable by reckoning;
happy in every state, he will fare on through the round of rebirth."
Having spoken thus, the Fully Awakened One — he who is named for the foremost of water-born blossoms —
rose, the wise one, into the sky, like the royal swan in the air.
Elephant carriages, horse carriages, chariots and litters —
all of this do I obtain: this is the fruit of a single seat.
When, having entered the woodland, I wish for a seat,
a couch, discerning my intention, stands ready for me.
When, being in the midst of the waters, I wish for a seat,
a couch, discerning my intention, stands ready for me.
In whatever womb I am reborn, whether divine or human,
a hundred thousand couches surround me at all times.
I wander in but two states of existence, the divine and the human;
and I am born in but two families, the khattiya and the brahmin.
Having given a single seat in the unsurpassed field of merit,
having come to know the couch of the Dhamma, I dwell free of taints (āsava).
In the hundred-thousandth aeon from now it was that I gave that gift:
I know of no bad destination (duggati) — this is the fruit of a single seat.
My defilements (kilesa) have been burned away; all states of existence have been uprooted;
like a great elephant that has sundered its bonds, I dwell free of 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 analytic insights (paṭisambhidā), and these eight liberations (vimokkha),
and the six superknowledges (chaḷabhiññā) have been realized; the Buddha's teaching has been done.
Thus indeed the Venerable Ekāsanadāyaka the Elder spoke these verses.
The Apadāna of Ekāsanadāyaka the Elder is concluded.
Fourth: the Apadāna of Sattakadambapupphiya the Elder (424).
—
Variant readings noted in the Siam edition (Ma. = Marammaraṭṭha/Burmese edition; Yu. = Yuropa/European edition):
¹ Kasika] Ma. "Gosita"; Yu. "Kosika."
² rāgaparetassa ("overcome by lust")] Ma., Yu. "rogaparetassa" ("overcome by disease").
³ puññatthikā ("those seeking merit")] Ma., Yu. "kallatthikā."
⁴ na me deyyaṃ] Ma. "deyyadhammo atthi."
⁵ paripūressat' āsanaṃ ("the seat will bring to fulfilment")] Ma., Yu. "paripūrissati anāgate" ("will be fulfilled in time to come").
⁶ na thokaṃ sukataṃ puññaṃ] Ma. "na moghaṃ taṃ kataṃ tuyhaṃ" ("not vain is what you have done"); Yu. "na thokaṃ taṃ kataṃ tuyhaṃ."
⁷ sunīhitaṃ ("well directed")] Ma., Yu. "paṇīhitaṃ."
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.