[132]
The Victor (Jina) named Padumuttara,
possessed of vision into all dhammas,
arose as the Leader
a hundred thousand eons ago.
Lion-jawed, with the voice of Brahmā,
his utterance like the swan and the kettledrum,
his gait the stride of the bull elephant,
his radiance like the moon, the sun, and the rest;
of great wisdom, of great heroism,
a great meditator, of great destiny,
greatly compassionate, a protector,
destroyer of the great darkness.
At one time that Fully Awakened One,
foremost in the three worlds, the sage
who knew the minds of beings,
guiding many fit for guidance, taught the Dhamma.
Praising in the assembly one given to meditation—
delighting in jhāna, heroic,
calmed, unclouded—
the Victor gladdened the multitude.
At that time I was a brahmin in Haṃsavatī,
gone to the far shore of the Vedas;
having heard the Dhamma, gladdened,
I aspired to that position.
Then the Victor, the Guide,
declared in the midst of the Saṅgha:
"Be glad, brahmin:
you shall obtain this heart's desire.
A hundred thousand eons from now,
sprung from the family of Okkāka,
there will be in the world a Teacher
named Gotama by name.
An heir in his teachings,
a true-born son formed by the Dhamma,
Revata by name,
he will be a disciple of the Teacher."
Through that deed well done
and through intention and aspiration,
on abandoning the human body
I went to Tāvatiṃsa.
And now, in my final existence,
I was born in the city of the Koliyas,
in an eminent khattiya family,
successful, prosperous, of great wealth.
When the Buddha taught the Dhamma
at Kapilavatthu,
then, confident in the Sugata,
I went forth into homelessness.
Abundant were my doubts, here and there,
over what was allowable and unallowable;
the Buddha dispelled them all
by teaching the supreme Dhamma.
Thereupon, having crossed over saṃsāra,
I dwelt then delighting in the happiness of jhāna;
and then the Buddha, seeing me,
said this:
"Whatever doubts there are, about here or beyond,
within one's own experience or another's,
those who meditate abandon them all,
ardent, living the holy life."
The deed done a hundred thousand eons ago
showed me its fruit right here:
loosed like an arrow in flight,
I burned up my defilements.
Then, seeing me delighting in jhāna,
the sage of great wisdom, gone to the end of the world,
declared me the foremost
of bhikkhus who are meditators.
My defilements have been burned up;
all existences have been extirpated;
like an elephant that has sundered its bonds,
I dwell without taints (āsava).
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 also these eight liberations (vimokkha),
the six direct knowledges (abhiññā) have been realized;
the Buddha's teaching has been done.
It was thus that the Venerable Elder Kaṅkhārevata spoke these verses.
The Apadāna of the Elder Kaṅkhārevata is concluded.
Third: The Apadāna of the Elder Sīvali (543)
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.