[134]
A hundred thousand aeons (kappa) ago there arose the Leader,
the Victor (jina) named Padumuttara, possessed of the eye for all dhammas.
As the waves upon the sea, as the stars across the sky,
so was his dispensation (pāvacana) adorned with arahants.
Revered by humans together with devas, asuras, and nāgas,
in the midst of the multitude thronged with ascetics and brahmins, the supreme Victor —
the Victor gone to the end of the world, gladdening [beings] in the world with his rays,
awakening with his word the lotuses that are the beings ripe for guidance —
endowed with the four grounds of self-confidence (vesārajja), supreme among men,
having abandoned fear and timidity, attained to security, assured —
the foremost of the world claims the lofty station of the leader-bull
and the entire plane of Buddhahood; nowhere is there any who can challenge him.
While he, the Such One (tādī), roars the undaunted lion's roar,
there is found no deva, human, or brahmā able to roar back against him.
Teaching the sublime Dhamma, ferrying across the world with its devas,
he sets rolling the Wheel of Dhamma, assured amid the assemblies.
Having proclaimed the many qualities of the disciple esteemed as excellent,
the foremost of those endowed with inspired eloquence (paṭibhāṇa), he established him in that foremost place (etadagga).
At that time I was a brahmin of Haṃsavatī, esteemed as excellent,
become a knower of all the Vedas — Vaṅgīsa, vanquisher of disputants.
Having approached that Great Hero and heard that teaching of Dhamma,
I gained sublime rapture (pīti), delighting in the qualities of that disciple.
Having invited the Sugata, the delight of the world, together with his Saṅgha,
having fed them for seven days, I then clothed them in cloths.
Prostrating with my head at his feet, granted the opportunity, with hands joined in reverence,
standing to one side, elated, I extolled the supreme Victor:
"Homage to you, vanquisher of disputants! Homage to you, best of seers!
Homage to you, foremost of all the world! Homage to you, maker of fearlessness!
Homage to you, crusher of Māra! Homage to you, destroyer of views!
Homage to you, giver of the happiness of peace! Homage to you, maker of refuge!
You are the protector of the unprotected, the granter of fearlessness to the frightened,
the trusted intimate of those settled on the plane of calm, the refuge of those who seek refuge."
Having praised with these [verses] and others the Sambuddha of great excellence,
I declared: "May I attain the destiny of the bhikkhu heroic in debate."
Then the Blessed One, possessed of boundless inspired eloquence, said:
"He who, full of confidence, with his own hands fed the Buddha together with his disciples for seven days,
and who extolled my qualities —
this one aspires to the station of the bhikkhu heroic in debate.
In the time to come you shall obtain that heart's desire:
having enjoyed success among devas and humans in no small measure,
a hundred thousand aeons from now, sprung from the family of Okkāka,
the Teacher named Gotama by name shall arise in the world.
An heir in his Dhamma, a true-born son fashioned by the Dhamma,
Vaṅgīsa by name, he shall be a disciple of the Teacher."
Hearing that, gladdened, with a mind of loving-kindness (mettā),
I then attended upon the Victor, the Tathāgata, with requisites (paccaya) for as long as life lasted.
Through that well-performed deed and through [my] volitions (cetanā) and resolves,
on discarding the human body I went to Tāvatiṃsa.
And now, in the final existence, I [was born] into a family of wanderers;
when, born in this last life, I was seven years from birth,
I became a knower of all the Vedas, assured in the science of debate,
sweet-voiced, a brilliant speaker, a crusher of the doctrines of others.
"Born in Vaṅga" — hence Vaṅgīsa; or else "master of speech":
thus my name "Vaṅgīsa," foremost though it be, was a designation agreed upon by the world.
When I had reached the years of discretion and stood in the first flush of youth,
then in delightful Rājagaha I saw Sāriputta.
The Twenty-fifth Recitation Section (bhāṇavāra).
[I saw him] walking for alms, bowl in hand, well restrained,
his eyes unwandering, measured in speech, gazing but a plough's length ahead.
Seeing him, I was struck with wonder, and I uttered — [though it was] unbefitting —
a brilliant verse-line, close-clustered like the kaṇikāra.
He told me of the Teacher, the Sambuddha, the Leader of the World;
then that wise and steadfast one gave me his reply.
When that Such One had framed an utterance conjoined with dispassion, hard to see, supreme,
I was won over by him with his manifold flashes of eloquence;
prostrating with my head at his feet, I said, "Give me the going forth (pabbajjā)!"
Then he of great wisdom led me to the most excellent Buddha.
Prostrating with my head at his feet, I sat down in the Teacher's presence.
The best of speakers said to me: "Is it true, Vaṅgīsa, that
the skull of one who has died is known to you — discerned as bound for a happy or a woeful destination —
through your special science? If you are able, declare it."
When I had assented "Yes," he showed three skulls;
and I declared them [skulls of persons] reborn in hell (niraya) and among the devas.
Then the Leader showed the very skull of one whose taints (āsava) were destroyed;
thereupon, my endeavor confounded, I begged for the going forth.
Having gone forth, I praised the Sugata here and there;
and so the bhikkhus murmured against me: "A poet-minded one!"
Then, in order to test me, the Buddha, the Guide, said:
"Do these verses come of prior reasoning, or do they occur to you on the spot?"
"I am no contriver of poems, O Hero: they occur to me on the spot."
"Well then, Vaṅgīsa, extol me now on the spot."
Then with verses I extolled the Steadfast One, the best of seers;
and the Victor, pleased then with that extempore [praise], set me in the foremost place.
Because of my brilliant inspired eloquence I looked down upon others;
amiable [by nature], I was stirred with urgency (saṃvega) at that, and attained arahantship (arahatta).
"Foremost of those endowed with inspired eloquence — there is found no other
such as this bhikkhu Vaṅgīsa: thus, bhikkhus, should you bear it in mind."
The deed done a hundred thousand [aeons ago] has shown me its fruit here:
well released, like the flight of an arrow, my defilements (kilesa) have been burned away.
My defilements have been burned away; all existences have been utterly uprooted;
like an 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) as well,
and the six superknowledges (abhiññā) have been realized; the Buddha's teaching has been done.
Thus indeed did the Venerable Elder Vaṅgīsa utter these verses.
The Apadāna of the Elder Vaṅgīsa is concluded.
Fifth: The Apadāna of the Elder Nandaka (545).
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.