[138]
In this fortunate aeon
there arose the Kinsman of Brahmā (brahmabandhu),
of great fame, Kassapa by name,
the best of speakers.
Then I and Candana,
having gone forth in the teaching (sāsana),
having fulfilled our task in the teaching
to the very end of breath (āpāṇakoṭi) [i.e., for life],
passing away from there, we both
arose in Santusita [the Tusita heaven];
there, with divine dances,
with songs and instrumental music,
and with the ten qualities beginning with form (rūpa),
having outshone the rest,
we dwelt there the full span of life,
enjoying great happiness.
Falling from there, Candana
arose among the Thirty (Tidasa),
while I was born at Kapilavatthu,
a scion of the Sakyans.
When the Leader of the World,
entreated by the Elder Udāyi,
out of compassion for the Sakyans,
came to [the city] called Kapila,
then the Sakyans, exceedingly conceited,
not knowing the Buddha's virtues,
stiff with pride of birth, disrespectful,
would not bow down to the Fully Awakened One.
Knowing their thoughts,
the Victor paced back and forth in the sky;
he rained down as [the rain-god] Pajjunna,
he blazed as does a fire.
Having displayed a form beyond compare,
he vanished once again;
having been one, he became manifold,
and then was one once more.
Having shown darkness and light
in many ways,
having wrought marvels,
the Sage tamed his kinsmen.
At that very instant a great cloud
[spanning] the four continents poured down rain,
for then it was that the Buddha
taught the Vessantara Jātaka.
Then all those khattiyas (nobles),
having struck down the intoxication born of birth,
went to the Buddha as their refuge;
and then Suddhodana declared:
"This is the third time, O you of vast wisdom,
that I bow at your feet, O All-Seeing One:
[I bowed] when, at your birth, the earth trembled,
and when the jambu tree's shadow would not forsake you."
Then, having seen that majestic power of the Buddha,
astonished in mind,
I went forth and dwelt right there,
honoring my mother.
Candana, the young deva (devaputta),
approached me and asked then
about the method, in brief and in detail,
of the one of a fortunate night (bhaddekaratta).
Urged by him then,
I went to the Leader of Men;
having heard the Bhaddekaratta [discourse],
stirred with urgency (saṃvigga), holding the forest dear,
I then asked leave of my mother:
"I shall dwell in the forest alone."
"You are delicately bred!" — my mother
held me back; then I spoke this word to her:
"All the kusa grass and poṭakila,
the usīra, the muñja and pabbaja grass,
I shall thrust aside with my chest,
fostering seclusion (viveka)."
Then, having entered the forest,
recollecting the Victor's teaching —
the exhortation on the fortunate night —
I attained arahantship (arahatta):
"One should not run back to the past,
nor yearn after the future;
what is past has been abandoned,
and the future has not been reached.
Whoever sees with insight
each presently arisen state (dhamma) right where it arises —
invincible, unshakable —
having understood it, let him cultivate that.
Today itself the effort must be made;
who knows? — death (maraṇa) may come tomorrow.
For there is no bargaining for us
with Death and his great army.
One who dwells thus, ardent (ātāpī),
untiring by day and by night —
it is he, the Peaceful Sage declares,
who has the single fortunate night."
My defilements (kilesa) have been burned away;
all existences (bhava) have been extirpated;
like an elephant that has burst 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 fulfilled.
The four analytic insights (paṭisambhidā)
and also these eight liberations (vimokkha),
the six superknowledges (chaḷabhiññā) have been realized;
the Buddha's teaching has been fulfilled.
It was thus, indeed, that the Venerable Elder Lomasatiya spoke these verses.
The Apadāna of the Elder Lomasatiya is concluded.
The Ninth: the Apadāna of the Elder Vanavaccha (549).
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.