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The Victor named Padumuttara, who had gone beyond all dhammas, the Leader, arose a hundred thousand aeons (kappa) ago from now.
Then I was born in a certain family in Haṃsavatī; having approached that best of men, I went to him for refuge.
And I heard his Dhamma, bound up with the four truths — sweet, of supreme savor, bringing the happiness of peace of mind (citta).
Then too the Steadfast One, supreme among men, while placing in the foremost position (etadagga) a bhikkhunī who wore coarse robes, spoke her praise.
Hearing that bhikkhunī's virtue, I engendered no small rapture (pīti); having rendered service to the Buddha according to my ability and according to my strength,
and having prostrated before that steadfast Sage, I aspired to that position. Then the Fully Awakened One, the Leader, gave his joyful approval for the gaining of that position:
"A hundred thousand aeons from now, arising in the family of Okkāka, there will be in the world a Teacher, Gotama by name.
An heir in his dhammas, a true-born offspring fashioned by the Dhamma, Kisāgotamī by name, she will be a disciple of the Teacher."
Hearing that, I was gladdened, and then, for as long as I lived, with a mind of loving-kindness (mettā) I attended upon the Victor, the Guide, with the requisites (paccaya).
By those well-done deeds and by my volition and aspiration, on abandoning the human body I went to Tāvatiṃsa.
In this auspicious aeon there arose Kassapa by name, kinsman of brahmins, of great fame, the best of speakers.
The attendant of that Great Seer at that time was the lord of men, the king of Kāsi, Kikī by name, in Bārāṇasī, best of cities.
I was his fifth daughter, renowned by the name of Dhammā; having heard the Dhamma of the supreme Victor, I set my heart upon the going forth.
Our father did not give us leave; so then, right at home, unwearied, we fared for twenty thousand years in the maidens' holy life (brahmacariya) —
seven daughters, princesses settled in comfort, delighting in attendance upon the Buddha, rejoicing:
Samaṇī and Samaṇaguttā, Bhikkhunī and Bhikkhudāsikā, Dhammā and Sudhammā, and Saṅghadāsikā the seventh.
[We are now] Khemā and Uppalavaṇṇā, Paṭācārā and Kuṇḍalā, myself and Dhammadinnā, and Visākhā is the seventh.
By those well-done deeds and by my volition and aspiration, on abandoning the human body I went to Tāvatiṃsa.
And now, in my last existence, I was born in a merchant's family — fallen on hardship, wealthless, low — and went in marriage to a family possessed of wealth.
Setting my husband aside, the rest looked upon me as "a pauper"; but when I had given birth, then I was cherished by them all.
When that tender son of mine, a little boy settled in comfort, dear to me as my very life, went then under the sway of Yama —
racked with sorrow, downcast of face, tear-eyed, my countenance awash with weeping, carrying the dead corpse, lamenting, I went about.
Then, directed by a certain man, I approached the supreme physician and said: "Sir, give me medicine that will revive my son!"
"In whatever house no dead are found, bring white mustard seed from there," said the Victor, skilled in the means of guidance.
Then, going through Sāvatthī, I found no such house — whence, then, the mustard seed? — and so from that I regained mindfulness (sati).
Casting the corpse away, I approached the Leader of the World; and seeing me from afar, the sweet-voiced One said:
"Though one should live a hundred years not seeing rise and fall, better is a single day of life for one who sees rise and fall.
This is not a dhamma of the village, not a dhamma of the market town, nor is this a dhamma of one family alone; of all the world together with its devas, this alone is the dhamma — namely, impermanence (aniccatā)."
When I had heard these verses, I purified the eye of Dhamma (dhammacakkhu); then, having understood the true Dhamma (saddhamma), I went forth into homelessness.
So too, having gone forth, applying myself in the Victor's dispensation, before long I attained arahantship.
I have mastery in the psychic powers (iddhi) and in the divine ear element; I know the minds of others — I am one who has carried out the Teacher's dispensation.
I know my former abodes; the divine eye has been purified; having exhausted all taints (āsava), I am purified, thoroughly stainless.
The Teacher has been served by me; the Buddha's dispensation has been carried out. The heavy burden has been laid down; the conduit to existence (bhavanetti) has been uprooted.
The goal for whose sake I went forth from home into homelessness — that goal has been attained by me: the destruction of all fetters (saṃyojana).
In meaning, in dhamma, and in language, and likewise in perspicuity (paṭibhāna), my knowledge (ñāṇa) is vast and pure, through the power of the supreme Buddha.
Bringing rags from rubbish heaps, from the charnel ground, and from the streets as well, and making an outer robe (saṅghāṭi) from them, I wore a coarse robe.
The Victor, pleased at that virtue — the wearing of coarse robes — the Guide placed me in the foremost position among the assemblies.
My defilements (kilesa) have been burned up; all existences have been uprooted; like a she-elephant that has burst her bonds, I dwell without taints.
Welcome indeed has it been for me in the presence of the supreme Buddha! The three true knowledges (vijjā) have been attained; the Buddha's dispensation has been carried out.
The four analytical knowledges (paṭisambhidā) and also these eight liberations (vimokkha), the six superknowledges (chaḷabhiññā) have been realized; the Buddha's dispensation has been carried out.
Thus indeed did the bhikkhunī Kisāgotamī utter these verses.
The Apadāna of Kisāgotamī Therī is concluded.
Third: the Apadāna of Dhammadinnā Therī (23)
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.