[165]
The Victor (jina) named Padumuttara,
gone to the far shore of all dhammas,
the Leader, arose
one hundred thousand aeons (kappa) ago.
An exhorter, an instructor,
a rescuer of all living beings,
the Buddha, skilled in teaching,
brought many people across.
Compassionate, merciful,
seeking the welfare of all living beings,
he established all the sectarians (titthiya) who had come to him
in the five precepts (pañcasīla).
Thus [his dispensation] was free of disorder,
empty of sectarians,
and made beautiful by arahants (arahanta),
masters of themselves, such steadfast ones (tādī).
That Great Sage rose
fifty-eight cubits (ratana) in height;
like a festooned pillar of gold,
he bore the thirty-two excellent marks.
The life-span then
extended a hundred thousand years;
remaining for just so long,
he brought many people across.
At that time I was born at Haṃsavatī
in the family of a wealthy merchant (seṭṭhi),
gleaming with all kinds of gems,
endowed with great happiness.
Approaching that Great Hero,
I heard the teaching of the Dhamma —
the deathless, of supreme sweetness,
making known the ultimate goal (paramattha).
Then, full of confidence, I invited
the Leader of the World together with the Saṅgha,
and gave to him a great offering
with my own hands.
Bowing my head before the Hero,
the Leader of the World together with the Saṅgha,
I aspired to the foremost place
among bhikkhunīs practised in jhāna.
Then the Tamer of the untamed,
the Refuge of the three worlds, the Lord,
splendid among men, declared:
"You shall obtain what you have so well aspired to.
One hundred thousand aeons from now
there shall arise in the world a Teacher,
Gotama by name,
sprung from the lineage of Okkāka.
An heir in his dhammas,
a true-born child fashioned by the Dhamma,
Nandā by name,
she shall be a disciple of the Teacher."
Hearing that, I rejoiced,
and then, for as long as life lasted,
with a mind (citta) of loving-kindness (mettā)
I served the Victor, the Guide, with requisites (paccaya).
By that deed (kamma) well done
and by my volition and aspirations,
on discarding the human body
I went to Tāvatiṃsa.
Passing away thence, I went to Yāma;
thence I went to Tusita;
thence to Nimmānarati;
[thence] I went to the city of Vasavattī.
Wherever I was reborn,
through the impetus of that kamma,
there in every place I exercised
the office of chief queen (mahesī) of kings.
Passing away thence, in the human state
I exercised the office of chief queen
of wheel-turning monarchs (cakkavatti)
and of regional kings.
Having enjoyed prosperity
among gods and among humans,
happy everywhere,
I wandered on through many aeons.
When the final existence arrived,
in the city called Kapila
I was the daughter of King Suddhodana,
a woman beyond reproach.
Seeing me with a form like radiance itself,
that family was filled with delight;
hence my name was "Nandā" —
lovely was I, and most excellent.
And among all the young women,
even in that delightful city,
I was renowned as "the beautiful one" (kalyāṇī) —
setting aside [only] Yasodharā.
My eldest brother was the foremost of the three worlds;
the younger likewise was an arahant.
I alone remained a householder,
and was admonished by my mother:
"Child, born in the Sakyan family,
you, the Buddha's younger sister —
deprived now even of Nanda,
what will you find in the house?
Youth ends in old age;
form is reckoned impure;
health, too, ends in sickness;
life terminates in death.
Even this fair form of yours,
lovely as the moon, ravishing,
an ornament to its very adornments,
seeming the trysting-place of splendor,
honored like the treasure of the world,
an elixir to the eyes,
begetting the fame of merits (puñña),
delight of the line of Okkāka —
before very long
old age will overwhelm it.
Abandon the house, which is blameworthy,
and practise the Dhamma, O blameless one!"
Hearing my mother's words,
I went forth into homelessness —
in body, but not in mind,
[still] enamored of my form and youth.
And with great endeavor my mother told me —
still musing as I was upon my own self —
to devote myself to jhāna and to study;
but I was not eager for it.
Then the Greatly Compassionate Victor,
seeing me, the lotus-faced one,
so that I might grow disenchanted with form,
within the pathway of my eyes,
by his own power
conjured up a woman,
beautiful, fair to behold, most radiant,
of lovelier form even than mine.
Amazed at the sight of her,
a being of body so exceedingly astonishing,
I thought: "Fruitful is this for me —
a gain indeed for these human eyes!"
To her [I said]: "Come, O lovely one;
tell me what you require;
tell me your family, your name and clan,
if it be dear to you."
"It is no time for questions, O lovely one;
lay me upon your lap.
My limbs are as if sinking;
let me sleep a little while."
Then, resting her head on my lap,
that most beautiful one slept;
upon her forehead there fell
a fierce and most dreadful [creature].
Together with its falling
a boil sprang up;
burst open, there oozed out
putrid discharges of pus and blood.
Split open, too, was her face,
stinking of rotting carrion;
bloated and turned livid
was the whole of her body.
She, trembling in every limb,
gasping again and again,
feeling her own suffering (dukkha),
lamented piteously:
"I am afflicted with pain,
experiencing [painful] feelings (vedanā);
I am sunk in great suffering:
be my refuge, O my friend!
Where is the beauty of your face?
Where your finely arched nose?
Where your lips, excellent as the ripe red bimba fruit?
Where has your countenance gone?
Where the complexion like the moon?
Where has the conch-like neck gone?
Your ears, like swaying garlands,
have come to discoloration.
Your breasts, formed like lotus buds,
like brimming water-jars,
are burst open — putrid carrion,
come to a loathsome stench.
You of altar-slim waist and ample hips —
like a shambles laden with its guilt,
you have become filled with filth:
ah, form is impermanent!
All that is engendered in the body,
foul-smelling, terrifying,
loathsome as a charnel ground —
this is what fools delight in."
Then the Greatly Compassionate One,
my brother, the Leader of the World,
seeing me with mind stirred by urgency (saṃvigga),
spoke these verses:
"See, Nandā, this composite frame,
ailing, foul, and putrid;
develop the mind upon foulness (asubha),
unified and well concentrated.
As this is, so is that;
as that is, so is this:
it exhales a foul and putrid stench,
yet it is the delight of fools.
Contemplating it thus,
untiring by day and by night,
then, by your own wisdom (paññā)
grown disenchanted, you will see."
Then, hearing those well-spoken verses,
I was deeply stirred;
and standing right there,
I attained arahantship (arahatta).
Wherever I sat,
I was thereafter given wholly to jhāna;
the Victor, pleased at that quality,
established me in that foremost place (etadagga).
My defilements (kilesa) have been burnt away;
all existences have been rooted out;
like a she-elephant that has burst her tether,
I dwell free of the taints (āsava).
Welcome indeed was it for me
in the presence of the Best of Buddhas!
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 did the bhikkhunī Nandā, Janapadakalyāṇī, speak these verses.
The Apadāna of Nandā Therī is concluded.
The Sixth: the Apadāna of Soṇā Therī (26)
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.