[167] A hundred thousand aeons from now there arose the Leader,
the Victor named Padumuttara, gone to the far shore of all dhammas.
At that time in Haṃsavatī there was a merchant (seṭṭhī), Videha by name,
abounding in treasures; I was his wife.
Once he, together with his retinue, approached the Sun among men
and heard the Dhamma of the Buddha, which brings the destruction of all suffering (dukkha).
The Leader extolled a disciple as foremost among the exponents of the ascetic practices (dhutavāda);
hearing this, he gave a seven-day gift to the Buddha, the steadfast one (tādī),
and, prostrating with his head at [the Master's] feet, he aspired to that station.
Then indeed the Bull among men, gladdening the assembly,
out of compassion for the merchant spoke these verses:
"You shall obtain the station you have longed for; be at peace (nibbuta), dear son.
A hundred thousand aeons from now, sprung from the family of Okkāka,
there shall be in the world a Teacher, Gotama by name.
Heir in his dhammas, a true-born son formed of the Dhamma,
Kassapa by name shall he be, a disciple of the Teacher."
Hearing that, he was gladdened, and then, for as long as life lasted,
with a mind of loving-kindness (mettā) he served the Victor, the Guide, with requisites.
Having made the dispensation shine, having crushed the base sectarians,
and having trained those fit to be trained, he, together with his disciples, attained final Nibbāna (nibbuta).
When that Foremost of the World had been quenched, in order to worship the Teacher
he gathered his kinsmen and friends and, together with them, had built
a stūpa made of gems, seven yojanas in height,
blazing like the hundred-rayed sun, like a royal sāla tree in full bloom.
Seven hundred thousand jars I had made,
glowing like reed-fires with nothing but the seven gems;
filling them with scented oils, I kindled lamps therein,
for the worship of the Great Seer, compassionate to all beings.
Seven hundred thousand brimming pots I had made,
filled with nothing but gems, for the worship of the Great Seer.
Amid every eight pots stood raised ornaments of gold (agghiya),
outshining with their colour the sun in autumn.
At the four gates shine arches (toraṇa) made of gems;
raised platforms, delightful, made of gems, shine there.
The encircling moats gleam, and the well-fashioned garlands;
banners raised aloft, made of gems, shine forth.
And this shrine (cetiya) made of gems, well wrought, glowing red,
outshines all with its colour, like the sun conjoined with silver.
Three sides of my stūpa I filled:
one with orpiment, one with realgar, and one with black collyrium.
Having had such delightful worship performed for the Speaker of the excellent [Dhamma],
I gave gifts to the Saṅgha, according to my strength, for as long as life lasted.
Together with that merchant, having performed those merits in every way
for as long as life lasted, I went with him to a happy destination (sugati).
Having experienced attainments in the state of devas and then among humans,
I transmigrated together with him alone, like a shadow with the body.
Ninety-one aeons from now there arose the Leader named Vipassī,
lovely-eyed, clear-seer of all dhammas.
At that time in Bandhumatī there was a brahmin esteemed as good,
who was rich in virtue but in wealth very poor.
Then too I was his brahmin wife, one in heart with him.
Once that best of the twice-born met the Great Sage;
seated amid the crowd of people, he was teaching the deathless (amata) state.
Having heard the Dhamma, overjoyed, he gave his single cloth.
Having gone home with but one garment, he said this to me:
"Rejoice, O you of great merit! The cloth has been given to the Buddha."
Then, raising my joined palms, knowing it well, I rejoiced:
"Well given, husband, is the cloth to the best of Buddhas, the steadfast one."
Happy and prosperous, transmigrating through existence upon existence,
he became a king, lord of the earth, in the delightful city of Bārāṇasī.
Then I was his chief queen, highest of the throng of women;
I was his beloved companion, dearer still through affection of old.
Seeing eight Pacceka-leaders walking for alms,
he was overjoyed and gave almsfood of great worth;
and having invited those Buddhas, he made a pavilion of gems,
wrought to a polish by smiths, golden, a hundred cubits in measure.
Bringing them all together, when they had entered that lodging,
confident, he gave the gift to them with his own hands.
That gift too I gave jointly with the king of Kāsi at that time.
Then again I was born at Bārāṇasī, in a village of the Kāsis.
He, together with his brother, [was born] happy in a prosperous householder family;
I became the wife of the elder brother, devoted to my husband.
Seeing a Paccekabuddha, my husband's younger brother
gave him his brother's meal, and when [my husband] came, he told him.
He did not rejoice at that gift. Then I gave [food] to him,
and he brought that food and gave it once again to that very one.
Having thrown that gift away, angered, I then gave to the Buddha —
to him, the steadfast one — a bowl filled full of mud.
Seeing that countenance even-minded alike in giving and in receiving,
in disrespect and in injury, I was then deeply stirred.
Taking the bowl back again and cleansing it with fragrant [water],
with a confident mind I filled it with ghee and sugar and gave it.
Wherever I am reborn, I am fair of form because of the gift,
but foul of odour through the offence against the Buddha and through my insolence.
When the shrine of Kassapa the Wise was brought to completion,
rejoicing, I gave an excellent brick of gold;
having steeped that brick in perfume of the four ingredients,
I was freed from the fault of foul odour, well formed in every limb.
Seven thousand bowls I had made with the seven gems,
filled with ghee, and wicks by the thousand;
setting them in and lighting them, I placed them in seven rows,
for the worship of the Lord of the World, with a mind full of confidence.
Then too I had a special share in that merit.
Again he was born among the Kāsis, renowned as Sumitta;
I was his wife, happy, cherished, and dear.
Then he gave to a pacceka-sage a thick head-wrapping;
of that too I had a share, rejoicing in that supreme gift.
Again he was born in the realm of Kāsi, of Koliya birth;
then, together with five hundred sons of the Koliyas,
he attended upon five hundred Paccekabuddhas;
having lodged them for the three months [of the rains], he gave the triple robe as well.
I was then his wife, following the path of meritorious deed.
Passed away thence, he became a king named Nanda, of great fame;
I was his chief queen too, abounding in every pleasure.
Passed away thence, he became Brahmadatta, lord of the earth.
Then the pacceka-sages, the sons of Padumāvatī,
five hundred without lack, I attended upon for as long as life lasted;
having lodged them in the royal park, I worshipped them also when they were quenched.
And having had shrines (cetiya) built, we both went forth;
having developed the boundless states (appamaññā), we went to the Brahmā world.
Passed away thence, he was well born at Mahātittha as Pipphalāyana;
his mother was Sumanadevī, his father a twice-born of the Kosiya clan.
I, in the Madda country, in Sākala, best of cities,
was the daughter of the twice-born Kapila; my mother was Sucīmatī.
Having fashioned a likeness of me in an image of solid gold, my father
gave me to Kassapa the wise, though he had forsworn sensual pleasures.
Once that young man, having gone out to inspect the work [of the fields],
saw creatures being devoured by crows and other birds, and was stirred;
and I, at home, seeing — when the sesame was spread to parch in the sun —
the worms being devoured by crows, then gained a sense of urgency (saṃvega).
Then that wise man went forth, and I went forth after him;
for five years I dwelt in the way of the wanderers.
When Gotamī, the fosterer of the Victor, had gone forth,
then I approached her, and was instructed by the Buddha.
In no long time I attained arahantship.
Oh, the good friendship (kalyāṇamittatā) of Kassapa the glorious!
Kassapa, son and heir of the Buddha, well concentrated,
has known his former abodes (pubbenivāsa), and sees heaven and the states of woe (apāya);
moreover, he has reached the destruction of birth, a sage consummate in superknowledge (abhiññā):
by these three true knowledges (vijjā) he is a brahmin of the threefold knowledge (tevijja).
Just so has Bhaddā Kāpilānī, of the threefold knowledge, who has left death behind,
borne her final body, having conquered Māra together with his mount.
Having seen the peril (ādīnava) in the world, we both went forth;
we are tamed, with taints (āsava) destroyed; we have become cool, quenched.
My defilements (kilesa) have been burnt up; all existences have been extirpated;
like a she-elephant that has burst her bond, I dwell without taints.
Welcome indeed was my coming into the presence of the best of Buddhas;
the three true knowledges have been attained; the Buddha's teaching has been done.
The four analytic insights (paṭisambhidā) and these eight liberations (vimokkha)
and the six superknowledges have been realized; the Buddha's teaching has been done.
Thus indeed did the bhikkhunī Bhaddā Kāpilānī utter these verses.
The Apadāna of the Therī Bhaddā Kāpilānī is concluded.
Eighth: the Apadāna of the Therī Yasodharā (28)
[1]
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.