[174] The Victor (jina) named Padumuttara, gone to the far shore of all dhammas,
the Leader (nāyaka), arose in the aeon one hundred thousand [aeons] from now.
Then I was born at Haṃsavatī in a minister's family —
radiant with various gems, prosperous, flourishing, of great wealth.
Having gone with my father, escorted by a great multitude,
and having heard the Dhamma of the Buddha, I went forth into homelessness.
Having gone forth, I shunned evil deeds of body;
abandoning misconduct of speech, I purified my livelihood.
Confident in the Buddha, with keen reverence for the Dhamma and the Saṅgha,
devoted to hearing the true Dhamma, I longed for the sight of the Buddha.
Then I heard of a bhikkhunī, foremost of those resolved through faith (saddhādhimutta);
aspiring to that station, I fulfilled the three trainings (sikkhā).
Then the Fortunate One (sugata), his disposition suffused with compassion (karuṇā), said to me:
"One whose faith (saddhā) in the Tathāgata is unshaken and well established,
whose virtue (sīla) is good, dear to the noble ones and praised,
who has confidence in the Saṅgha and vision become straight —
'not poor' they call that one; that one's life is not in vain.
Therefore to faith and to virtue, to confidence and to the vision of the Dhamma
the wise should apply themselves, remembering the teaching of the Buddhas."
Hearing that, overjoyed, I asked about my aspiration.
Then the Guide (vināyaka) — lofty, immeasurable — made the prediction:
"Confident in the Buddha, good lady, you shall obtain that to which you have so well aspired.
One hundred thousand aeons from now, arisen 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,
she who is Siṅgālaka's mother will be a disciple of the Teacher."
Hearing that, I became glad, and then, for as long as I lived,
with a mind of loving-kindness (mettā) I attended with acts of service upon the Victor, the Leader.
By that deed well done, and by my intention and aspirations,
on discarding the human body I went to Tāvatiṃsa.
And now, in my final existence, in Giribbaja, best of cities,
I was born into a flourishing merchant family with a great store of gems.
I had a son named Siṅgālaka, who delighted in the wrong path,
plunged into the thicket of views, bent upon the worship of the quarters.
As he was paying homage to the various quarters, the Buddha, the Guide,
going to the city for alms, saw him and, standing on the road, spoke.
While he taught the Dhamma there arose a roar of amazement:
for two koṭis of men and women there was the breakthrough to the Dhamma (dhammābhisamaya).
Then, having gone to that assembly and heard the Fortunate One's utterance,
I attained the fruit of stream-entry (sotāpattiphala) and went forth into homelessness.
In no long time, longing for the sight of the Buddha,
having developed that recollection (anussati), I attained arahantship.
And I always go for the sight of the Buddha;
never sated, I behold the form that delights the eyes —
sprung from all the perfections (pāramī), the supreme abode of splendor,
a form strewn with every beauty: I dwell unsated with it.
The Victor, pleased with that quality, set me in the foremost place (etadagga):
"She who is Siṅgālaka's mother is foremost of those resolved through faith."
I have mastery in the psychic powers (iddhi) and in the divine ear element (dibbasotadhātu);
I have mastery of the knowledge (ñāṇa) penetrating the minds of others (cetopariyañāṇa), O Great Sage.
I know my former abodes (pubbenivāsa); the divine eye (dibbacakkhu) has been purified;
having fully understood all the taints (āsava), there is now no renewed existence.
In meaning, in dhamma, and in language, and likewise in perspicuity,
my knowledge, O Great Hero, arose in your presence.
My defilements (kilesa) have been burned away; all existences have been extirpated;
like a she-elephant that has burst her bonds, I dwell without taints.
Welcome indeed was my coming into 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) too,
the six superknowledges (chaḷabhiññā) have been realized; the Buddha's teaching has been done.
Thus indeed did the bhikkhunī Siṅgālamātā speak these verses.
The Apadāna of Siṅgālamātā Therī is concluded.
Fifth: The Apadāna of Sukkā Therī (35)
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.