[74]
To the south of the Himavant my hermitage was well made;
seeking the supreme goal, I dwelt then in the great forest.
Content with gain and loss, with roots and with fruits,
offending none I wandered; I dwelt all alone.
Then the Fully Awakened One named Sumedha arose in the world;
proclaiming the four truths, he was lifting up the great multitude.
I did not hear of the Fully Awakened One, nor did anyone tell me of him;
when eight years had passed, I heard of the Leader of the World.
Having carried out the fire and the firewood, having swept the hermitage,
taking up my carrying-pole load, I departed from the great forest.
Staying a single night in each village and town,
in due course I then drew near to Candavatī.
At that time the Blessed One Sumedha, the Leader of the World,
lifting up many beings, was teaching the deathless state (amataṃ padaṃ).
Passing through the crowd of people, I paid homage to the Victor (jina), the well-come one;
arranging my antelope-hide over one shoulder, I extolled the Leader of the World:
"You are the Teacher, and like a crest, a banner, and a sacrificial post for living beings;
you are the final resort, the support, the island, supreme among two-footed beings.
The Twenty-first Recitation Section (bhāṇavāra).
"Proficient in vision, O wise one, you bring the multitude across;
there is no other deliverer in the world surpassing you, O Sage.
The supreme ocean might be measured with the tip of a blade of kusa grass,
but your knowledge (ñāṇa), O All-knowing One, can never be measured.
The earth might be placed upon the beam of a balance and held there,
but there is nothing equal to your wisdom, O One with Vision.
Space might be measured with a cord or with a finger,
but your virtue, O All-knowing One, can never be measured.
The water in the great ocean, space, and the earth —
these things are measurable; you, O One with Vision, are immeasurable."
Having praised the All-knowing One of great fame with six verses,
raising my joined palms in reverence, I then stood silent.
He whom they call "Sumedha," possessed of wisdom broad as the earth, the sagacious one,
seated amid the Saṅgha of bhikkhus, spoke these verses:
"He who has extolled my knowledge with a mind full of confidence —
him I shall proclaim; listen to my words.
For seventy-seven aeons (kappa) he will rejoice in the world of the devas (devaloka);
a thousand times, as lord of the devas, he will exercise rule over the devas,
and many hundreds of times he will be a universal monarch (cakkavatti);
extensive regional kingship he will wield, incalculable by reckoning.
Whether become a deva or a human, steadfast in meritorious deeds,
with the intentions of his mind unimpaired, he will be of sharp wisdom.
Thirty thousand aeons hence, one arisen in the Okkāka clan,
Gotama by name, will be the Teacher in the world.
Departing from the household, he will go forth, owning nothing;
at seven years from birth he will attain arahantship (arahatta)."
From the time I can recall myself, from the time I reached the teaching (sāsana),
in the interval I know of no volition (cetanā) displeasing to the mind.
Having wandered through existence upon existence, I experienced prosperity;
there is no deficiency in my wealth: this is the fruit of praising the knowledge.
The threefold fires have been extinguished for me; all existences have been uprooted;
with all taints (āsava) utterly destroyed, there is now no renewed existence (punabbhava).
The knowledge that I extolled thirty thousand aeons ago —
I know of no bad destination (duggati) since: this is the fruit of praising the knowledge.
My defilements (kilesa) have been burned up; all existences have been uprooted;
like an elephant that has burst its bonds, I dwell without taints.
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 done.
The four analytic insights (paṭisambhidā) and also these eight liberations (vimokkha),
the six superknowledges (chaḷabhiññā) have been realized; the Buddha's teaching has been done.
Thus indeed the Venerable Ñāṇatthavika the Elder spoke these verses.
The Apadāna of the Elder Ñāṇatthavika is concluded.
The Fifth: the Apadāna of the Elder Candanamāliya (485)
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.