[9. Khadiravaniya Revata]
The River named Bhāgīrathī1
is fed by the Himalayas.
I, a Boatman on the near bank,
ferried [folks] over the rough ford. (1) [637]
“The Lord [named] Padumuttara
the Sambuddha, the Best Biped,
with one hundred thousand arahants
will [need to] cross the raging stream.” (2) [638]
Getting many boats tied as one
very carefully by workers
[and] having made a covering,
I honored [him], the Bull of Men. (3) [639]
When the Sambuddha had arrived
he [then] climbed onto that [large] boat.2
In the middle of the river
the Teacher spoke these verses [then]: (4) [640]
“He who ferried the Sambuddha
and undefiled Assembly across,
due to the pleasure in [his] heart
will delight in the world of gods. (5) [641]
A divine mansion will arise,
well made for you, fixed on a boat
which will always sail across the
sky, with a floral canopy. (6) [642]
In the fifty-eighth aeon [thence]
he will be a wheel-turning king,
victorious on [all] four sides
a Kṣatriyan named Tāraṇa.3 (7) [643]
In the fifty-seventh aeon
he’ll be the king4 named CChampaka.5
With mighty power, he will shine
just like the sun [when it] rises. (8) [644]
In one hundred thousand aeons,
arising in Okkāka’s clan,
the one whose name is Gotama
will be the Teacher in the world. (9) [645]
Falling from the highest heaven6
he will go to a human state.
He’ll be a kinsman of Brahma;7
he will be known as Revata. (10) [646]
Setting forth from the house [and world,]
incited by [his] wholesome roots,
he’ll renounce in the teaching of
the Blessed One [named] Gotama. (11) [647]
And later on, once he’s renounced,
bound to the rule, contemplative,
knowing well all the defilements,
he’ll reach nirvana, undefiled.” (12) [648]
My effort bearing the burden
brought me release from attachments.
[Now] I’m bearing my last body
in the Supreme Buddha’s teaching.8 (13) [649]
Karma done a hundred thousand
[aeons hence] showed me [its] fruit here:
well-liberated, arrow-quick,
I have destroyed my defilements. [650]
Seeing my fondness for the woods,
the Sage, Who Reached the World’s End,
the Great Sage, therefore did rank me
foremost among the forest monks. [651]
The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
[I have] done what the Buddha taught! (14) [652]
Thus indeed Venerable Khadiravaniya Revata Thera spoke these verses.
The legend of Khadiravaniya Revata Thera is finished.
this is the BJTS spelling; PTS gives Bhāgīrasī↩
following BJTS and cty in reading āruhi↩
i.e., “he who crosses,” hearkening to his formative act of merit as well as his former profession.↩
lit., “kṣatriyan”.↩
the name of a tree. The cchampaka (Sinh. sapu) tree is Magnolia champaca, formerly classified as michelia champaca. English names for the tree include Champak, Joy Perfume Tree, Yellow Jade Orchid Tree and Fragrant Himalayan Champaca. It was the Bodhi tree of the seventeenth Buddha of the Buddhavaṃsa, Atthadassi. It has highly fragrant cream to yellowish-colored blossoms.↩
lit, “from the Thirty [three gods]”.↩
brahmabandhu, i.e., a brahmin↩
Sammāsambuddhasāsane, lit., “in the dispensation of the Fully Awakened One”.↩