Sīhāsana Chapter, the Second
[11. Sīhāsanadāyaka1]
When the World-Leader Siddhattha,
the Best Biped had reached nirvana,
his words had been spread; many folks
had embraced [his] dispensation. (1) [674]
With a pleased heart [and] happy mind
I had a lion-throne fashioned.
Having had the lion-throne made,
I had a foot-stool2 constructed. (2) [675]
[And then] I had a house built there
[to shield] the lion-throne from rain.
Due to the pleasure in my heart
I was reborn in Tusitā. (3) [676]
A heavenly mansion, well-built,
existed at that time for me.
In length it measured twenty-four,
in width [another] fourteen leagues. (4) [677]
Seven3 thousand [lovely] maidens
were always waiting on me [then].
There was a couch made out of gold
well-fashioned in the mansion [there]. (5) [678]
Elephant- and horse-carriages,
and divine carriages served [me].
Palaces and also litters4
were produced according to wish. (6) [679]
Couches constructed out of gems
and many other costly things
always came into being for me;
that’s the fruit of a lion-throne. (7) [680]
I am always climbing up steps
made of gold and made of silver,
made of crystal, made of lapis;
that is the fruit of the foot-stool. (8) [681]
In the ninety-four aeons since
I performed that act [of merit],
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth;
that is the fruit of good karma. (9) [682]
There were three men [all] named Inda5
seventy-three aeons ago;
there were three [more] named Sumana6
seventy-two aeons ago; (10) [683]
[and] seventy aeons ago
there were three [kings] named Varuṇa;7
they were lords of four continents
possessors of the seven gems. (11) [684]
The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
[I have] done what the Buddha taught! (12) [685]
Thus indeed Venerable Sīhāsanadāyaka Thera spoke these verses.
The legend of Sīhāsanadāyaka Thera is finished.
his name means “Donor of a Lion-throne,” the first of many monks (and nuns) in the Apadāna who, otherwise unknown, embody/represent/model specific pious actions rather than play a role in the historical dispensation of Gotama Buddha; it’s possible that they weren’t even real people, or in some cases, that they are to be identified with historical monks and nuns who seemingly otherwise are not represented in the collection (associations that are made mostly in the commentary on Theragāthā and Therīgāthā, partly tracked in DPPN and worthy of a more complete review)↩
pādapīṭha↩
alternates including cty and BJTS read satam or sata (“one hundred”) for satta (“seven”) in PTS; in that reading the total number of virgins in that heavenly mansion would have been one hundred thousand.↩
sivikā = siv geya (dictionary), doolā (BJTS Sinhala gloss)↩
“Lord,” = Indra, Śakra, king of the Vedic gods↩
“Happy” “Good-Minded”↩
the name of a Vedic god↩