[394. {397.}1 Girimānanda2]
My wife had passed away, my son
had gone to the cemetery;
on a single pyre I had burned
[my] mother, father, and brothers. (1) [3791]
I was consumed due to that grief,
I had become haggard and pale
and I was mentally deranged,3
greatly pained4 because of that grief. (2) [3792]
Wounded5 by the arrow of grief,
I went up to the forest’s edge.
Eating [only] wild fruits [I found],
I dwelt at the foot of a tree. (3) [3793]
The Sambuddha named Sumedha,
the Victor, Ender of Dis-ease,
with a desire to lift me up,
did come into my presence [then]. (4) [3794]
Having heard the sound of the feet
of Sumedha, the Sage So Great,
I having lifted up [my] head
did gaze6 upon [him], the Great Sage.7 (5) [3795]
[When he], the Great Hero, approached,
[then] joy did get produced for me.
Having seen him, the World-Leader,
my mind [at last] was put at ease. (6) [3796]
Having recovered consciousness,8
I gave [him] a handful of leaves.
The Blessed One [then] sat down there,
out of compassion, Eyeful One. (7) [3797]
Sitting down there, the Blessed One,
Sumedha, Leader of the World,
Buddha preached to me the Teaching
that removes the arrows of grief: (8) [3798]
“Uninvited9 [they’ve]10 come11 from there;
not taking leave12 [they’ve] gone from here.
As [they] have come, so [they] have gone;
what [good] is wailing about that?13 (9) [3799]
Just as, when rain is raining down,
people14 traveling on the road,15
taking their goods,16 are going to
[a place where] the rain’s not falling, (10) [3800]
and when the rain17 has ceased [to fall,]
they carry on18 as they had planned;19
thus your mother [and] father [too]:20
what [good] is wailing about that? (11) [3801]
[We’re all] visiting strangers, guests,
wavering, driven on, shaken.
Thus your mother [and] father [too]:
what [good] is wailing about that? (12) [3802]
Just as a serpent21 slithers on,22
abandoning its worn-out skin,23
thus your mother [and] father [too]:
their bodies24 are abandoned here.” (13) [3803]
Understanding the Buddha’s words,
I removed25 the arrow of grief.
Generating happiness, I
worshipped the Best of the Buddhas. (14) [3804]
Worshipping the Great Elephant,26
I offered27 Sumedha, Leader
of the World, a stalk of flowers28
endowed with a heavenly scent. (15) [3805]
Having worshipped29 the Sambuddha,
pressing my hands upon [my] head,
calling to mind [his] chief virtues,
I praised the Leader of the World: (16) [3806]
“Great Hero, you’re the One Who’s Crossed,30
Omniscient One, the World-Leader.
You are lifting up all creatures
with [your] knowledge, O Sage So Great. (17) [3807]
You cut off all perplexity
and also doubt, O Sage So Great.
You’re imparting the path31 to me
through your knowledge, O Eyeful One. (18) [3808]
Arahants with the goal attained,32
six-knowledge-holders, powerful,33
wise ones who travel in the sky,
are surrounding you all the time. (19) [3809]
[Your] followers are bearing fruit,34
those attained35 and those being trained;36
your followers are blossoming
like lotus [flowers] at sunrise.37 (20) [3810]
As the ocean38 is unperturbed,
unequaled, difficult to cross,
thus [too] are you, O Eyeful One,
Endowed with Knowledge, Infinite.” (21) [3811]
Having worshipped the World’s Victor,39
the Eyeful One, he of Great Fame,
praising each of the directions,
crouched over40 I went off [from there]. (22) [3812]
Falling from the world of the gods,41
transmigrating from birth to birth,
I came out of [my] mother’s womb,
attentive [and] remembering. (23) [3813]
Having departed from the house,
I went forth into homelessness.
Zealous,42 also intelligent,
I pastured in meditation.43 (24) [3814]
Having put forth [great] exertion,44
having gladdened the Sage So Great,
I thereafter am wandering,
like the moon freed from a cloud-bank.45 (25) [3815]
I’m [now] intent on seclusion,46
calmed,47 devoid of grounds for rebirth;48
knowing well all the defilements,
I am [now] living, undefiled. (26) [3816]
In the thirty thousand aeons
since I worshipped49 the Buddha [then],
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
that’s the fruit of Buddha-pūjā. (27) [3817]
My defilements are [now] burnt up;
all [new] existence is destroyed.
All defilements are exhausted;
now there will be no more rebirth. (28) [3818]
Being in Best Buddha’s presence
was a very good thing for me.
The three knowledges are attained;
[I have] done what the Buddha taught! (29) [3819]
The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
[I have] done what the Buddha taught! (30) [3820]
Thus indeed Venerable Girimānanda Thera spoke these verses.
The legend of Girimānanda Thera is finished.
Apadāna numbers provided in {fancy brackets} correspond to the BJTS edition, which contains more individual poems than does the PTS edition dictating the main numbering of this translation.↩
“Joy for the Mountains,” a historical monk, the son of King Bimbisāra’s chaplain who entered the order at Rajgir. See DPPN I: 770-771↩
cchittakkhepañ ccha me āsi, lit., “there was mental derangement for me”↩
reading aṭṭito with BJTS for PTS cchakkhumā, “one with eyes”↩
°pareto, lit., “overcome,” “affected”↩
reading ullokesiṃ with BJTS (and PTS alt.) for PTS ullokesi, “he looked upon”↩
reading mahāmuniṃ with BJTS for PTS mahāmuni↩
satiŋ paṭilabhitvāna, lit., “having received alertness/mindfulness”↩
anavhātā↩
BJTS Sinhala gloss takes the implied (3rd person plural) subject here to be “the brothers, etc.” who have died↩
āguŋ↩
ananuññātā↩
tattha kā paridevanā, lit., “what is the lamentation there?” RD (tattha, s.v.) gives “why sorrow for this?”↩
sattā, lit., “beings”. BJTS glosses °janayo, “people”↩
pathikā, BJTS glosses magī°↩
sabhaṇḍā, lit., “together with their goods”↩
reading vasse ccha te oramite with BJTS for PTS vasse ete oramite↩
or proceed, keep going: sampayanti↩
or “according to their wishes”↩
i.e., they were here for temporary shelter, and now that the rain (= their lifespan) has ceased, they’ve continued on in their journey.↩
urago, “stomach-goer”↩
gacchchati, lit., “goes”↩
reading santacchaṃ with BJTS for PTS santanuŋ, “its body”↩
the Pāli is singular, santanuṃ↩
vivajjayiŋ, lit., “forsook” “abandoned”↩
mahāgaŋ, i.e., the Buddha↩
lit., “did pūjā with”↩
the text is corrupt as regards the object given, apparently an attempt at explaining the “Giri” part of the protagonist’s name. I follow BJTS (and PTS alt) in reading girimañjariṃ apūjayiṃ, “I did pūjā with a stalk of giri [flowers],” even though it breaks meter (BJTS corrects to pūjayiṃ girimañjariṃ). BJTS glosses giri as girinil mal, on which see note to [2256]. Giri means “mountain,” so perhaps the reference is to a stalk of flowers (mañjarī) growing on a mountain? PTS reads girapañjaliŋ (“pressing together of the hands in honor of his words”?) offering alternatives giramañcchhira (?) and giripañjariŋ (fr. pañjara, a cage?), none of which satisfyingly corresponds to the adjective supplied this offering, “endowed with a heavenly scent.”↩
lit., “done pūjā to”↩
reading nittiṇṇo with BJTS for PTS nitthiṇṇo↩
maggaŋ↩
siddhipattā↩
chaḷabhiññā mahiddhikā, lit., possessors of the six special knowledges who have great (magical, iddhi) power.”↩
phalaṭṭhā, lit., “stationed in fruition” (RD), “fixed in the fruits [of the path],” i.e., on the way to nirvana↩
paṭipannā, i.e., arahants↩
sekhā, i.e., those still in training↩
sūrodaye va padumā↩
reading yathā samuddo with BJTS for PTS mahāsamuddo↩
lokajinaŋ↩
taking paṭikuṭiko (BJTS reads pati°) as fr. paṭikuṭati “to crouch,” “to bend over”. This may mean that he went off still bowing in reverence, or else that he went off on all fours. Here BJTS leaves the term unglossed↩
where he presumably went after the lifetime just recounted↩
ātāpī, lit.,. “burning”↩
paṭisallāna-gocaro, “I sustained myself/fed one retirement into solitude for meditation”↩
padhānaŋ padahitvāna, lit., “having exerted [myself] in exertion↩
cchando v’abbhaghanā mutto↩
vivekaŋ anuyutto↩
upasanto↩
nirūpadhi↩
lit., “did pūjā”↩