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.↩

“Coming Up” (?)↩

“Pink Lotus”↩

read pāṭhīna, Silurus Boalis, “a kind of shad” (RD); wikipedia gives “sheatfish,” related to catfish, includes all the siluridae. BJTS glosses peṭiyō↩

pāvusa, glossed as “large-mouth fish”, cf. pāgusa, patusa, BJTS glosses lūllu↩

reading valajā with BJTS, which treats it as a type of fish (Sinh. valayō), for PTS jalajā, lit., “water-born”, a generic word for “fish”.↩

muñja, more common as a kind of reed, also the name of a fish (BJTS glosses moddu), always in dvandva compound with rohita, “red-fish”↩

rohita, BJTS glosses reheru↩

reading sobhentā with BJTS for PTS sobhanti (“they are beautifying”)↩

vahanti (“proceeding,” “carrying [them in the current],” PTS alt. is savanti (“flowing”)↩

sañcchhannā, lit., “covered;” the f. pl. presumably fixes these as modifiers of “the rivers,” the unspecified “they” which is the subject of the first foot.↩

amba↩

jambu↩

a small tree, Crataeva Roxburghii (Cappar.), Sinh. luṇuvaraṇa↩

tilaka, BJTS glosses as madaṭa cf. botanical dictionary = madaṭiya, a tree which yields false yellow sandalwood, and seeds that are used as beads and a jeweler’s weight of about 1.25 troy ounce, adenanthera pavonina, coral bean tree a.k.a. Saga, Sagaseed tree, Red-bead tree, kolkriki↩

uddālaka = Cassia fistula, Sinh. äsaḷa↩

pāṭali is Sinh. paḷol, Bignonia suaveolens, sterospermum suaveolens (Bignon.), trumpet-flower tree, the Bodhi Tree of Vipassi Buddha.↩

reading aṅkolaka with BJTS (and PTS alt.) for PTS Ākolakā. The plant in question is alangium hexapetalum, a.k.a. sage-leaved alangium, Sinh. rukaṅguna↩

bimbijāla, the Bodhi tree of the previous Buddha, Dhammadassi Buddha, Sinh. rat karavū, momordica monadelpha↩

this is the BJTS spelling, PTS reads māyācchārā. Cf. māyākāra, “magician, conjuror”?↩

atimuttaka. RD: a plant, Gaertnera Racemosa = Hiptage, hiptage benghalensis, stout, high-climbing vine, now invasive species in Florida, scented pink-white flowers, medicinal uses. BJTS glosses Sinh. yohombu (Bot. Dict. = yohombu väla = yon tumba, an annual creeper, Trichodesma zeylanicum).↩

BJTS glosses as satpeti däsaman = “hundred-petaled” saman piccchcha mal, a fragrant species of jasmine, Jasminum sambac. Note that at [3432] BJTS says vassika is (regular) däsaman.↩

nāgā↩

sāla, shorea robusta↩

PTS kosumbhā, BJTS kosambā, also spelt kosambhā, - Sinh. kohomba, neem or margosa tree, Azadirachta indica↩

PTS salaḷā, BJTS salalā, BJTS Sinh.gloss = hora = “large timber tree yielding rezin and oil, Dipterocarpus zeylanicus (Dipterocarp.)” (Bot. dict.)↩

nīpa = Sinhala kolom, nauclea orientalis; also called Leichhardt tree↩

“eight-limbed,” BJTS takes this as the name of another type of tree, rather than an adjective↩

harītakā, Sinh. araḷu, myrobalan, black- or chebulic myrobalan; Terminalia chebula.↩

āmalāka, Sinh. nelli, emblic myrobalan, Indian gooseberry, a.k.a. Malacca tree, or amla; Phyllanthus emblica↩

ambā, Magnifera indica↩

jambū, Sinh. damba, jambu, Syzygium samarangense↩

vibhīṭakā, Sinh. buḷu, Terminalia bellirica (sic bellerica), beleric myrobalan or bastard myrobalan. Together with myroblan proper (araḷu) and Indian gooseberry (nelli), bahera is one of the three myroblans upon which many Ayurvedic and Sinhala medicines are based; the dried nuts are typically pounded into powder which is then used in oils and other decoctions. Here, on the contrary, the reference is likely to the fresh fruit of these trees, which is also used in medicines and eaten (especially gooseberrry).↩

kola, Sinh. debara phala, Ziziphus Mauritania, Zyzyphus Jujuba, Indian jujube or Chinese apple.↩

bhallātakā, bhallī, badulla = semecarpus anacardium, Sinh. badulu↩

bellā, billaŋ = Aegle marmelos, Sinh. beli geḍiya, bael, bel, Bengal quince; bilva or vilva tree; also billā, beluvā↩

kadamba (Sinh. koḷom) is Nauclea cordifolia = Neolamarckia cadamba, with orange-colored, fragrant blossoms↩

“round-mass Asoka” (?)↩

this reading follows BJTS for PTS ccha vārī (alt. °bari) but cf. setavārī at v. [4011], above.↩

nīpa = Sinhala kolom, nauclea orientalis; also called Leichhardt tree↩

punnāga = Sinhala domba, Alexandrian laurel, Calophyllum inophyllum↩

giripunnāga↩

a kind of medicinal tree or shrub, Vitex nigunda. Sinh: nika↩

= “resplendent nigguṇḍi,” Sinh. gloss sirinika↩

cchamparukkh’ ettha. The cchampa (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.↩

cchakkavākā, BJTS Sinh. gloss sakvālihiṇiyō = cchakravākayā, an aquatic bird, brahminy goose, brahmany kite, haliastur indus↩

RD says this is a water-plant, a kind of lotus, referencing J iv.539; vi.47, 279, 564. Here (and at [4233], [4313]) BJTS glosses helmällen nohot diyakandarayen, “if not helmälla then diyakandara.” Heḷmäli = edible white water-lily, Nymphaea Lotus. I don’t find diyakandaraya in the dictionaries. BJTS gloss at [324] is “a water-born plant named Mandālā”. At [171] BJTS Sinh. gloss is taḍāgayangen, “from the moss,” following its reading of [170] “well fixed [in the mosses]”. Bot. Dict. taḍāga = sevela. At [4313], [6332] BJTS gloss is likewise helmällen (= heḷmäli)↩

reading padumuppalakehi ccha with BJTS for PTS padumapphalakehi ccha (“and with pink lotuses and fruit” or “and with pink lotus fruits”.↩

supatitthā, following BJTS gloss here (elsewhere “good banks”). Should I do the same elsewhere?↩

RD says this is a water-plant, a kind of lotus, referencing J iv.539; vi.47, 279, 564. Here BJTS Sinh. gloss suggests helmäliyen = heḷmäli, also the (or a) gloss at [4231], [4313], [6332] = edible white water-lily, Nymphaea Lotus. But elsewhere BJTS gives different glosses: at [4007] BJTS glosses it as madāra tree [mountain-ebony, Bauhinia purpurea (Legum.)] and says the blossoms fell into the water from overhanging trees. BJTS gloss at [324] is “a water-born plant named Mandālā”. At [171] BJTS Sinh. gloss is taḍāgayangen, “from the moss,” following its reading of [170] “well fixed [in the mosses]”. Bot. Dict. taḍāga = sevela.↩

read pāṭhīna, Silurus Boalis, “a kind of shad” (RD); wikipedia gives “sheatfish,” related to catfish, includes all the siluridae. BJTS glosses peṭiyō↩

pāvusa, glossed as “large-mouth fish”, cf. pāgusa, patusa, BJTS glosses lūllu↩

reading valajā with BJTS, which treats it as a type of fish (Sinh. valayō), for PTS jalajā, lit., “water-born”, a generic word for “fish”.↩

muñja, more common as a kind of reed, also the name of a fish (BJTS glosses moddu), always in dvandva compound with rohita, “red-fish”↩

rohita, BJTS glosses reheru↩

viccharantā, moving around, traveling about↩

tattha, lit., “there”↩

kumbhīlā↩

suṃsumārā, lit., “child-killing,” is actually a different sort of crocodile, but to avoid the inevitable redundancy in English I have chosen to translate the term “alligator,” a species not actually found in this region.↩

gahā, lit., “seizers.” BJTS glosses this above (at [4011]) as a third type of crocodile (gäṭa-kimbulō), underlining (as does my translation here) the main point that fierce water-beasts are born there.↩

oguhā, fr. ogāhati, ogāhana, plunging? = watersnakes?↩

ajagarā. RD says “a large snake…a Boa Constrictor”↩

parevatā↩

ravihaŋsā↩

cchakkavākā, BJTS Sinh. gloss sakvālihiṇiyō = cchakravākayā, an aquatic bird, brahminy goose, btahmany kite, haliastur indus↩

dindibhā, Sinh. gloss kirallu, kiraḷā = red-wattled or yellow-wattled lapwing. PSI dictionary gives “bluejay”↩

reading °sālikā with BJTS for PTS °sāḷi ccha. Sāḷlka (Skt. śārika) = Sinh. säḷalihiṇiyō, Indian mynah birds (Hindi maina, Skt. madana)↩

ketaka, Pandanus odoratissima, Sinhala väṭakē or väṭakeyiyā.↩

acchcha°, Sinh. gloss valassu↩

koka, etymological cousin of vāka, vṛka, above, see RD↩

taracchchā, Sinh. gloss kara bānā (‘submissive” “bent over”) valassu, Note BJTS omits the second mention of “wolves” so may be taking koka in compound with taracchchā (i.e., kokataracchchā), in specifying this particular type of bear (cf. Sorata, kara bāna valasā, s.v.)↩

jaṭābhārabharitā (PTS), jaṭābhārena bharitā (BJTS)↩

that is, ascetics, who carry around all their possessions, limited to the basic necessities they require. Cty: khāribhāran ti : udañcchanakamaṇḍalu-ādikam tāpasaparikkharabhāram.↩

khāribhāriŋ (BJTS reads khāribhāraṃ) gahetvāna. These are specified as ascetics who carry all their requisites, which are few, on their persons.↩

in this verse BJTS reads sadā (“always” “all the time”) for PTS tadā, “then,” but agrees with the latter in subsequent repetitions of this foot.↩

sabbesam anubhāvena, lit., “through the majestic (or even magical) powers of all of them.” The point here is that their power is so great that they do not need to perform mundane chores; those chores perform themselves, as it were.↩

jhāyino↩

or “exhorting,” “questioning,” “criticizing,” “reprimanding,” “accusing,” reading cchodentā with BJTS for PTS cchodito, “reproved” (etc.)↩

appanā [BJTS reads appaṇā] vate, Sinh. gloss arpaṇāvratayehi yodunā vu. Appanā is fixing the mind on its object (the samādhis or the Path), that conception itself, ecstasy. In Sinhala this implies “giving up,” “renunciation,” of other objects of thought↩

ambarā +avaccharā, lit., “[people who are] possessed of wandering in the sky”↩

pakkamanti disāmukhā, lit., “they are going out with faces toward a direction,” i.e., they went according to their inclinations↩

lit., “Master of All Things (dhamma)” (or “Master of All Teachings”)↩

yakkho āsi mahiddhiko, lit., “a spirit with great iddhi”↩

PTS pasaŋsi, BJTS saṃsittha, both past tense, 3rd singl. forms of verbs from the same root, with a similar range of meanings: praise, announce, commend↩

i.e., Padumuttara↩

mārisa,BJTS glosses nidukāneni (“O one without suffering”)↩

though the meaning of both is about the same, there is considerable variation between the readings of the final foot in BJTS (payirupāsaya mārisa), which I follow, and PTS (payirupāsassu tam muni), which I find garbled.↩

saṃsāmetvāna, “smooth out,” “roll up [one’s bed mat]” “leave”↩

cchele (BJTS ccheḷe) va ḍayhamānamhi, BJTS gloss, “like at the time when [one’s] clothes were burning.” This seems to be idiomatic, and to express haste, cf. “pants on fire”↩

ekarattiŋ vasitvā, lit., “having dwelt [out somewhere on the road] for one night [only]”↩

lit., “in full bloom”↩

lit., “done pūjā”↩

saŋsārasotaŋ chinditvā↩

or “the stream of clinging,” tanhāsotaŋ↩

or “lamp,” dīpo↩

gaṇino, leaders or teachers who have large followings↩

satthavāhā, more typically translated as “caravan leaders” or even “merchants,” but here the “teacher” aspect seems especially significant, as these are heads or teachers of groups of followers.↩

tava antogadhā va te, or perhaps “they are all now under you” or “they’re all encompassed by you”↩

reading sabbaññū with BJTS for PTS sapañño (“the one who has wisdom”)↩

nirayaŋ↩

tiracchchayoniŋ, i.e., rebirth as an animal↩

lit., “did pūjā”↩

BJTS (and PTS alt.) read Dhotaka↩