[425. {428.}1 Succhintita2]
In the city, Haṃsavatī,
I was a cultivator then.
I [earn my] living by farming,
[and] through it I feed [my] children. (1) [4567]
[My] field back then was bountiful,
[and] my grain was producing seed;3
when the fruit-bearing time arrived,
I then thought [about it] like this: (2) [4568]
“It’s not right, it is not fitting
for one who knows what’s virtuous,4
that without giving to the monks,5
I should consume the best of this. (3) [4569]
This Buddha’s the Impartial One,6
Bearing the Thirty-two Great Marks;
reared7 by him, the monks’ Assembly
is the unsurpassed merit-field. (4) [4570]
I shall give a donation there,
the first of each of the new crop.”8
Thinking about [it] like that, I
was happy, with a gladdened mind.9 (5) [4571]
[Then] carrying grain from [my] field,
I went up to the Sambuddha.
Having approached the Sambuddha,
the World’s Best One, the Bull of Men,
[and] worshipping the Teacher’s feet,
I spoke these words [to the Buddha]: (6) [4572]10
“The new crop [of grain] has prospered;
you’re11 the Recipient of Gifts.12
O Sage, showing [me] compassion,
please accept it, O Eyeful One.”13 (7) [4573]
Padumuttara, World-Knower,
Sacrificial Recipient,
discerning what I was thinking,
spoke these words [to me at that time]: (8) [4574]
“Four have entered [into the path];
four are established in [its] fruit.14
This monks’ Assembly is upright,
settled in wisdom [and] morals. (9) [4575]
Merit done for the [good] rebirths
of people doing rituals,15
beings looking [to earn] merit,
gifted for the monks,16 bears great fruit. (10) [4576]
The new crop, so too more than that,
is to be given to these monks.17
Proposing [it], lead monks from the
Assembly to that house [of yours].
What has been prepared in your house,
give that to the monks’ Assembly.” (11) [4577]18
Proposing [it], leading monks, from the
Assembly to that house [of mine],
what had been prepared in my house,
I gave to the monks’ Assembly. (12) [4578]
Due to that karma done very well,
with intention and [firm] resolve,
discarding [my] human body,
I went to Tāvatiṃsa [then]. (13) [4579]
There my well-constructed mansion
was [made of] gold, brightly shining.
It rose up sixty leagues [in height,]
[and it] was thirty leagues in width. (14) [4580]
The nineteenth recitation portion.
That palace of mine was crowded,
filled with [varied] groups of women.
Eating and [also] drinking there,
I live among the thirty gods.19 (15) [4581]
And three times in succession I
exercised divine rule [back then],
and five times in succession I
was a monarch who turns the wheel,
[and I enjoyed] much local rule,
innumerable by counting. (16) [4582]20
Transmigrating from birth to birth,
I receive unlimited wealth.
I have no lack of possessions:
that is the fruit of a new crop. (17) [4583]
Elephant- [and] horse-vehicles,
palanquins, also chariots —
I am obtaining all of them:
that is the fruit of a new crop. (18) [4584]
New clothing [and likewise] new fruit,
new food which has the best flavor —
I am obtaining all of them:
that is the fruit of a new crop. (19) [4585]
Silk cloth21 and woolen blankets22 too,
khoma and also cotton cloth23 —
I am obtaining all of them:
that is the fruit of a new crop. (20) [4586]
Groups of slave-women, groups of slaves,
and women who are all decked out —
I am obtaining all of them:
that is the fruit of a new crop. (21) [4587]
I am not cold, I am not hot;
burning fever does not exist.
And also mental suffering24
is non-existent in my mind. (22) [4588]
[People say,] “Eat this,” “enjoy this,”
“lit down [to sleep] in this [good] bed.”
I am obtaining all of that:
that is the fruit of a new crop. (23) [4589]
Now is the final time for me;
[my] last rebirth is proceeding.25
Today the fruit which I donated26
is always making [me] happy. (24) [4590]
After donating [my] new crop,
for the monks of splendid virtue,27
I experience eight results,28
in accordance with my karma. (25) [4591]
I’m handsome and I’m famous [too],
very wealthy29 and free from harm;
always in the majority,30
my retinue has no factions.
They all are giving me respect,
whomever on earth I mix with.
And whatever gifts31 there [may] be,
I [always] get the first of each.32 (26-27) [4592-4593]
In the middle of the monks33 or
face-to-face with the Best Buddha,
passing over all the [others],
the donors are giving to me. (28) [4594]
Having given the first new crop,
for the monks of splendid virtue,34
I am enjoying these results:
that is the fruit of a new crop. (29) [4595]
In the hundred thousand aeons
since I gave that donation then,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
that is the fruit of a new crop. (30) [4596]
My defilements are [now] burnt up;
all [new] existence is destroyed.
Like elephants with broken chains,
I am living without constraint. (31) [4597]
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! (32) [4598]
The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
[I have] done what the Buddha taught! (33) [4599]
Thus indeed Venerable Succhintita Thera spoke these verses.
The legend of Succhintita 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.↩
“Well-Thought-Out.” #66 and #92 are apadānas of apparently different monks bearing this name.↩
lit., “fruited,” phalitaŋ↩
janantassa guṇāguṇaŋ, lit., “for who knows virtue and non-virtue”↩
saṅghe, lit., “for the assembly of monks”↩
asamasamo↩
pabhāvita, BJTS gloss prabhūta, lit., “become” “produced” “increased” “furthered”↩
navasassaŋ pure pure, BJTS Sinh. gloss paḷamu paḷamu…navaśasyadānaya,” “a donation of the new crop, the first the first [fruits]”↩
haṭṭho pīṇitamānaso↩
PTS and BJTS agree in presenting this as a six-footed verse.↩
reading tvaṃ with BJTS (and PTS alt.) for PTS taŋ↩
āyāgo. The term can refer to the recipient of sacrificial gifts, or to the gifts themselves. PTS seems to assume the latter meaning in reading taŋ for tvaṃ↩
reading cchakkhuma (voc.) with BJTS for PTS cchakkhumā (nom.)↩
BJTS glosses “stream-enterers, etc.,” that is, the four who have entered the path and are established in its fruit are stream-enterers, once-returners, non-returners and arahants.↩
or “sacrifices,” yajantānaŋ manussānaŋ↩
lit., “for the monks’ Assembly,” saṅghe↩
lit., “for this assembly of monks,” tasmin saṅghe↩
PTS and BJTS agree in presenting this as a six-footed verse.↩
i.e., in the Tāvatiṃsa heaven↩
PTS and BJTS agree in presenting this as a six-footed verse.↩
koseyya↩
kambala↩
kappāsika↩
reading dukkhaṃ with BJTS for PTS dukkaŋ, an obvious typographical error↩
ccharimo vattate bhavo↩
reading deyyadhammo…phalaṃ with BJTS for PTS deyyadhamme…phalaŋ (“the fruit in [= of?] my donation”)↩
lit., “for the monks of supreme [and] splendid virtue”: saṅghe guṇavaruttame. As elsewhere, BJTS reads gaṇavaruttame, “supreme splendid group”↩
aṭṭhānisaŋse. I count the eight here as (1) being handsome, (2) be famous, (3) being wealthy, (4) being free from harm, (5) always being in the majority, (6) having a united retinue, (7) respected by everyone, (8) always being the first to receive gifts↩
mahābhogo, lit., “one with many possessions”↩
mahāpakkho, lit., “one of the great faction” “one with a powerful party,”↩
deyyadhammā, that is, religious gifts presented to the brahmins officiating at a sacrifice, or the monks being honored in an almsgiving, or other religious adepts at a festival, etc.↩
pure pure↩
bhikkhusaṅghassa…majjhe↩
lit., “for the monks of supreme [and] splendid virtue”: saṅghe guṇavaruttame. As elsewhere, BJTS reads gaṇavaruttame, “supreme splendid group”↩