Vibhīṭaki1 Chapter, the Forty-Fifth

[438. {441.}2 Vibhīṭakamiñjaya3]

Kakusandha, the Great Hero,
was a Master of Everything.
Alienated 4 from the group,
he went into the forest [then]. (1) [4717]

Having gathered numerous seeds,5
I strung them on a [piece of] vine.
At that time the Blessed One was
meditating on a mountain. (2) [4718]

Having seen the God of Gods, I,
with a mind that was very clear,
presented [all those] seeds to [him],
the Hero, Deserving of Gifts. (3) [4719]

Within the [present] aeon, since
I gave that fruit [to him] back then,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
that’s the fruit of numerous seeds. (4) [4720]

My defilements are [now] burnt up;
all [new] existence is destroyed.
Like elephants with broken chains,
I am living without constraint. (5) [4721]

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! (6) [4722]

The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
[I have] done what the Buddha taught! (7) [4723]

Thus indeed Venerable Vibhīṭakamiñjaya Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Vibhīṭakamiñjaya Thera is finished.

  1. BJTS reads Vibhīṭaka↩

  2. 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.↩

  3. “Bahera-nut-er”↩

  4. reading vūpakaṭṭho with BJTS for PTS vupakaṭṭho↩

  5. bījabījaŋ, taking the reduplication as indicative of a large number, “seeds and seeds.” BJTS Sinhala gloss interpolates “bulu” (bahera, “bastard myrobolan,” vibhītaka), identifying the type of seed on the basis of the protagonist’s name (as it appears in the colophon), even though the Pali does not specify it. Cty (p. 487) eliminates even the clue in the name, calling this monk Bījabījadāyaka (“Numerous Seeds Donor”) after this distinctive term in the text. However, cty proceeds to specify, like BJTS, that these were vibhīṭaka [Sinhala buḷu, beleric myrobalan, bastard myrobalan, Terminalia bellirica] seeds and even to explain that “the meaning is: ‘having allowed vibhīṭaka fruits to mature, taking the seeds [that is] the kernels, mixing [them] with honey [and] sugar, I gave them to Kakusandha, the Blessed One’”↩