[516. {519.}1 Sabbaphaladāyaka2]
[My] name [back then] was Varuṇa,
a brahmin master of mantras.
After throwing away3 ten sons,4
I plunged into the forest then. (1) [5505]
Making a well-built hermitage,
well-proportioned [and] beautiful,
constructing a hall of leaves [there],
I am living in the forest. (2) [5506]
Padumuttara, World-Knower,
Sacrificial Recipient,
with a desire to lift me up,
[then] came up to my hermitage. (3) [5507]
Throughout that forest grove, there was
a huge effulgence [of his light].
By the Buddha’s special powers5
he lit up the forest back then. (4) [5508]
After seeing that6 miracle
of the Best Buddha, Neutral One,
taking a satchel made of leaves,7
I filled [it] with fruit at that time. (5) [5509]
Having gone up to the Buddha,
I gave [him the fruit] with the bag.8
The Buddha, with pity for me,
spoke these words [to me at that time]: (6) [5510]
“After bringing a khārī-load,9
you, come along behind me [now],
and when the Assembly eats10 it,
there will be good karma11 for you. (7) [5511]
Taking that satchel [of leaves],12 I
gave [it] to the monks’ Assembly.
After having pleased [my] heart there,
I was reborn in Tusitā. (8) [5512]
There, bound up with [my] good13 karma,
I am enjoying, all the time,
dances and songs [performed for me],
also speeches which are divine. (9) [5513]
In whichever womb I’m reborn,
[whether] it’s human or divine,
I have no lack of possessions:
that is the fruit of giving fruit. (10) [5514]
Having given the Buddha fruit,14
I am exercising lordship
through the four great continents,
including oceans and mountains. (11) [5515]
As far as they, the flocks of birds,
are flying across the sky, they
too obey15 my authority:
that is the fruit of giving fruit. (12) [5516]
[All] the spirits,16 ghosts,17 and demons,
the kumbhaṇḍas and garuḷas,
throughout [that] grove in the forest,
approach [in order to] serve me. (13) [5517]
Turtles [and] dogs18 [and] honey-bees,
both gadflies19 and mosquitos;20 they
too obey21 my authority:
that is the fruit of giving fruit. (14) [5518]
The birds that are called Suparṇas22
born to birds [but] having great strength,
they too go to me for refuge:
that is the fruit of giving fruit. (15) [5519]
Cobra-gods who have long lives,
superpowers, [also] great fame; they
too obey my authority:
that is the fruit of giving fruit. (16) [5520]
Lions and tigers and leopards,
bears,23 wolves,24 kara bānā bears;25 they
too obey my authority:
that is the fruit of giving fruit. (17) [5521]
Those who live in herbs26 and in grass,27
also those who live in the sky;
they all go to me for refuge:
that is the fruit of giving fruit. (18) [5522]
Hard to see28 [and] very subtle,
deep, very well explicated;
having seen [that Teaching] I dwell:
that is the fruit of giving fruit. (19) [5523]
The eight deliverances seen,
I am [now] dwelling, undefiled;
energetic, intelligent:
that is the fruit of giving fruit. (20) [5524]
Those Buddha’s sons, with the eight fruits,
free of flaws [and] very famous,
I am [now also] one of them:
that is the fruit of giving fruit. (21) [5525]
Mastering special knowledges,
incited by [my] wholesome roots,
knowing well all the defilements,
I am [now] living, undefiled. (22) [5526]
Three knowledges, powers29 attained,
are Buddha’s sons, the greatly famed,
who are endowed with “divine ear”:
I am [now also] one of them. (23) [5527]
In the hundred thousand aeons,
since I gave [him] that fruit back then,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
that is the fruit of giving fruit. (24) [5528]
My defilements are [now] burnt up;
all [new] existence is destroyed.
Like elephants with broken chains,
I am living without constraint. (25) [5529]
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! (26) [5530]
The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
[I have] done what the Buddha taught! (27) [5531]
Thus indeed Venerable Sabbaphaladāyaka Thera spoke these verses.
The legend of Sabbaphaladāyaka 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.↩
“Every Fruit Donor”↩
chaḍetvā, “excreting” “separating”↩
note the odd plural puttāni, also witnessed (says RD) in Pv, J.↩
ānubhāvena, elsewhere “majesty”↩
reading taṃ with BJTS (and PTS alt.) for PTS ahaŋ (“I”)↩
pattapuṭaŋ, BJTS Sinh. gloss koḷagoṭuwak↩
reading sahakhārim with BJTS (lit., “with the khārī [measure],” following BJTS Sinh. gloss koḷa goṭuva sahitava ma (“together with the satchel made of leaves”) for PTS sākhārikaŋ (?)↩
khāribhāraŋ, also “shoulder yoke,” perhaps “load in a khārī”. BJTS Sinh gloss understands the term to mean the load, a khārī heavy, within the satchel made of leaves.↩
paribhutte, lit., “uses”↩
puññaŋ, lit., “merit”↩
reading puṭakaṃ taṃ with BJTS for PTS puṭikantaŋ (“pleasant satchel)↩
lit., “meritorious”↩
lit., “having given fruit to the Buddha”↩
anventi, lit., “are following” “are looking to”↩
yakkhā↩
reading bhūtā with BJTS for PTS bhutā, “become”↩
reading kummā soṇā with BJTS for PTS Kumbhasoṇā (“water-jug [sized] dogs”?)↩
ḍaŋsā↩
makasā↩
anventi, lit., “are following” “are looking to”↩
that is, garuḷas↩
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 baāna valasā, s.v.)↩
osadhī = osadha, (medicinal) herbs, medicinal ingredients, plants↩
tiṇa. BJTS takes the compound to imply “in trees, etc.,” i.e., beings who live in plants in general.↩
sududdasaŋ, lit., “very hard to see”↩
iddhi, lit., “magical” or “super powers”↩