Bhaddiya Chapter, the Fifty-Fifth
[538. {541.}1 Lakuṇṭakabhaddiya2]
The Victor, Padumuttara,
the One with Eyes for everything,
the One who had [Five] Eyes, arose
a hundred thousand aeons hence. (1) [6023]
I then [lived] in Haṃsavatī,
a millionaire’s son, very rich.
[While] wandering about on foot,
I went to the monks’ hermitage.3 (2) [6024]
At that time, the Torch for the World,
the Leader was preaching4 Dhamma.
He heaped praised on a follower,
distinguished among the sweet-voiced. (3) [6025]
After hearing that, being thrilled,
I did a deed for the Great Sage.
Having worshipped the Teacher’s feet,
I aspired [to attain] that place. (4) [6026]
Then amidst the monks’ Assembly,
the Buddha, the Guide,5 prophesied:
“Very far into the future,
he’ll receive that delightful [place]. (5) [6027]
In one hundred thousand aeons,
arising in Okkāka’s clan,
the one whose name is Gotama
will be the Teacher in the world. (6) [6028]
Worthy heir to that one’s Dhamma,
Dhamma’s legitimate offspring,
the one whose name is Bhaddiya
will be the Teacher’s follower.” (7) [6029]
Due to that karma done very well,
with intention and [firm] resolve,
discarding [my] human body,
I went to Tāvatiṃsa [then]. (8) [6030]
[Then] ninety-two aeons ago,
the Leader [named] Phussa arose,
Hard to Approach,6 Hard to Subdue,7
Supreme in All Worlds,8 the Victor. (9) [6031]
He was Endowed with Good Conduct,9
Lofty,10 Upright [and] Majestic,11
Wishing Well for every being,12
he freed many [folks] from bondage. (10) [6032]
I was [then] a speckled cuckoo,13
in his fine hermitage, “Nanda.”14
I’m living in a mango tree,
near [Phussa Buddha’s] perfumed hut.15 (11) [6033]
Having seen the Supreme Victor,16
Worthy of Gifts,17 going for alms,
bringing pleasure to [my own] heart,
I cried out with a sweet tone then. (12) [6034]
Then going to the royal park,
taking a cluster of mangoes,
very ripe, with gold[-colored] skin,
I brought [them] to the Sambuddha. (13) [6035]
Then knowing my heart, the Victor,
with Great Compassion, the Leader,
took [his] bowl [for accepting alms]
from the hand of [his] attendant.18 (14) [6036]
“Happy-hearted I’m giving the
Great Sage19 a mango-cluster placed
in the bowl with [both] my wings pressed
[in praise,”] I cried20 with a sweet tone,
a sound delightful [to the ears],
worth hearing, [very] beautiful,
for the sake of Buddha-pūjā,
[then] going to [my] nest21 laid down. (15-16) [6037-6038]
Then a hawk22 with an evil mind,23
after flying up24 slaughtered me,
loving-kindness in [my] heart, [my]
wishes turned25 to love of Buddha. (17) [6039]
Fallen from there, in Tusitā,
having enjoyed great happiness,
I came into a human womb ,
through the power of that karma. (18) [6040]
In this [present] lucky aeon
Brahmā’s Kinsman, Greatly Famed One,
named Kassapa through [his] lineage,26
Best Debater,27 [Buddha,] arose. (19) [6041]
Lighting up the dispensation,
overcoming evil rivals,
instructing the instruct-able, he
reached nirvana,28 with followers.29 (20) [6042]
When the World-Chief reached nirvana,
a numerous multitude, pleased,
are building the Teacher’s stupa,
in order to worship30 Buddha. (21) [6043]
They counseled [one another] thus:
“Let’s build for [him], the Sage So Great,
a stupa that’s seven leagues [tall],
adorned with [all] the seven gems.” (22) [6044]
As31 the leader of the army
of the king of Kāsi,32 Kiki,
I spoke of a trifling measure,
as the measure of33 the stupa. (23) [6045]
At that time, because of my word,
they built a stupa one league [tall]
for [him] the Hero among Men,34
[which was] adorned with varied gems. (24) [6046]
Due to that karma done very well,
with intention and [firm] resolve,
discarding [my] human body,
I went to Tāvatiṃsa [then]. (25) [6047]
And now, in [my] final rebirth,
I’m born in a millionaire’s clan,
rich, prosperous, very wealthy,
in the great city, Śrāvasti. (26) [6048]
At the city’s entrance seeing
the Buddha,35 [my] mind astonished,
going forth, in not a long time,
I attained [my] arahantship. (27) [6049]
Due to the karma of making
the stupa’s measure [smaller],
I’m born with a dwarfish body,
which is worthy of disrespect. (28) [6050]
Having worshipped36 the Seventh Sage
with a sound which was honey[-sweet],
I attained the top place among
the monks with voices that are sweet. (29) [6051]
Due to giving the Buddha fruit,
and [my] conforming with virtue,
endowed with the fruit of monkhood,
I am [now] living, undefiled. (30) [6052]
My defilements are [now] burnt up;
all [new] existence is destroyed.
Like elephants with broken chains,
I am living without constraint. (31) [6053]
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) [6054]
The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
[I have] done what the Buddha taught! (33) [6055]
Thus indeed Venerable Lakuṇṭakabhaddiya Thera spoke these verses.
The legend of Lakuṇṭakabhaddiya 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.↩
“Bhaddiya the Dwarf,” a historical monk. “Bhaddiya” means “Lucky One,” so the full name could be translated “Lucky, the Dwarf”. See DPPN II: 764-766↩
lit., “the Assembly’s hermitage”↩
lit., “preached”↩
vināyako↩
durāsado↩
duppasaho↩
sabbalokuttamo↩
ccharaṇena sampanno↩
brahā↩
ujupatāpavā↩
hitesi [read hitesī with BJTS] sabbasattānaŋ↩
phussakokilo. BJTS takes phussa (“speckled” “gaily colored”) as a proper name, “the cuckoo named Phussa”. While “Phussa” is indeed a proper name for the Buddha of the era in question, I follow RD in taking it here as a particular type of cuckoo. Be that as it may, there is a play on the name of the Buddha in that same age, Phussa↩
“Joy”↩
gandhakuṭi-samāsanne, lit., “in the same vicinity as the perfumed hut…”↩
junuttamaŋ↩
dakkhineyyaŋ↩
reading upaṭṭhākassa with BJTS for PTS uppaṭṭhākassa (presumably a typographical error)↩
lit., “for the Great Sage” (voc)↩
vassanto, lit., “uttering a bird-cry↩
reading niḷaṃ with BJTS for PTS nihhaŋ↩
sakuṇagghi, a particular kind of hawk (BJTS Sinh. gloss and PSI dict. give ukussā, Sinh-Eng Dict: kite, hawk, goshawk, harrier. The term lit., means “bird-killer”↩
reading duṭṭhamānaso with BJTS (and PTS alt.) for PTS duṭṭhamānasā (instr. would translate the same, “with an evil mind” but would have to function adverbially in the Pāli↩
upagantvā, lit., “having approached”↩
°gata°, lit., “gone”↩
gottena↩
vadataŋ varo↩
nibbuto↩
sasāvako↩
lit., “do pūjā”↩
hutvā, lit., “being”↩
i.e., Benares↩
lit., “in” “for”↩
naravīrassa↩
lit., “the Well-Gone-One”↩
lit., “done pūjā”↩