[543. {546.}1 Kāḷudāyi2]
The Victor, Padumuttara,
the One with Eyes for everything,
the Leader [of the World,] arose
a hundred thousand aeons hence. (1) [6187]
The Teacher, Best among Leaders,3
Victor, Knower of Right from Wrong,4
Grateful,5 Mindful of Benefits,6
urges on those7 at the crossing.8 (2) [6188]
Home of Kindness,9 examining
[things] with [his] omniscient knowledge,
the Limitless Heap of Virtue10
is preaching [his] superb Dhamma. (3) [6189]
At one time he, the Great Hero,
assembled with limitless folks,11
is preaching the honeyed Dhamma,
along with the Four [Noble] Truths. (4) [6190]
Having heard the superb Teaching,
pure in beginning, middle, end,
there was Dhamma-penetration12
for one hundred thousand beings. (5) [6191]
At that time the earth sounded forth
and the clouds [began their] growling;
the gods, Brahmā, men [and] titans
continued13 saying “Excellent!” (6) [6192]
“O! The Compassionate Teacher!
O! Preaching of the great Dhamma!
O! The Victor lifts up those sunk
in the ocean of existence.” (7) [6193]
When Brahmā with the gods [and] men
were thus stirred up with emotion,14
the Victor praised a follower,
foremost of pleasers15 of the clans. (8) [6194]
I then [lived] in Haṃsavatī,
born in a clan of ministers.
Comfortable16 and good-looking,
I was rich, with abundant wealth. (9) [6195]
Having approached Swan Hermitage,17
worshipping him, the Thus-Gone-One,
hearing [his] honey[-sweet] Dhamma,
having served18 the Neutral One, (10) [6196]
bowing down before [his] feet, I
spoke these words [to him at that time]:
“O Sage, he who was praised by you,
foremost of the pleasers of clans,
I will be like him, O Hero,
in a Buddha’s19 dispensation.” (11) [6197, 6198a-b]20
Then the Great Compassionate One
said to me as though sprinkling me
with ambrosia,21 “Son, striving one,
you’ll attain that beautiful [place].
Doing a deed for the Victor,
how could it then be without fruit? (12) [6198c-d, 6199]
In one hundred thousand aeons,
arising in Okkāka’s clan,
the one whose name is Gotama
will be the Teacher in the world. (13) [6200]
Worthy heir to that one’s Dhamma,
Dhamma’s legitimate offspring,
the one whose name is Udāyi
will be the Teacher’s follower.” (14) [6201]
After hearing that I was thrilled,
[and] then for as long as [I] lived,
loving-hearted, I served the Guide,
the Victor, with the requisites. (15) [6202]
Due to that karma done very well,
with intention and [firm] resolve,
discarding [my] human body,
I went to Tāvatiṃsa [then]. (16) [6203]
And now in [my] final rebirth,
in lovely Kapilavastu,
I’m born in a minister’s clan,
with Suddhodana22 as [our] king. (17) [6204]
When in lovely Lumbini grove,
Siddhartha, the Bull among Men,
was born for the well-being and
the happiness of every world, (18) [6205]
on that same day, I [too] was born,
[and] I grew up along with him,
beloved, friendly, [and] held dear,
confident [and] skilled in the law. (19) [6206]
At the age of twenty-nine [years,]
departing [from there] he went forth.
Contorting [himself] for six years,
he [then] was the Buddha, the Guide. (20) [6207]
Conquering Death [and] his army,
casting out [all the] defilements,
crossing the flood of existence,
he [then] was Buddha in the world.23 (21) [6208]
Going to the [place] named Isi24
he instructed the group of five;25
then the Blessed One instructed
[folks], going, going here [and] there. (22) [6209]
Instructing those who could be led,
assisting [the world] with [its] gods,
approaching Maṅgalā mountain,26
the Victor then dwelt [in that place]. (23) [6210]
Then sent by Suddhodana, the
earth’s protector,27 going, seeing
the Ten-Powered One,28 going forth,
I [too] became an arahant. (24) [6211]
Then asking [it of] the Great Sage,
I brought [him back] to Kapila.29
Then having gone [back there] again
I’m bringing the great clan pleasure.30 (25) [6212]
The Victor, glad at that virtue,
the Bull of People spoke to me.
The Guide appointed me foremost
among the pleasers of the clans. (26) [6213]
My defilements are [now] burnt up;
all [new] existence is destroyed.
Like elephants with broken chains,
I am living without constraint. (27) [6214]
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! (28) [6215]
The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
[I have] done what the Buddha taught! (29) [6216]
Thus indeed Venerable Kāḷudāyi Thera spoke these verses.
The legend of Kāḷudāyi 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.↩
a historical monk, famous as foremost among the pleasers of clans, and also for bringing the Buddha back to Kapilavastu after his Awakening. See DPPN I: 589-590↩
nāyakānaŋ varo satthā↩
or “virtue from ignomy”: reading guṇāguṇavidū with BJTS for PTS guṇāguṇe vidū↩
kataññū↩
katavedī↩
lit., “beings”↩
or “ford”: titthe↩
dayāsayo↩
anantaguṇasañcchayo↩
reading anantajanasaṃsadī with BJTS (taking it fr. saṃsandati, “to flow together” “to associate with;” BJTS Sinh. gloss anantajanayā gen yut sabamäda, “in the midst of an assembly made fixed by getting of endless people;”) for PTS anantajanataŋ sarī (“remembering an endless populace”). Other alts. include (PTS) anantajinasaŋsariŋ (“I transmigrated with the endless Victor [or endless Victors]”) and (BJTS) anantajinasaṃsarī (“he who Transmigrates with Endless Victors” or “Who Transmigrates As the Endless Victor”) and anantajanasaṃsudhī (“Purifier of Limitless People”). The accepted BJTS reading could (should?) also be taken as an epithet, “Assembled with Limitless Folks”↩
dhammābhisamayo↩
pavattiŋsu↩
saŋvegajātesu, lit., “had produced emotion” “were moved”↩
kulappasādakāna°. Pasādakas or “pleasers,” those who produce emotion (saṃvega) and pleasure (pasāda) by preaching the Dhamma, have long been taken (incorrectly, I believe) as “Buddhist missionaries”↩
pāsādiko↩
haṃsârāmam appears to be a proper name, though it could also be taken as “the hermitage in [my hometown] Haṃsavatī”↩
kāraŋ katvā, lit., “having done a deed”↩
lit., “in a Best Buddha’s”↩
here PTS presents as two six-footed verses material that BJTS presents as three four-footed ones. The PTS reading seems on the mark here, as it contains the two speeches in single verses. Indeed, BJTS Sinh. gloss has to take all three verses [6197-6199] as a single unit in order to convey the grammar correctly.↩
siñcchanto vāmatena maŋ↩
the Buddha’s father↩
sadevake, lit., “in [the world] with [its] gods”↩
i.e., the Isipatana, an open space near Benares (Sārnāth) which was the home of the Deer Park where he preached the first sermon, the Dhammacchakkappavattanasutta↩
i.e., the five monks who had been his compatriots while practicing austerities (“contortion”) for six years, to whom he preached the first sermon, making them the first followers (and the first arahants, after himself)↩
this account is apparently the only classical reference to the mountain (or hill, giri), see DPPN II:411 (where the spelling is Maṅgalagiri, sic)↩
i.r., “the king”↩
dasabalaŋ↩
lit., “to the [place] named Kapila,” i.e., to Kapilavastu, home city of both the protagonist and of the Buddha↩
pasādemi↩