[544. {547.}1 Abhaya2]

The Victor, Padumuttara,
the One with Eyes for everything,
the Leader [of the World,] arose
a hundred thousand aeons hence. (1) [6217]

The Thus-Gone-One exhorts someone
in the going for refuge, [and]
he exhorts someone in morals,
in the supreme ten ways to act.3 (2) [6218]

The Hero gives to somebody
the ultimate fruit of monkhood,
[and] likewise the eight attainments;4
he bestows the three knowledges. (3) [6219]

Supreme Man5 urges some being
in the six special knowledges,
[and] the Lord gives to somebody
the four analytical modes. (4) [6220]

Seeing folks to be awakened,
[across] leagues that can’t be counted,
in no time having approached [them],
the Charioteer of Men exhorts. (5) [6221]

I then [lived] in Haṃsavatī;
I was the son of a brahmin,
a master of all the Vedas,
revered as a grammarian,
skillful in etymology,
confident in definitions,
verse-knower,6 ritual-knower,7
[also] clever at prosody.8 (6-7) [6222-6223]

[While] wandering about on foot,
having approached Swan Hermitage,9
I saw [him], the Best Debater,10
Honored by the Great Populace,11 (8) [6224]

preaching the Dhamma without stain.
I, with contrary ideas,
after having gone up to [him],
after hearing his stainless words, (9) [6225]

[looking for a word] of the Sage
which was incorrect, repeated,
or12 thrown-off or without meaning,
I saw none; therefore I went forth. (10) [6226]

After not a long time, being
confident among all teachers,
I am taken as an expert13
in the subtle words of Buddha. (11) [6227]

After having put together14
four well-written15 verses [for him],
praising the Chief of the Three Worlds,
I had [them] preached16 from day to day. (12) [6228]

“In [this] frightful existence you
are Free from Passion,17 Great Hero;18
out of compassion, you don’t die,19
thus [you’re] ‘the Compassionate Sage.’ (13) [6229]

Someone who’s20 a common person
not overwhelmed by defilements,
[would be] attentive21 and mindful;22
thus [Buddha’s] inconceivable. (14) [6230]

These are not destroyed by themselves,
[even] someone’s weak defilements,
consumed in the fire of knowledge.
It [would be] a marvel [if so]. (15) [6231]

He who’s the Teacher of All Worlds:23
for him the world’s thus a teacher;
he’s thus [known as] ‘the World-Teacher’24
[and] the world is following him.” (16) [6232]

With [fine verses] like those, I praised
the Sambuddha,25 Dhamma-preacher;26
doing so as long as [I] lived,
after death27 I went to heaven.28 (17) [6233]

In the hundred thousand aeons
since I praised the Buddha [like that],
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
that’s the fruit of praising [Buddha]. (18) [6234]

I experienced a lot of
great kingship in the world of gods,
and local kingship [here on earth,]
[and] wheel-turning kingship [as well]. (19) [6235]

I transmigrate in [just] two states:
that of a god, or of a man.
I do not know other rebirths;
that’s the fruit of praising [Buddha]. (20) [6236]

[When human] I‘m born in two clans:
the kṣatriyan or the brahmin.
I don’t get born29 in lesser clans:
that’s the fruit of praising [Buddha]. (21) [6237]

Now, in [my] final existence,
in Rajgir, ultimate city,30
I am King Bimbisāra’s son,
and [my given] name’s Abhaya. (22) [6238]

Influenced31 by an evil friend,32
I was bewildered by a Jain.
Sent by the leader of the Jains,33
I approached the Best of Buddhas. (23) [6239]

Having asked a subtle question,
hearing [Buddha’s] supreme response,
going forth, in not a long time,
I attained [my] arahantship. (24) [6240]

After praising the Best Victor,34
I [myself] am praised all the time.
With good-scented body and mouth,
I am endowed with happiness. (25) [6241]

Thus indeed I am greatly wise,
with sharp, clever [and] quick wisdom,
and I [speak] with varied discourse,
through the power of that karma. (26) [6242]

With pleasure in [my] heart, praising the Worthy,35
the Unmatched,36 Self-Become37 Padumuttara,
as the fruit of that, to a place [full] of woe,
for a [whole] lakh38 of aeons, I did not go. (27) [6243]39

My defilements are [now] burnt up;
all [new] existence is destroyed.
Like elephants with broken chains,
I am living without constraint. (28) [6244]

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! (29) [6245]

The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
[I have] done what the Buddha taught! (30) [6246]

Thus indeed Venerable Abhaya Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Abhaya Thera is finished.

  1. 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.↩

  2. “Fearless,” a historical monk, commonly known as Abhayarājakumāra, “Abhaya the Royal Prince,” because he was the son of King Bimbisāra of Rajgir. See DPPN I:127-128.↩

  3. dasakammapathuttame: RD: “divided into kusala (meritorious, good) and akusala (demeritorious, evil) and classified according to the three manifestations” of body (3 kammapathas), speech (4 kammapathas) and mind (3 kammapathas), for a total of ten.↩

  4. namely the four jhanas and the four formless realms (of infinite space, infinite consciousness, nothingness, and neither consciousness nor unconsciousness)↩

  5. naruttamo↩

  6. padako, i.e. knowing the lines and feet of the Vedic poems↩

  7. keṭubhavidū↩

  8. chandovicchitikovido↩

  9. haṃsârāmam appears to be a proper name, though it also could be taken as “the hermitage in [my hometown] Haṃsavatī”↩

  10. vadataŋ seṭṭhaŋ↩

  11. mahājana-purakkhataŋ↩

  12. reading vā with BJTS for PTS ccha (“and”)↩

  13. gaṇi°, lit., “one who has a group [of followers],” “a teacher”↩

  14. reading ganthayitvā with BJTS for PTS ganthavitvā↩

  15. suvyañjanaŋ (“with good characteristics” “good in the letter [as opposed to the meaning]”)↩

  16. desayissaŋ↩

  17. viratto↩

  18. reading mahāvra (voc.) with BJTS for PTS mahāvīro (nom).↩

  19. na nibbāyi, lit., “did not die” or “did not reach full nirvana (parinibbāna)”↩

  20. reading santo with BJTS (and PTS alt.) for PTS satto (“a creature”)↩

  21. sampajāno↩

  22. satiyutto↩

  23. sabbalokassa guru (BJTS reads garu, the older form, but glosses guru). I follow BJTS Sinh. gloss in taking this as referring specifically to a Buddha, hence capitalize it as a Buddha-epithet.↩

  24. reading lokcchāriyo with BJTS for PTS lokacchariyā (sic).↩

  25. reading sambuddhaṃ with BJTS for PTS yaŋ Budhhaŋ (“which Buddha”)↩

  26. PTS dhammadesakaŋ; BJTS dhammadesataṃ↩

  27. tato cchuto, lit., “fallen from there”↩

  28. gato saggaŋ↩

  29. reading jāyāmi with BJTS for PTS jānāmi (“know”)↩

  30. giribbajapuruttame. Giribbaja or Girivraja is another name for Rajgir (also for Vaṅkagiri; see DPPN I:770)↩

  31. °vasaŋ gantvā, lit., “having gone under the power of”↩

  32. pāpamitta°, a friend who enjoins one to evil deeds, as contrasted with a “beautiful friend” (kalyānamitta) who enjoins one to do good.↩

  33. lit., “sent by Nāṭaputta,” the typical Pāli designation of Vardhamāna Mahāvīra, the Jina. (BJTS reads nātaputtena). For details about him as depicted in the Pāli texts see DPPN II: 61-64. The protagonist is “sent” by the Jina in order to spy on or refute the Buddha.↩

  34. jinavaraŋ↩

  35. arahaŋ, i.e., “the arahant”↩

  36. asamaŋ↩

  37. sayambhuŋ↩

  38. i.e., for one hundred thousand aeons↩

  39. this verse is in the more complex xxx meter, with eleven-syllable feet.↩