[435. {438.}[1] Harīṭakadāyaka[2]]
Myrobalan[3] and gooseberry,[4]
mango, rose-apple,[5] bahera,[6]
jujube,[7] markingnut,[8] bel[9] —
I’m carrying [that] by myself. (1) [4689]
Seeing a Meditator, Sage,
Trance-Lover, on a [mountain] slope,
a Great Sage [dwelling there] alone,
who was tormented by disease,
taking a myrobalan, I
gave [it] to the Self-Become One.
When the medicine was eaten,[10]
it allayed [the Buddha’s] illness. (2-3) [4690-4691]
With [his] pain eliminated,
the Buddha [then] expressed [his] thanks:[11]
“Due to this gift of medicine
and the allaying[12] of illness,
being divine or human, or
born in another existence,[13]
may you be happy everywhere,
and may illness not come to you.” (4-5) [4692-4693]
Having said this, the Sambuddha,
the Self-Become One, the Great Sage,
the Hero,[14] rose into the sky,
just like a swan-king in the air. (6) [4694]
From when I gave myrobalan
to the Great Sage, the Self-Become,
until this [present] birth [of mine,]
illness did not arise for me. (7) [4695]
This is the final time for me;
[my] last rebirth is proceeding.[15]
The three knowledges are attained;
[I have] done what the Buddha taught! (8) [4696]
In the ninety-four aeons since
I gave [him] medicine back then,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
that is the fruit of medicine. (9) [4697]
My defilements are [now] burnt up;
all [new] existence is destroyed.
Like elephants with broken chains,
I am living without constraint. (10) [4698]
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! (11) [4699]
The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
[I have] done what the Buddha taught! (12) [4700]
Thus indeed Venerable Harīṭakadāyaka Thera spoke these verses.
The legend of Harīṭakadāyaka 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. ↩︎
“Myrobalan Donor” ↩︎
harīṭakaŋ = Sinhala araḷu, yellow myrobalan, terminalia chebula ↩︎
āmalakaŋ = Sinhala nelli, phyllanthus emblica, emblic myrobalan, Indian gooseberry ↩︎
fruit of the eugenia, damba, jambu ↩︎
vibhīṭakaŋ, Sinhala buḷu, beleric myrobalan, bastard myrobalan, Terminalia bellirica ↩︎
kolaŋ, Sinh. ḍebara phala, Ziziphus Mauritania, Zyziphus Jujuba, Indian jujube or Chinese apple. ↩︎
bhallātakaŋ bhallī, badulla = semecarpus anacardium, Sinh. badulu ↩︎
bellaŋ, billā = fruit of Aegle marmelos, Sinh. beli geḍiya, bael, bel, Bengal quince; bilva or vilva tree, = beluvā ↩︎
khādamattamhi bhesajje, lit., “as soon as the medicine was eaten.” BJTS reads katamattamhi bhesajje (“right when the medicine was done [or made]”) ↩︎
anumodianiyaŋ akā, lit., “made an expression of thanks.” Both PTS and BJTS record an alternate reading which is more straightforward: anumodaŋ akāsi me, “expressed [his] thanks to me” ↩︎
reading °vūpasamena with BJTS for PTS °vupasamena ↩︎
jāto vā aññajātiyā, lit.,(following BJTS gloss) “or born in some other birth-state” ↩︎
BJTS (and PTS alt.) reads dhīro (“the wise one”) ↩︎
ccharimo vattate bhavo ↩︎