[539. {542.}[1] Kaṅkha-Revata[2]]
The Victor, Padumuttara,
the One with Eyes for everything,
the Leader [of the World,] arose
a hundred thousand aeons hence. (1) [6056]
Lion-Jawed[3] and Brahmā-Voiced,[4] his
sound[5] was [like] a swan’s [or] a drum’s;
gait heroic [like] a tusker’s,[6]
very bright [like] the moon [or] sun, (2) [6057]
Very Wise,[7] the Great Hero, the
Great Meditator, the Great Friend,[8]
Greatly Compassionate,[9] the Lord,
Dispeller of the Great Darkness,[10] (3) [6058]
the Three Worlds’ Chief,[11] the Sambuddha,
Sage, Knower of Beings’ Wishes,[12]
leading many who can be led[13]
whenever he preaches Dhamma, (4) [6059]
the Victor delighted[14] people,
praising amidst [his] retinue
a hero, meditator, calm
[and] undisturbed trance-loving [monk]. (5) [6060]
I then [lived] in Haṃsavatī,
brahmin master of the Vedas.
Hearing the Teaching, being thrilled,
I aspired [to attain] that place. (6) [6061]
Then the Victor prophesied, the
Leader, amidst the Assembly,
“O brahmin, you [should] be[15] thrilled, [for]
you’ll attain that delightful [place]. (7) [6062]
In one hundred thousand aeons,
arising in Okkāka’s clan,
the one whose name is Gotama
will be the Teacher in the world. (8) [6063]
Worthy heir to that one’s Dhamma,
Dhamma’s legitimate offspring,
the one whose name is Revata
will be the Teacher’s follower.” (9) [6064]
Due to that karma done very well,
with intention and [firm] resolve,
discarding [my] human body,
I went to Tāvatiṃsa [then]. (10) [6065]
And now, in [my] final rebirth,
I’m born in Koliya city,
in a well-off kṣatriyan clan,
rich, prosperous, very wealthy. (11) [6066]
When the Buddha preached the Dhamma
in Kapilavastu [city],
being pleased[16] in the Well-Gone-One,
I went forth into homelessness. (12) [6067]
I had lots of doubts, here and there,
[what is] proper, [what’s] improper;[17]
[while] preaching the supreme Dhamma,
the Buddha resolved[18] all of that. (13) [6068]
After that I crossed existence,
then fond of the pleasure in trance
I lived. At that time, seeing me,
the Buddha said this [about me]: (14) [6069]
“Which doubts exist in this world or the other,[19]
[whether] known by oneself or else known by another,
those who are meditators give up all that,
living the holy life,[20] energetically.”[21] (15) [6070][22]
Karma done a hundred thousand
[aeons hence] showed me [its] fruit here:
well-liberated, arrow-quick,
I have destroyed my defilements. (16) [6071]
Then the World-Surpasser,[23] the Sage,
after seeing my love of trance,
the Great Sage then appointed me:
“foremost of monks who meditate.” (17) [6072]
My defilements are [now] burnt up;
all [new] existence is destroyed.
Like elephants with broken chains,
I am living without constraint. (18) [6073]
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! (19) [6074]
The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
[I have] done what the Buddha taught! (20) [6075]
Thus indeed Venerable Kaṅkha-Revata Thera spoke these verses.
The legend of Kaṅkha-Revata 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. ↩︎
“Troubled Revata,” a historical monk so-named due to his scrupulosity about the Vinaya rules prior to attaining his arahantship. He was known as the foremost among those who are proficient in the trance-like meditative states called jhanas. See DPPN I: 474-475 ↩︎
sīhahanu. BJTS Sinh. gloss on this curious epithet is siṃhayakugē haṇu banda piruṇu haṇu ättē ya (“he has a full jaw like the jaw of a lion”) ↩︎
brahmagiro ↩︎
the final component of this compound varies considerably in the texts; all the alternatives seem to indicate “sound” or “noise,” paralleling other forms of this adjective (e.g., [5624], [5734]) . PTS reads haŋsadundrabhinisvano, which is garbled*;* BJTS reads haṃsadundubhibissaro. I follow BJTS and BJTS Sinh. gloss haḍḍa. Presumably the meaning is that his voice was loud or resonated well. BJTS takes the first two components of the compound, haṃsa + dundubhi, as the name of a particular type of drum, “Swan-drum” (hasbera), though I find no indication of such an instrument in the dictionaries and so find more likely the translation here, that the Buddha’s sound was resounding like that of a swan or a drum — loud but pleasant. ↩︎
nāgavikkantagamano ↩︎
mahāmati ↩︎
mahāhito. BJTS reads mahābalo (“Very Strong”) ↩︎
mahākāruṇiko ↩︎
mahātamanisūdano (BJTS reads, more coherently, mahātamapanūdano) ↩︎
tilokaggo ↩︎
sattâsayavidū ↩︎
veneyyavinayaŋ bahuŋ; BJTS tries to clean up the grammar with vineyye vinayaṃ bahuṃ ↩︎
toseti, lit., “is delighting” ↩︎
lit., “be” (imperative) ↩︎
tadā pasanno, lit., “then being pleased” ↩︎
kappākappe, or “permitted…prohibited” or “the rule…not the rule” or “suitable…not suitable” ↩︎
vinayī, both “removed” and “instructed” ↩︎
idha vā huraŋ vā, cf. RD, s.v. and his references to re-use of the phrase in poetry: S.i.12; DH 20; Sn 224 = J. i.96. ↩︎
or “wandering in celibacy”: brahmacchariyan ccharantā ↩︎
pronounce all six syllables when chanting, or else read “[most] energetically,” to keep the meter. ↩︎
This verse is in a more complex 11-12-11-12 meter named xxx (reading ye jhāyino tā with BJTS for PTS jhāyino tā in the third foot, thereby preserving both meter and grammar. ↩︎
lokantagū, lit., “who has gone to the ends of the world” (understood by BJTS to refer to bhavotpattiya, the process of rebirth or re-existence itself) ↩︎