27.

Commentary on the Lineage of the Buddha Gotama

The Distant Origin Treatise

Therein, our Bodhisatta, making aspiration in the presence of twenty-four Buddhas beginning with Dīpaṅkara, came through four incalculable aeons exceeding a hundred thousand cosmic cycles. But in the period before the Blessed One Kassapa, setting aside this Fully Self-Enlightened One, there is no other Buddha. Thus, the Bodhisatta who had received a declaration in the presence of twenty-four Buddhas beginning with Dīpaṅkara, by means of which -

Having combined these eight factors, by the resolution made at the feet of Dīpaṅkara, having made the effort "Come, the qualities that make a Buddha, I shall investigate here and there," "Searching then I saw the first perfection of giving" - the practices bringing about Buddhahood beginning with the perfection of giving were seen, and while fulfilling them he came as far as the individual existence as Vessantara, and while coming, the benefits that have been praised for Bodhisattas who have made their resolution -

He came having attained those benefits. Thus coming, standing in the individual existence as Vessantara -

Thus, having performed great meritorious deeds such as the great earth-trembling and so on, at the end of his life span, having passed away from there, he was reborn in the Tusita city.

The Not-Far Origin Treatise

But while the Bodhisatta was still dwelling in the Tusita city, what is called the Buddha uproar arose. For in the world three uproars arise. That is: The cosmic cycle uproar, the Buddha uproar, and the universal monarch uproar. Therein, "by the elapse of a hundred thousand years, the arising of a cosmic cycle will occur" - the sensual-sphere gods called Lokabyūhā, with loosened hair-knots, with dishevelled hair, with weeping faces, wiping tears with their hands, clothed in red garments, having assumed exceedingly ugly appearances, wandering along the paths of humans, announce thus - "Sirs, sirs, by the elapse of a hundred thousand years from now, the arising of a cosmic cycle will occur; this world will be destroyed; the great ocean too will dry up; and this great earth and Sineru, the king of mountains, will be burnt up and destroyed; as far as the Brahmā world, the destruction of the world will occur. Develop friendliness, sirs; develop compassion, altruistic joy, and equanimity, sirs; attend upon your mothers and fathers; be those who honour the elders in the family." This is called the cosmic cycle uproar.

"But by the elapse of a thousand years, an omniscient Buddha will arise in the world" - the guardian deities of the world - Wander about proclaiming: "By the elapse of a thousand years from now, sirs, a Buddha will arise in the world." This is called the Buddha uproar.

"By the elapse of a hundred years, a universal monarch will arise" - the deities - Wander about proclaiming: "By the elapse of a hundred years from now, sirs, a universal monarch will arise." This is called the universal monarch uproar.

Among them, having heard the sound of the announcement about the coming of a Buddha, the deities of the entire ten-thousand world-systems, having assembled together - Having known "Such and such a being will become a Buddha," having approached him, they implore; and they implore when the advanced signs have arisen. At that time, however, all of them, having assembled in each world-system together with the Four Great Kings, Sakka, the Suyāma gods, the Santusita gods, the Sunimmita gods, the Vasavattī gods, and the Great Brahmās from each world-system, having gone to the presence of the Bodhisatta in the Tusita realm, in whom the sign of passing away had arisen - "Sir, the ten perfections have been fulfilled by you; and while fulfilling them, they were not fulfilled by you aspiring for the success of Sakka, Brahmā, and so on; but they were completely fulfilled by you aspiring for omniscience for the purpose of crossing over the world, for the sake of Buddhahood -

They requested.

Then the Great Being, being thus implored by the deities, without giving his acknowledgment to the deities, investigated the five great investigations by way of the delimitation of time, continent, region, clan, mother, and life span. Therein, he first investigated the time, thinking "Is it the right time or not the right time?" Therein, a period when the life span has increased above a hundred thousand years is not the right time. Why? For at that time birth, ageing, and death are not apparent to beings, and the teaching of the Teaching of the Buddhas is never free from the three characteristics; when they speak of "impermanent, suffering, non-self," they think "What indeed is this they are speaking of?" and consider it neither worth hearing nor worth believing; from that there is no full realisation, and in its absence the Dispensation is not leading to liberation. Therefore that is not the right time. A period when the life span is less than a hundred years is also not the right time. Why? At that time beings are abundant in defilements, and exhortation given to those abundant in defilements does not remain in the place of exhortation; like a line drawn in water, it quickly disappears. Therefore that too is not the right time. But a life-span period below a hundred thousand years and above a hundred years is the right time. At that time, however, it was a period of a hundred years. Then the Great Being saw the time, thinking "It is the time to be reborn."

Then, looking at the continent, having surveyed the four great continents together with their surrounding islands - he saw the continent, thinking "In three continents Buddhas are not born; they are born only in the Indian subcontinent."

Then, "The Indian subcontinent is great, measuring ten thousand yojanas. In which region indeed are Buddhas born?" - looking at the place, he saw the Middle Country. He came to the conclusion "There is a city named Kapilavatthu; I should be reborn there."

Then, investigating the clan - "Buddhas are not born in a merchant family or in a worker family. But they are born in a family of the warrior caste or in a brahmin family esteemed by the world; at present the warrior clan is esteemed by the world; I shall be reborn there; the king named Suddhodana will be my father" - thus he saw the clan.

Then, investigating the mother - "A Buddha's mother is not greedy or a drunkard, but one who has fulfilled the perfections for a hundred thousand cosmic cycles, and from birth she keeps the five precepts unbroken. And this queen named Mahāmāyā is such a one; she will be my mother. But how long is her life span?" - he saw "Seven days beyond ten months."

Thus, having investigated this fivefold great investigation - having given his acknowledgment to the deities, saying "It is the time, sirs, for my Buddhahood" - having dismissed those deities saying "Go, you," surrounded by the Tusita deities, he entered the Nandana grove in the Tusita city. For indeed in all the heavenly worlds there is a Nandana grove. There the deities - wander about reminding him of the opportunity for wholesome action formerly done, saying "Having passed away from here, may you go to a fortunate destination." He, thus surrounded by deities reminding him of wholesome deeds, while wandering about right there, passed away and took conception in the womb of Queen Mahāmāyā under the constellation of Uttarāsāḷha. But at the moment of the Great Man taking conception in his mother's womb, the entire ten-thousandfold world system trembled all at once. Thirty-two advanced signs appeared.

Thus, for the purpose of warding off danger to both the Bodhisatta who had taken conception and the Bodhisatta's mother, four young gods with swords in hand took up protection. In the Bodhisatta's mother, no mind of lust towards men arose, and she was happy, having attained the highest gain and the highest fame, with unwearied body. And she sees the Bodhisatta gone within her womb, like a yellow thread strung through a clear gem-jewel. Because a womb dwelt in by a Bodhisatta is like the inner chamber of a shrine, not able to be dwelt in or used by another being, therefore the Bodhisatta's mother, when the Bodhisatta was seven days old, having died, was reborn in the Tusita city. But just as other women give birth without reaching ten months, or having exceeded them, or while seated, or while lying down, the Bodhisatta's mother does not do so. But the Bodhisatta's mother, having carried the Bodhisatta in the womb for ten months, gives birth while standing. This is the natural law regarding the Bodhisatta's mother.

Queen Mahāmāyā too, having carried the Bodhisatta in her womb for ten months, being full with child, wishing to go to her relatives' home, informed the Great King Suddhodana - "I wish, great king, to go to the city of Devadaha." The king, having accepted saying "Good," having had the road from Kapilavatthu as far as the city of Devadaha made straight and level, having had it decorated with plantain trees, full pitchers, areca palms, flags, banners, and so on, having had her seated in a new golden palanquin, sent her with great splendour and a great retinue. Now between the two cities there is a grove of auspicious Sāla trees named the Lumbinī grove, worthy of use by the residents of both cities. At that time, from the roots up to the topmost branches, everything was in full bloom with a single mass of flowers. Having seen the forest, resplendent like the Nandana grove of the gods, being sung to among the branches and among the flowers by female bees who had experienced the five royal pleasures, intoxicated and joyful, with supremely delightful, sweet, and charming songs, brought from afar by their bee-husbands, the thought arose in the queen to enjoy the sport of the Sāla grove.

The ministers, having reported to the king, took the queen and entered that Lumbinī grove. She, having gone to the foot of the auspicious Sāla tree, whichever branch of that tree with its straight, even, and round trunk, adorned with flowers, fruits, and young leaves, she wished to grasp, that Sāla branch, like a woman, swaying the hearts of the people, of its own accord hanging down, came to the palm of her hand. Then she grasped that Sāla branch with her right hand, supremely delightful, with copper-coloured lofty nails shining brightly, with fingers rounded like lotus petals, resplendent with bracelets of fresh gold. She, having grasped that Sāla branch and standing, shone like a crescent moon gone through an opening in dark rain clouds, and like a flame of brief duration, and like a goddess born in the Nandana grove. At that very moment her kamma-born winds stirred. Then, having surrounded her with a screen wall, the great multitude withdrew. While she was standing holding the Sāla branch, the delivery took place.

At that very moment four Great Brahmās of pure minds, having taken a golden net, having come, having received the Bodhisatta with that golden net, having placed him before his mother - "Be delighted, queen; an influential son has been born to you" - they said. But just as other beings, emerging from the mother's womb, emerge smeared with repulsive impurity, the Bodhisatta was not thus. But the Bodhisatta, having stretched out both hands and both feet, while still standing, unsmeared by any impurity arising from the mother's womb, pure and clean, shining like a gem-jewel placed on Kāsi cloth, emerged from his mother's womb. Even so, for the purpose of honouring the Bodhisatta and the Bodhisatta's mother, two streams of water came forth from the sky and refreshed the bodies of the Bodhisatta and his mother.

Then, from the hands of the brahmā gods who stood having received him with a golden net, the four great kings took him on a cheetah-hide sheet considered auspicious and of pleasant contact; from their hands human beings took him with a fine cloth pad; having been released from the hands of the human beings, he stood firmly on the earth and looked towards the eastern direction; many thousands of world-systems were like a single open courtyard. There gods and humans, venerating with scents, flower-garlands, and so on - "Great man, here there is none equal to you, how much less one who surpasses you" - they said. Thus, having surveyed the ten directions and not seeing anyone equal to himself, facing the northern direction, he went with seven strides. And while going, he went on the earth itself, not through space. He went naked indeed, not clothed. He went as a young one indeed, not as a youth of sixteen years of age. But to the great multitude he appeared as if going through space, as if decorated and prepared, and as if a youth of sixteen years of age. Then, standing at the seventh step, uttering a bold speech beginning with "I am the foremost in the world," he roared the lion's roar.

For the Bodhisatta uttered speech as soon as he emerged from his mother's womb in three individual existences - in the individual existence as Mahosadha, in the individual existence as Vessantara, and in this individual existence. In the individual existence as Mahosadha, it is said, even as he had just emerged from his mother's womb, Sakka, the king of gods, having come, having placed the essence of sandalwood in his hand, departed; he emerged having made it into a fist. Then his mother - "Dear son, what have you taken and come with?" - she asked. "Medicine, mother." Thus, because he had come having taken medicine, they gave him the name "Medicine-prince."

But in the individual existence as Vessantara, as soon as he emerged from his mother's womb, having stretched out his right hand - "Is there indeed anything in the house, mother? I shall give a gift" - saying thus, he emerged. Then his mother - "You have been born in a wealthy family, dear son" - having placed her son's hand on the palm of her own hand, she placed a bag containing a thousand pieces of gold coins there.

But in this individual existence he roared this lion's roar. Thus the Bodhisatta uttered speech as soon as he emerged from his mother's womb in three individual existences. At the moment of his birth too, thirty-two advanced signs appeared. But at the time when our Bodhisatta was born in the Lumbinī grove, at that very time Queen Rāhulamātā, Ānanda, Channa, the councillor Kāḷudāyī, Kaṇḍaka the king of horses, the great Bodhi tree, and four treasure-pots were born; therein one was a league in measure, one was half a yojana in measure, one was three leagues in measure, and one was a yojana in measure. These seven are called "born simultaneously."

The inhabitants of both cities, having taken the Great Man, went to the city of Kapilavatthu itself. On that very day - In the Tāvatiṃsa realm, the hosts of gods, full of mirth, thinking "The son of the Great King Suddhodana in the city of Kapilavatthu, having sat down at the foot of the Bodhi tree, will become a Buddha," sported, setting going the waving of garments and so on. At that time, a hermit named Kāḷadevala, a family attendant of the Great King Suddhodana, an obtainer of the eight meditative attainments, having done the meal duty, having gone to the Tāvatiṃsa realm for the purpose of the day's abiding, seated there for the day's abiding, having seen those deities sporting with satisfied minds, asked "Why are you playing with satisfied minds and delighted hearts? Tell me that reason." Thereupon the deities said - "Dear sir, a son has been born to King Suddhodana; he, having sat down at the seat of enlightenment, having become a Buddha, will set in motion the wheel of the Teaching. 'We shall obtain the opportunity to see his infinite grace of a Buddha' - for this reason we are satisfied."

Then the hermit, having heard the words of those deities, having descended from the world of gods, supremely beautiful with its splendour of jewels, having entered the dwelling of the king of men, sat down on the prepared seat. Thereupon, to the king who had received him with hospitality - "A son, it is said, has been born to you, great king; we shall see him," he said. The king, having had the son brought adorned and prepared, brought him forward to have him pay homage to the hermit Devala. The Great Man's feet turned around and, like lightning on dark rain-cloud peaks, became established on the matted hair of the hermit. For there is no other person to be paid homage to by the Bodhisatta in that individual existence. Thereupon the hermit, having risen from his seat, raised joined palms in salutation to the Bodhisatta. The king, having seen that marvel, paid homage to his own son. The hermit, having seen the excellency of marks of the Bodhisatta - Having adverted "Will he become a Buddha or not?" reflecting - Having known by the knowledge of future events "Without doubt he will become a Buddha" - He smiled, thinking "This is a marvellous person."

Thereupon, reflecting "Shall I obtain the opportunity to see this one become enlightened, or not?" - Having seen "I shall not obtain it; having died right there in the interval, I shall be reborn in an immaterial existence which even a hundred Buddhas or even a thousand Buddhas, having gone, would be unable to awaken" - He wailed, thinking "I shall not obtain the opportunity to see such a marvellous person become enlightened; great indeed will be my loss." But the people, having seen this - "Our lord, having just now smiled, then began to weep; will there indeed be, venerable sir, any obstacle for our young master?" they asked. The hermit said - "There is no obstacle for him; without doubt he will become a Buddha." "Then why did you wail?" "I shall not obtain the opportunity to see such a marvellous person become enlightened; bewailing myself thinking 'Great indeed will be my loss,' I weep," he said.

Thereupon, having bathed the Bodhisatta's head on the fifth day - thinking "We shall take the name," having anointed the royal palace with the four kinds of scent, having scattered flowers with parched corn as the fifth, having had unbroken milk-rice cooked, having invited one hundred and eight brahmins who had gone beyond the three Vedas, having had them seated in the royal palace, having fed them with honey milk-rice, having made honour - they had the characteristics examined, thinking "What indeed will he become?" Among them, Rāma and the others, eight wise brahmins, were the examiners of the characteristics. Among them, seven persons, having raised two fingers, declared in two ways - "One endowed with these characteristics, if dwelling in a house, becomes a king, a universal monarch; if going forth, a Buddha." But the youngest of all of them, a brahmin named Koṇḍañña by clan, having seen the Bodhisatta's excellence of noble characteristics - having raised only one finger, made a definite declaration: "There is no reason for this one to remain in the midst of a household; certainly this one will become a Buddha, one who removes the veil." Then those giving him a name, because he would accomplish the welfare of the whole world, gave the name "Siddhattha."

Then those brahmins, having gone to their own homes, addressed their sons and said thus - "We are old; whether or not we shall be able to honour the son of the great King Suddhodana when he has attained omniscience, you, however, when he has gone forth and attained omniscience, should go forth in his Dispensation." Thereupon those seven persons too, having remained as long as life lasted, went according to their actions. The young man Koṇḍañña was healthy. At that time, however, the king, having heard their words - asked them: "Having seen what will my son go forth?" "Four advanced signs, Sire." "And which and which?" "One feeble with age, one afflicted with disease, a dead one, and one gone forth." The king, having said "Henceforth do not allow those of such a form to come into the presence of my son," for the purpose of preventing the coming of aged persons and the like into the prince's range of vision, set up a guard at every league in the four directions. On that day, when eighty thousand families of relatives had gathered together at the place of the blessing ceremony, each one pledged one son each - "Whether this one becomes a Buddha or a king, we shall give one son each. If he becomes a Buddha, he will go about surrounded by warrior-caste ascetics only. If he becomes a king, a universal monarch, he will go about surrounded by warrior-caste princes only." Then the king gave the Great Man sixty-four nurses accomplished in supreme beauty, free from all faults. The Bodhisatta grew up with a boundless retinue and great splendour of glory.

Then one day there was for the king a festival called the ploughing festival. On that day the king, going forth from the city with great splendour and a great retinue, took his son too and went. At the place of ploughing there was a rose-apple tree, supremely delightful, giving dense thick shade. Having prepared a bed for the prince beneath it, having tied above a canopy of red cloth inlaid with excellent golden stars, having had it enclosed with a screen wall, having set up protection, the king, having adorned himself with all ornaments, surrounded by a company of ministers, went to the place of ploughing. There the king takes the supremely auspicious golden plough; the ministers and others take the silver ploughs and so on. On that day a thousand ploughs are yoked. The nurses who were seated surrounding the Bodhisatta - thinking "We shall see the king's splendour," went out from within the screen.

Then the Bodhisatta, looking here and there, not seeing anyone, suddenly rising, folding his legs crosswise, having taken hold of the breathing, produced the first meditative absorption. The nurses, wandering about amongst the solid and soft food, tarried a little. The shadows of the other trees had turned away, but the shadow of that rose-apple tree, having become circular, stood right there. But the nurses, thinking "The master's son is alone," quickly lifting up the screen wall and searching, having seen him seated cross-legged on the royal couch and that wonder, went and reported that incident to the king. The king, having come quickly and having seen that wonder - "This, dear son, is the second homage to you" - paid homage to his son.

Then the Great Man gradually became sixteen years of age. The king had three mansions built for the Bodhisatta suitable for the three seasons, named Ramma, Suramma, and Subha. One of nine storeys, one of seven storeys, one of five storeys. All three mansions too were equal in height. But there was diversity in the storeys.

Then the king thought - "My son has come of age; having raised the umbrella over him, I shall see the sovereignty." He sent letters to the Sākiyans: "My son has come of age; I shall establish him in the kingdom. Let all send the girls who have come of age in their own houses to this house." They, having heard the king's message - "The prince is merely accomplished in beauty, does not know any craft, will not be able to maintain a wife; we shall not give our daughters" - they said. The king, having heard that incident, having gone to the presence of his son, reported that matter. The Bodhisatta - "What craft is it fitting to show?" he said. "It is fitting to string a bow of a thousand men's strength, dear father." "Then have it brought" he said. The king had it brought and gave it. That bow a thousand men string, a thousand men unstring. The Great Man, having had that bow brought, while seated just cross-legged, having wound the bowstring around his big toe, pulling, with his big toe alone having strung the bow, having grasped the shaft with his left hand, having pulled with his right hand, he set the bowstring. The whole city reached a state as if about to fly up. When it was said "What is this sound?" they said "The sky is thundering." Then others said "You do not know; the sky is not thundering; this is the sound of the bowstring strike of the prince Aṅgīrasa, having strung the bow of a thousand men's strength and striking the bowstring." The Sākiyans, having heard that, by just that much were with won favour and satisfied minds.

Then the Great Man - "What is it fitting to do?" he said. It is fitting to pierce an iron plate eight finger-breadths thick with an arrow. Having pierced that - "What else is it fitting to do?" he said. It is fitting to pierce a board of asana wood four finger-breadths thick. Having pierced that too - "What else is it fitting to do?" he said. It is fitting to pierce a board of udumbara wood a span thick. Having pierced that too, what else is it fitting to do? Then they said "Sand carts." The Great Being, having pierced through both a sand cart and a straw cart, sent an arrow in water to the distance of one usabha, and on dry ground to the distance of eight usabhas. Then they said to him "It is fitting to pierce a hair at the distance marked by a brinjal plant." Having said "Then have a brinjal plant set up at the distance of a yojana," having had a hair tied at the distance of a yojana by the mark of a brinjal plant, in the dark of the night, when the directions were covered by layers of clouds, he shot an arrow. That, having gone, having split the hair at the distance of a yojana, entered the earth. Not only this much; on that day the Great Man showed every craft existing in the world.

Then the Sākiyans, having adorned their own daughters, sent them. There were forty thousand dancing women. And Rāhula's mother was the queen, the queen-consort. The Great Man, like a divine prince, surrounded by celestial maidens, surrounded by human maidens, being entertained with musical instruments played only by women, experiencing great splendour, dwelt in those three mansions according to the turn of the seasons. Then one day the Bodhisatta, wishing to go to the pleasure ground, having addressed the charioteer - "Harness the chariot, I shall see the pleasure ground," he said. He, having assented "Very well," having adorned the very precious excellent chariot with a beautiful, firm pole and thongs, with a more firm rim and nave, with a front inlaid with excellent gold, silver, gems, and precious things, with the side of the rim inlaid with new gold and silver stars, resplendent with various fragrant flower garlands gathered together, beautiful to behold like the chariot of the sun, having yoked four auspicious Sindh thoroughbreds of the colour of the moon and white water-lilies, swift as the wind and Garuḷa, reported to the Bodhisatta. The Bodhisatta, having mounted that excellent chariot resembling a heavenly mansion of the gods, set out facing towards the park.

Then the deities, thinking "The time of Prince Siddhattha's full awakening is near; we shall show him an advanced sign," having made one young god appear with a body feeble and decrepit with age, with broken teeth, grey hair, bent body, with a stick in hand, trembling, showed him. Both the Bodhisatta and the charioteer saw that. Then the Bodhisatta - Having asked according to the method that has come in the Mahāpadāna Sutta, "Charioteer, who indeed is this man? Even his hair is not like that of others," and having heard his words - With an agitated heart, saying "Shame indeed on birth, since ageing will be discerned in one who is born!" turned back from that very place and ascended the mansion itself.

The king asked "Why did my son turn back?" "Having seen an old man, Sire." Thereupon the king, with a trembling mind, established a guard at half a yojana. On another day the Bodhisatta, going to the park, having seen a sick man created by those very deities, having asked in the former method, with an agitated heart, having turned back, ascended the mansion itself. The king, having asked, dispatched dancers. "I shall break his mind away from the going forth," having increased the guard, he established a guard in an area measuring three leagues all around.

Again too the Bodhisatta, one day, going to the park, having seen in the same way a deceased person created by the deities, having asked in the former method, with an agitated heart, having turned back, ascended the mansion. The king, having asked the reason for turning back, having increased the guard again, established a guard in an area measuring one yojana.

Again too the Bodhisatta, one day, going to the park, having seen in the same way one gone forth, well-clothed and well-robed, created by the deities - "Who indeed is this, my dear charioteer?" he asked the charioteer. The charioteer, although due to the absence of the arising of a Buddha he knew neither one gone forth nor the virtues of one gone forth, yet by the power of the deity, having said "This is called one gone forth, Sire," he praised the virtues of the going forth to him.

Thereupon the Bodhisatta, having generated a preference for the going forth, went to the park on that day. Long-lived Bodhisattas saw each one among the aged and so on as every hundred years passed. But our Bodhisatta, having arisen in a time of short lifespan, going to the park after the elapse of every four months, saw each one gradually. But the reciters of the Long Collection said - "Having seen all four signs on a single day, he went." There, having played for the daytime, having experienced the pleasure of the park, having bathed in the auspicious pond, when the sun had set, he sat down on the auspicious stone surface, wishing to have himself adorned. Then, having understood his mental conduct, a young god named Vissakamma, commanded by Sakka, the lord of the gods, having come, having become like his very own barber, adorned him with divine ornaments. Then, when he was adorned with all ornaments, when all the musicians were displaying their own respective inspirations, when the brahmins with words beginning with "Victory and joy," and the learned astrologers and others were honouring him with various kinds of sounds of auspicious words and praises, he ascended the excellent chariot adorned with all ornaments. At that time - Having heard "Rāhula's mother has given birth to a son," the great King Suddhodana - Sent a message "Announce my pleasure to my son." The Bodhisatta, having heard that - "A Rāhu is born, a bondage is born," he said. The king - Having asked "What did my son say?" and having heard those words, said "Henceforth let my grandson be named 'Prince Rāhula.'"

The Bodhisatta too, having mounted that excellent chariot, entered the city with a great retinue, with exceedingly delightful splendour and glory. At that time a maiden of the warrior caste named Kisāgotamī, not lean, who had gone to the excellent upper terrace of a mansion, having seen the personal splendour of the Bodhisatta entering the city, by the splendour of beauty and by the achievement of virtues, filled with joy and happiness -

She uttered this inspired utterance.

The Bodhisatta, having heard that, thought - "She makes me hear something well worth hearing. Indeed I am wandering about seeking Nibbāna. This very day it is fitting for me, having abandoned the household life, having gone forth, having gone forth into homelessness, to seek Nibbāna." "Let this be her teacher's share" - having removed a pearl necklace from his neck, he sent to Kisāgotamī a pearl necklace worth a hundred thousand, supremely delightful. She, thinking "Prince Siddhattha, with his heart enamoured of me, sends a present," was filled with pleasure.

The Bodhisatta too, having ascended the supremely delightful mansion with great splendour and glory, lay down on the royal couch. At that very moment, excellent young women - with lovely excellent faces resembling the full moon, with lips and garments resembling bimba fruit, with white, spotless, even, well-set, close-together, excellent teeth, with dark eyes and tresses of hair, with well-formed eyebrows exceedingly dark and curved like collyrium, with well-formed breasts evenly set like swans, with delightful girdles of excellent gems fashioned of new gold and silver, with broad, full, dense hips on every side, with pairs of thighs resembling an elephant's trunk, skilled in dancing, singing and music, with the splendour of beauty resembling celestial maidens - having taken sweet-sounding musical instruments, having surrounded the Great Man, entertaining him, performed dancing, singing and music. But the Bodhisatta, because of his mind being dispassionate towards mental defilements, not taking delight in dancing, singing and so on, fell into sleep for a moment.

They, having seen that, thinking "He for whose sake we perform dancing and so on has gone to sleep; for what purpose shall we now weary ourselves?" having spread over the musical instruments just as they had been held, lay down, while the scented oil lamps burned. The Bodhisatta, having awoken, seated cross-legged on the back of the bed, saw those women sleeping, having spread over the musical instruments - with dripping spittle, with moist cheeks and bodies; some gnashing their teeth; some snoring; some talking nonsense; some with mouths wide open; some with garments and girdles fallen away, with their repulsive private parts exposed; some with dishevelled tangled hair, bearing the very appearance of a cemetery, they lay. The Great Being, having seen that alteration of theirs, became exceedingly dispassionate in mind towards sensual pleasures. But for him, the excellent terrace of the mansion, though decorated and prepared, resembling the abode of the thousand-eyed one, beautiful and splendid, presented itself as supremely repulsive, like a charnel ground filled with discarded dead bodies and corpses. The three existences too, having become like a house ablaze, presented themselves to him. And he uttered the words "Alas, it is troubled indeed! Alas, it is afflicted indeed!" His mind inclined exceedingly towards the going forth.

He, thinking "This very day it is fitting for me to go forth in the great renunciation," having risen from the royal couch, having gone near the door - said "Who is here?" Channa, lying down with his head at the threshold, said - "I, master's son, Channa." Then the Great Man - "I today wish to go forth in the great renunciation; without informing anyone, quickly harness a single supremely victorious Sindh horse." He, saying "Very well, Sire," having taken the horse-trappings, having gone to the stable, while the scented oil lamps were burning, having seen the excellent steed Kaṇḍaka, the crusher of enemies, standing in a supremely delightful piece of ground beneath a canopy of jasmine cloth - "Today it is fitting for me to harness this very auspicious horse for the purpose of the master's son's departure" - he harnessed Kaṇḍaka. He, even while being harnessed, knew - "This harnessing is exceedingly tight; it is not like the harnessing on other days at the time of going for amusement in the pleasure grove. Without doubt, this very day the master's son will go forth in the great renunciation." Thereupon, with a satisfied mind, he laughed a great laugh. That sound would have made a great noise throughout the entire city of Kapilavatthu, but the deities, having suppressed it, did not allow anyone to hear.

The Bodhisatta, having thought "Let me first see my son," having risen from the place where he was standing, having gone to the dwelling place of Rāhula's mother, opened the door of the chamber. At that moment, inside the chamber a scented oil lamp was burning. Rāhula's mother, on an excellent bed strewn to the brim with jasmine, Arabian jasmine and other flowers, having placed her hand on the head of her son, was sleeping. The Bodhisatta, having placed his foot on the threshold, while standing right there, having looked - "If I remove the queen's hand and take my son, the queen will awaken; thus there will be an obstacle to my renunciation. Having become a Buddha, I shall come back and see my son" - having thought thus, having descended from the mansion floor, having gone near the horse, he spoke thus - "Dear Kaṇḍaka, you today for one night carry me across; I, in dependence on you, having become a Buddha, shall help the world with its gods cross over." Then, having leapt up, he ascended the back of Kaṇḍaka. Kaṇḍaka, starting from the neck, was eighteen cubits in length, endowed with a proportionate height, accomplished in beauty, speed and power, all white, of a colour beautiful to behold like a washed conch shell. Then the Bodhisatta, mounted on the back of the excellent steed, having made Channa hold the tail of the horse, at the time of midnight reached the great gate of the city.

Now at that time the king had already, for the purpose of preventing the Bodhisatta's departure, having caused each of the two door-panels to be openable by a thousand men, established many men as a guard there. The Bodhisatta, it is said, bore the power of a hundred thousand koṭis by the reckoning of men, and of a thousand koṭis by the reckoning of elephants. Therefore he thought - "If the gate is not opened, today, seated on the back of Kaṇḍaka, having made Channa hold the tail, together with him, having squeezed Kaṇḍaka with my thighs, having leapt over the wall eighteen cubits in height, I could pass beyond." Channa thought - "If the gate is not opened, I, having placed the master's son on my shoulder, having clasped Kaṇḍaka with my right hand, having placed him under my armpit, having leapt up, shall pass beyond the wall." Kaṇḍaka thought - "I, when the gate is not being opened, with the master's son seated just as he is, together with Channa holding the tail, having leapt up, shall stand in front of the wall." Just so the three thought. The deities dwelling at the gate opened the great gate.

At that moment Māra the Evil One, having come thinking "I shall turn the Great Being back," standing on the surface of the sky, said -

You will exercise kingship over the four great continents attended by two thousand minor islands. Turn back, sir." The Great Man said: "Who are you?" "I am the Wielder of Power."

He said. He disappeared right there.

The Great Being, at the age of twenty-nine, without concern, having abandoned the wheel-turning sovereignty that was in his hands like a lump of spittle, having gone forth from the royal palace which was the abode of the splendour of a universal monarch, on the full-moon day of Āsāḷhī, while the Uttarāsāḷha constellation was prevailing, having gone forth from the city, became desirous of looking back at the city. Immediately following that thought, that piece of ground turned round like a potter's wheel. Just as he stood, the Great Being, having seen the city of Kapilavatthu, having shown the site of the shrine called the Kaṇḍaka-turning-back at that piece of ground, having turned Kaṇḍaka facing the road to be travelled, set out with great honour, with lofty splendour and glory. Then, as the Great Being was going, deities held sixty hundred thousand torches before him, likewise sixty behind, sixty hundred thousand torches to the right, and likewise to the left. Other deities, honouring him with fragrant flower garlands, strings of flowers, sandalwood powder, chowries, flags and banners, surrounded him and went along. Divine songs and numerous musical instruments were played.

Going with this splendour and glory, the Bodhisatta, in just one night, having crossed over three kingdoms, having gone a road of thirty yojanas, reached the bank of the river Anomā. Then the Bodhisatta, having stood on the riverbank, asked Channa - "What is the name of this river?" "It is named Anomā, Sire." "Our going forth too will be superior," and striking the horse with his heel, he gave a signal to the horse. The horse, having leaped up, stood on the far shore of the river, which was eight usabhas in breadth. The Bodhisatta, having descended from the horse's back, having stood on the sandy bank resembling a heap of pearls, addressed Channa - "My dear Channa, you take my ornaments and Kaṇḍaka and go. I shall go forth." Channa said, "I too, Sire, shall go forth." The Bodhisatta said - "It is not allowable for you to go forth; go indeed," having refused him three times, having entrusted the ornaments and Kaṇḍaka, he thought - "These hairs of mine are not fitting for an ascetic; I shall cut them with a sword," having taken a supremely sharp excellent sword with his right hand, having grasped the topknot together with the top-knot of hair with his left hand, he cut it. The hairs, having become two finger-breadths in length, curling to the right, clung to the head. For as long as he lived, that was the measure of those hairs, and the beard was conforming with that; there was never again the task of removing hair and beard. The Bodhisatta, having taken the topknot together with the top-knot of hair - "If I shall become a Buddha, let it remain in the sky; if not, let it fall to the ground," he threw it into the sky. That crest-jewel binding, having gone to a distance of one yojana, stood in the sky.

Then Sakka, the king of gods, looking with the divine eye, having received it with a jewelled casket one yojana in size, established in the Tāvatiṃsa realm a shrine named the Cūḷāmaṇi Shrine, three yojanas in extent, made of the seven precious things. As he said -

Again the Bodhisatta thought - "These Kāsi cloths are very costly; they are not fitting for me as an ascetic." Then his former companion from the time of the Buddha Kassapa, the Great Brahmā Ghaṭikāra, with a disposition of friendship that had not reached destruction for one interval between Buddhas, thought - "Today my companion has gone forth in the great renunciation; I shall take the requisites of an ascetic and go to him."

Having brought these eight ascetic's requisites, he gave them. The Great Man, having put on the banner of the worthy, having taken on the highest appearance of the going forth, threw the pair of cloths into the sky. That the Great Brahmā received and, having made a shrine in the Brahma world twelve yojanas in extent, made of all jewels, placed it inside. Then the Great Being - having said "Channa, in my name tell my mother and father of my good health," sent him off. Thereupon Channa, having paid homage to the Great Man, having circumambulated, departed. But Kaṇḍaka, while hearing the words of the Bodhisatta who was conversing with Channa, standing - thinking "There is now no more seeing of my master," leaving the range of vision, being unable to endure the suffering of separation, having died with a broken heart, was reborn as a young god named Kaṇḍaka in the Tāvatiṃsa realm, which is difficult to overcome by the enemies of the gods. His rebirth should be taken from the Vimānavatthu Commentary, the Vimalatthavilāsinī. For Channa there was at first only one sorrow. He, being oppressed by a second sorrow through the death of Kaṇḍaka, weeping and lamenting, went with difficulty.

The Bodhisatta too, having gone forth - in that very region there is a mango grove named Anupiya - there, having spent a week in the happiness of the going forth, then afterwards, enveloped in the excellent orange robe like the full moon in the autumn season enveloped by clouds coloured by the radiance of the evening glow, though alone shining as if surrounded by many people, as if providing a nectar-drink for the eyes of the forest-dwelling deer and birds, like a lion wandering alone, the lion among men, walking with the grace of an intoxicated elephant, as if reassuring the earth with the soles of his feet, having gone in a single day a road of thirty yojanas, having crossed the river Ganges with its unobstructed breaking of towering waves, he entered the city named Rājagaha, the excellent and beautiful Rājagaha resplendent with the spreading radiance of jewels. And having entered, he walked for almsfood successively. But the whole city fell into commotion at the sight of the Bodhisatta's form, just as that city when the elephant Dhanapālaka had entered, and just as the city of the gods when the lord of the titans had entered. The people dwelling in the city, when the Great Man was walking for almsfood, with joy and pleasure arisen at the sight of the Great Being's form, filled with astonishment, had their hearts captivated by the sight of the Bodhisatta's form.

Among those people, one said to another thus - "What is this, friend? Has a full moon with its net of rays hidden through fear of Rāhu come to the human world?" Another, having smiled, said thus - "What are you saying, my dear? When indeed have you ever seen a full moon come to the human world? Is this not the god of love, Kāmadeva, with his flower-banner, having taken on the appearance of Vesantara, having seen the supreme grace and splendour of our great king and the citizens, come to sport?" Another, having smiled, said thus - "What, friend, are you mad? Is this not Kāma, whose body was burnt by the fire of the wrath of the Lord Issara, the thousand-eyed lord of the gods, come here with the perception of the city of the immortals?" Another, having smiled slightly - "What are you saying, friend? Your words are self-contradictory. From where then would he have a thousand eyes, from where a thunderbolt, from where Erāvaṇa? Surely this is Brahmā, having known the brahmin people to be heedless, come for the purpose of engaging them in the Vedas, the Vedic supplements, and so on." Having dismissed them all, another, of wise nature, said thus - "This is neither a full moon, nor the god of love, nor the thousand-eyed one, nor indeed Brahmā; this is the Teacher, the leader of all the world, a marvellous human being."

While the citizens were thus conversing, the king's men, having gone, reported that incident to King Bimbisāra - "Sire, is it a god or a gandhabba or else a king of serpents or a demon or who indeed is walking for almsfood in our city?" The king, having heard that, standing on the upper floor of the mansion, having seen the Great Man, with a mind of wonder and amazement arisen, commanded the king's men - "Go, sirs, investigate him. If he is a non-human spirit, having gone out from the city he will disappear. If he is a deity, he will go through the sky. If he is a king of serpents, having dived into the earth he will go. If he is a human being, he will consume whatever almsfood he has obtained."

The Great Man too, with peaceful faculties and peaceful mind, as if drawing the eyes of the public by the splendour of his beauty, looking only a yoke's length ahead, having collected the mixed food just sufficient for sustenance, having gone out from the city by the very gate he had entered, having sat down in the shade of Mount Paṇḍava facing east, having reviewed the food, unchanging, he consumed it. Thereupon the king's men, having gone, reported that incident to the king. Thereupon the king, the lord of Magadha, having heard the messenger's word - Bimbisāra, hard to follow by foolish people, whose core was like Meru and Mandāra, whose core was beings' welfare - with curiosity to see him arisen merely by hearing of the Bodhisatta's virtues, having gone out from the city with speed, having gone facing Mount Paṇḍava, having descended from the vehicle, having gone to the presence of the Bodhisatta, having been permitted by him, having sat down on a stone surface cool with the affection of kinsmen, having become confident in the Bodhisatta's deportment, having exchanged friendly greetings, having asked about his name, clan, and so on, he offered all his sovereignty to the Bodhisatta. The Bodhisatta - "I have no need, great king, of sensual pleasures as objects or sensual pleasures as defilements. I have gone forth aspiring to the supreme highest enlightenment" - thus he said. The king, even though entreating in many ways, not having obtained his mind - "Surely you will become a Buddha; but when you have become a Buddha, you must first come to my kingdom" - having said this, he entered the city.

Then the Bodhisatta, wandering on a journey gradually, having approached Āḷāra Kālāma and Udaka Rāmaputta, having produced the eight meditative attainments - "This is not the path to enlightenment" - not being satisfied with that meditation of attainments, wishing to make the great striving, having gone to Uruvelā - "Delightful indeed is this piece of ground" - having taken abode right there, he made the great striving. The four sons of the brahmins who had discerned the characteristics and the brahmin Koṇḍañña - these five persons, having already gone forth first, walking for almsfood in villages, market towns, and royal cities, reached the Bodhisatta there. Then, attending upon him as he made the great striving for six years - "Now he will become a Buddha, now he will become a Buddha" - serving him with the duty and practice of sweeping the residential cell and so on, they were his intimate associates. The Bodhisatta too - "I shall perform the austerity that has reached its culmination" - he spent the time with a single sesame seed, a single rice grain, and so on. He also made a complete cessation of food altogether. The deities too, collecting divine nutriment, infused it through his pores.

Then, due to that fasting, his body having reached the supreme state of emaciation, his gold-coloured body became black in colour, and the thirty-two characteristics of a great man were concealed. Then the Bodhisatta, having gone to the end of the performance of austerities - "This is not the path to enlightenment" - having walked for almsfood in villages and market towns in order to take gross food, he took food. Then his thirty-two characteristics of a great man were restored to their natural state, and his body was gold-coloured. Then the group of five monks, having seen him - "This one, even though performing austerities for six years, was not able to penetrate omniscience; now, having walked for almsfood in villages, market towns, and royal cities, taking gross food, what will he be able to do? He is one given to luxurious living, who has strayed from striving. What use is he to us?" - having abandoned the Great Man, they went to Isipatana at Bārāṇasī.

Then, on the full moon day of Vesākha, at Uruvelā in the village of Senāni, a girl named Sujātā, born in the house of the householder Senāni, there was the Great Man. Having eaten the milk-rice into which divine nutriment had been placed, given by her in whom confidence had arisen, having taken the golden bowl, having thrown it against the stream of the Nerañjarā, he awakened the serpent king Kāḷa who was sleeping. Then the Bodhisatta, having spent the day residence on the bank of the Nerañjarā in a delightful sal grove adorned with fragrant flowers, with a blue lustre, in the evening time, along a path adorned by the deities, he set forth facing the Bodhi tree. Gods, serpents, demons, accomplished ones, and others venerated him with divine garlands, perfumes, and cosmetics. At that time, a grass-carrier named Sotthiya, having taken grass, coming along the opposite path, having known the manner of the Great Man, gave eight handfuls of grass. The Bodhisatta, having taken the grass, having approached the foot of the Assattha Bodhi tree - resembling a dark collyrium mountain, with cool shade as if the net of the sun's rays were approaching, cool with compassion as if one's own heart, free from the concourse of various flocks of birds, adorned with dense branches stirred by a gentle breeze, as if dancing, as if delighting with rapture, the shining victory tree among the host of trees - having circumambulated the king of Assattha trees three times, having stood on the north-eastern side, he grasped those grasses at the top and shook them. At that very moment there was a cross-legged seat of fourteen cubits. And those grasses were as if drawn by a painter with lines. The Bodhisatta, there on the fourteen-cubit grass mat, having folded his legs crosswise in the three-jointed cross-legged posture, having determined energy endowed with four factors, like a mass of silver placed on a golden pedestal, having placed behind him the trunk of the Bodhi tree of fifty cubits, being sheltered above by the branches of the Bodhi tree like a jewelled umbrella, he sat down. And upon his gold-coloured robe, the sprouts of the Bodhi tree falling shone like coral placed upon a golden slab.

But while the Bodhisatta was seated right there, Māra the Wielder of Power, a young god - "Prince Siddhattha desires to go beyond my domain; now I shall not allow him to go beyond it" - having reported that matter to Māra's forces, having taken Māra's forces, he set out. That army of Māra, it is said, extended twelve yojanas in front of Māra, likewise to the right and to the left, but to the rear it stood reaching the limit of the world-circle, and upwards it was nine yojanas in height. And when it roared, the sound was heard from nine thousand yojanas away, like the sound of an earthquake. At that time Sakka, the king of gods, stood blowing the conch named Vijayuttara. That conch, it is said, was two thousand cubits in size. Pañcasikha, the gandhabba young god, stood having taken the yellow beluva-wood lute measuring three leagues in length, playing it and singing auspicious songs. Suyāma, the king of gods, stood having taken a divine chowrie measuring three leagues in length, resplendent like the moon in the autumn season, gently, gently fanning. And Brahmā Sahampati stood holding above the Blessed One a white parasol three yojanas in breadth, like a second full moon. Mahākāḷa too, the king of serpents, surrounded by eighty thousand serpent dancers, uttering praises and songs, paying homage to the Great Being, stood. In the ten thousand world-systems, the deities, venerating with various fragrant flower garlands, incense, bath powders, and so on, uttering applause, stood.

Then Māra the young god, having mounted the excellent elephant named Girimekhala, one hundred and fifty yojanas in height, resembling a peak of the Himalaya mountain, supremely beautiful to behold, jewel-studded, a noble war-elephant, a warding off of enemies, having created a thousand arms, caused various weapons to be seized by the taking up of what was not taken up. Māra's retinue too, armed with swords, axes, arrows, and spears, with raised bows, pestles, ploughshares, stakes, lances, javelins, stones, cudgels, bangles, short lances, knives, discuses, bracelets, and blades, with faces of ruru deer, lions, rhinoceroses, sarabha deer, boars, tigers, monkeys, serpents, cats, owls, and with faces of buffaloes, spotted deer, horses, elephants, and so on, with bodies of various dreadful, deformed, and hideous kinds, and with bodies resembling those of humans, demons, and goblins, having gone overwhelming the Great Being, the Bodhisatta, seated at the foot of the Bodhi tree, having surrounded him, looking up for Māra's command, stood.

Then, even as Māra's forces were approaching the ground of enlightenment, not even one of those beginning with Sakka was able to stand. They fled in every direction from their face-to-face positions. But Sakka, the king of gods, having placed that Vijayuttara conch on his back, having fled, stood at the rim of the world-circle. The Great Brahmā, having placed the white parasol at the edge of the world-circle, went to the Brahmā world itself. Kāḷa, the king of serpents, having abandoned all his dancers, having dived into the earth, having gone to the serpent realm of Mañjerika which was five hundred yojanas in extent, having covered his face with his hand, lay down. Not even a single deity was able to stand there. But the Great Man sat alone, like the Great Brahmā in an empty mansion. "Now Māra will come" - at the very first, many kinds of undesirable bad omens appeared.

Then Māra - "I shall frighten Siddhattha and put him to flight" - being unable to put the Bodhisatta to flight by the nine supernormal powers of Māra, namely, rains of wind, rains of weapons, rains of stones, and further rains of embers, hot ashes, sand, mud, and darkness, with an angered mind - "What, sirs, are you standing about for? Make this Siddhattha into a non-Siddhattha! Seize him, strike him, cut him, bind him, do not release him, put him to flight!" Having thus commanded Māra's assembly, and himself seated on the back of Girimekhala, spinning an arrow with one hand, having approached the Bodhisatta - "My dear Siddhattha, rise from the cross-legged posture!" he said. Māra's assembly too inflicted extremely terrible oppression upon the Great Being. Then the Great Man - Having said such words as "When were your perfections fulfilled, Māra, for the sake of the cross-legged seat?" and so on, he extended his right hand towards the earth. At that very moment, having first shaken the wind and water that support the earth, which are more than fourteen thousand and a million yojanas thick, thereafter this great earth, two hundred thousand yojanas thick plus forty thousand, quaked in six ways. Above in the sky, many thousands of lightning flashes and thunderbolts burst forth. Then the elephant Girimekhala fell upon its knees. Māra, seated on the back of Girimekhala, fell to the ground. Māra's assembly too scattered in the directions and intermediate directions like a handful of chaff.

Then the Great Man too, having destroyed that force of Māra together with Māra by the power of his own perfections of patience, friendliness, energy, wisdom, and so on, in the first watch having recollected past lives, in the middle watch having purified the divine eye, towards the break of dawn having brought down knowledge into the mode of dependent conditions that was the habitual practice of all Buddhas, having produced the fourth meditative absorption of breathing, having made that itself the foundation, having developed insight, having exhausted all mental defilements through the fourth path attained in the succession of paths, having penetrated all the virtues of a Buddha, the habitual practice of all Buddhas -

He uttered an inspired utterance.

The Near Origin Treatise

Having uttered the inspired utterance, this occurred to the Blessed One who was seated - "I transmigrated for four incalculable aeons plus a hundred thousand cosmic cycles for the sake of this cross-legged seat. This cross-legged seat of mine is the victory seat, the auspicious seat; here, for me seated, as long as my thought is not fulfilled, I shall not rise from here" - entering into attainments numbering many hundreds of thousands of tens of millions, he sat right there for a week. With reference to which it was said - "Then the Blessed One sat for seven days in a single cross-legged posture, experiencing the bliss of liberation."

Then for certain deities - "Even today surely Siddhattha has a duty to be done. For he does not give up attachment to the divan" - the reflection arose. Then the Teacher, having known the applied thought of the deities, for the purpose of appeasing their applied thought, having risen up into the sky, displayed the Twin Miracle. Thus, having appeased the applied thought of the deities by this wonder, having stood in the northern direction slightly inclined to the east from the divan - Thinking "On this divan indeed the knowledge of omniscience was penetrated by me," gazing with unwinking eyes at the divan and the Bodhi tree - the place of attaining the fruit of the perfections fulfilled over four incalculable aeons and a hundred thousand cosmic cycles - he spent a week; that place became known as the Unwinking Shrine.

Then, having created a walking path between the divan and the place where he stood, walking up and down on the jewel walking path extending from east to west, he spent a week; that place became known as the Jewel Walking Path Shrine.

But in the fourth week, in the north-western direction from the Bodhi tree, the deities built a jewel house. There, having sat down on a divan, investigating the Canon of the Higher Teaching, he spent a week; that place however became known as the Jewel House Shrine.

Thus the Blessed One, having spent four weeks in the very vicinity of the Bodhi tree, in the fifth week went from the foot of the Bodhi tree to the goatherd's banyan tree. There too, investigating the Teaching and experiencing the bliss of liberation, he sat down.

The Teacher, having spent a week there, went to the foot of the Mucalinda tree. There, when a week-long heaping of rain clouds had arisen, for the purpose of warding off the cold and so on, encircled seven times with the coils of the serpent king Mucalinda, as if dwelling in an unconfined perfumed chamber, experiencing the bliss of liberation, having spent a week there, he approached the foot of the rājāyatana tree. There too, experiencing the very bliss of liberation, he sat for a week. By this much, seven weeks were completed. In between here, for the Blessed One there was neither washing of the face, nor attending to the body, nor the function of food; he spent the time by the happiness of fruition alone. Then, at the end of seven weeks, on the forty-ninth day, having washed his face with a nāgalatā wooden toothbrush and water from Lake Anotatta brought by Sakka, the lord of the gods, he sat down right there at the foot of the rājāyatana tree.

At that time, two merchants named Tapussa and Bhallika, encouraged by a deity who was a blood-relative in the giving of food to the Teacher, having taken parched corn-flour and honey-balls - Having approached the Teacher, they stood saying: "May the Blessed One accept this food out of compassion." The Blessed One, because the bowl given by the gods had disappeared on the very day of receiving the milk-rice - Thought: "Tathāgatas do not accept food in their hands; in what indeed should I accept this?" Then, having known the disposition of that Blessed One, the four great kings from the four directions offered four bowls made of sapphire. The Blessed One rejected them. Again they offered four bowls made of mung-bean-coloured stone. The Blessed One, out of compassion for those four sons of gods, having accepted them, having brought them into unity, having accepted food in that costly stone bowl, having consumed it, gave thanksgiving. Those two brother merchants, having gone for refuge to the Buddha and the Teaching, became lay followers with the double announcement.

Then the Teacher, having gone again to the goatherd's banyan tree itself, sat down at the foot of the banyan tree. Then, for him who had just sat down there, while reviewing the profundity of the Teaching attained, the habitual practice of all Buddhas - The reflection arose, having reached the appearance of unwillingness to teach the Teaching to others, beginning with "This Teaching attained by me." Then Brahmā Sahampati, thinking "Alas, the world is perishing, alas, the world is being destroyed," having taken from the ten thousand world-systems the Sakkas, Suyāmas, Santusitas, Nimmānaratīs, Paranimmitavasavattīs, and Great Brahmās, having come to the Teacher's presence - Requested the teaching of the Teaching by the method beginning with "May the Blessed One teach the Teaching, venerable sir."

Then the Teacher, having given his acknowledgment to him - while reflecting "To whom indeed should I first teach the Teaching?" having known the deceased state of Āḷāra and Udaka - having attended to the group of five, thinking "The group of five monks have been of great service to me" - having reflected "Where indeed are they dwelling at present?" - having known "At Isipatana in the Deer Park at Bārāṇasī" - thinking "Having gone there, I shall set in motion the wheel of the Teaching," having dwelt for a few days walking for almsfood right in the vicinity of the seat of enlightenment, thinking "On the full-moon day of Āsāḷhī I shall go to Bārāṇasī," having taken his bowl and robe, he set out on the eighteen-yojana road. On the way, having seen a naked ascetic named Upaka who was joyfully approaching, having told him of his own Buddhahood, on that very day in the evening he went to Isipatana.

The group of five, however, having seen the Tathāgata coming from afar - "This, friends, the ascetic Gotama, having reverted to abundance of requisites, comes with a perfect body, with full faculties, having become golden-coloured; we shall not perform paying respect and so on for him, but we shall prepare merely a seat for him." They made an agreement. The Blessed One, having known the disposition of their minds, having contracted the mind of friendliness capable of pervading all beings in an unrestricted manner, pervaded them with a mind of friendliness in a restricted manner. They, touched by the Blessed One's mind of friendliness, as the Tathāgata was approaching, being unable to abide by their own agreement, performed all duties such as paying respect and so on. The detailed discussion should be understood according to the method stated in the Mahāvagga of the Vinaya and so on.

Then the Blessed One, having informed them of his own Buddhahood, having sat down on the excellent Buddha-seat that had been prepared, while the conjunction of the Uttarāsāḷha constellation was occurring, surrounded by eighteen crores of brahmā gods, having addressed the elders of the group of five, taught the Discourse on the Setting in Motion of the Wheel of the Teaching. Among them, Aññāsikoṇḍañña, sending forth knowledge in accordance with the teaching, at the conclusion of the discourse, became established in the fruition of stream-entry together with eighteen crores of brahmā gods. Therefore it was said -

1.

2.

1-2. Therein, "I" (ahaṃ) points out oneself. "At present" (etarahi) means at this time. "Increaser of the Sakyans" (sakyavaḍḍhano) means increaser of the Sakyan family. "Sakyapuṅgavo" (bull of the Sakyans) is also a reading. "Striving" (padhānaṃ) means energy. "Having striven" (padahitvāna) means having exerted, having endeavoured; the meaning is having performed austerities. "Of eighteen koṭis" means the first full realization was for eighteen koṭis of Brahmās headed by the Elder Aññāsikoṇḍañña through the discourse on the Setting in Motion of the Wheel of the Teaching at Isipatana in the Deer Park at Bārāṇasī. This is the meaning.

Now, the Blessed One, having spoken of the past, speaking of the future full realization -

3.

Therein, "at the assembly of humans and gods" means of humans and gods who had passed beyond the path of counting, at a later time, at the great blessing assembly, in the midst of gods and humans in the ten thousand world-systems, at the conclusion of the Maṅgala Sutta. "The second full realization was" means "it will be" - this is the meaning. Although the future tense expression should be used, because of the certainty of the event, the past tense expression "was" was used, or by way of reversal of tense. This same method applies in the subsequent expressions of this kind as well. Again, through the teaching of the Rāhulovāda Suttanta, he gave the deathless drink of full realization to beings who had passed beyond the path of counting. This was the third full realization. Therefore it was said -

4.

It is said that for the Blessed One there was only one assembly of disciples. A thousand of the matted-hair ascetics beginning with Uruvelakassapa, and two hundred and fifty of the two chief disciples - thus there was an assembly of these one thousand two hundred and fifty. Therefore it was said -

5.

Therein, "one assembly" means there was only one. "Of one thousand two hundred and fifty" means of my disciples, twelve hundred plus fifty. "Of monks there was" means there was of monks. However, having reached the middle of them, the Blessed One recited the Pātimokkha at the four-factored assembly.

Then the Blessed One, showing his own account -

6.

Therein, "shining" means shining with infinite Buddha-splendour. "Spotless" means free from the stain of defilements such as lust and so on. "Like a gem that grants all desires" means like a wish-fulfilling gem that grants all desires, I too give all that is wished for and desired, the distinction of mundane and supramundane happiness - this is the meaning.

Now, showing the aspiration that was wished for -

7.

Therein, "fruition" means the fourfold fruition beginning with the fruition of stream-entry. "For those seeking to abandon desire for becoming" means for those who abandon craving for existence, for those who wish to give up craving for existence. "Out of compassion" means out of sympathy.

8. Now, showing the full realization at the proclamation of the four truths, he said beginning with "for ten and twenty thousand."

Therein, "for ten and twenty thousand" means for ten thousand and for twenty thousand. The meaning is by the method beginning with "of one or two." The ninth and tenth verses are of manifest meaning.

11-12. In the eleventh and twelfth verses, "now" and "at present" are both of one meaning, spoken as if they were individual persons by way of those amenable to instruction. Or else, "now" means when I had arisen. "At present" means while I am teaching the Teaching. "Who have not attained their goal" means who have not attained the fruition of arahantship. "The noble path" means the noble eightfold path. "Praising" means commending. "They will understand fully" means in the future they will penetrate the Teaching of the four truths; this is the meaning. "The stream of the round of rebirths" means the ocean of the round of rebirths.

Now, showing his own birth-city and so on -

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

13-22. Now, I had three mansions named Ramma, Suramma, and Subha, of nine storeys, seven storeys, and five storeys, forty thousand dancing women, my chief queen was named Yasodharā, and I, having seen the four signs, departed by horse vehicle in the great renunciation. Thereupon, having striven in striving for six years, on the full moon day of Vesākha, at Uruvelā in the village of Senāni, having eaten the milk-rice given by one named Sujātā, the daughter of the householder Senāni, born with serene confidence, having spent the day residence in a sal grove, in the evening time, having taken eight handfuls of grass given by a grass-carrier named Sotthiya, having approached the foot of the Assattha Bodhi tree, there having destroyed the forces of Māra, he declared everything thus: "I have attained the highest enlightenment."

Therein, "together with the Community of disciples" means together with the Community of disciples. "I shall attain final Nibbāna" means I shall attain final Nibbāna. "By the extinction of fuel like fire" means like a fire, through the exhaustion of fuel, just as a fire without clinging is extinguished, so I too, without clinging, shall attain final Nibbāna - this is the meaning.

23-24. "And those incomparable powers" means those incomparable powers such as the pair of chief disciples and so on. "And these ten powers" means these ten physical powers; "the body bearing virtues" means this body bearing virtues such as the six kinds of knowledge not shared with others and so on. "All that will disappear" means all these of the aforesaid kinds will disappear, will be destroyed. "Are not all activities empty?" - here "nanu" is an indeclinable particle in the sense of affirmation. "Empty" means hollow, being devoid of permanent substance and stable substance; but all that is conditioned, being subject to destruction, having the nature of falling, subject to fading away, having the nature of cessation, is impermanent because of non-existence after having been; suffering because of being oppressed by arising and so on; non-self because of not being subject to control. Therefore, having applied the triad of characteristics upon activities, having developed insight, attain the Deathless, the unconditioned, the imperishable Nibbāna. This is our instruction to you, this is our teaching; strive with diligence. At the conclusion of the teaching, it is said, the minds of a hundred thousand crores of deities were liberated from the mental corruptions by non-clinging. But those established in the remaining path-fruitions passed beyond the path of counting.

Thus the Blessed One, having spoken the entire lineage of the Buddhas, defined by cosmic cycle, name, birth, and so on, while walking up and down on the jewelled walking path in the sky, having made the kinsmen pay homage, having descended from the sky, sat down on the excellent Buddha-seat that had been prepared. When the Blessed One, the Lord of the World, had thus sat down, the gathering of relatives reached its peak. All sat down with one-pointed minds. Then a great cloud rained down a shower of lotus petals. At that moment, water flowed below with a rushing sound. It wets only one who wishes to be wet; on the body of one who does not wish to be wet, not even a single drop falls. Having seen that, all became filled with wonder and amazement - "Oh, how wonderful! Oh, how marvellous!" - they raised up a discussion. Having heard that, the Teacher - "Not only now does a shower of lotus petals rain at my gathering of relatives; in the past too it rained" - on this occasion he related the Vessantara Jātaka. That teaching of the Teaching was beneficial. Then the Blessed One rose from his seat and entered the dwelling.

Thus, in the Madhuratthavilāsinī, the commentary on the Buddhavaṃsa,

the explanation of the Gotama Buddha Lineage is completed.

The twenty-fifth Buddha lineage is concluded.