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B020301Dhammasaṅgaṇi aṭṭhakathā(dharma collection commentary)

English

Their minds were calmed immediately; All approached me, And again paid homage. Having taken to heart the Buddha's qualities, And made my mind firm; Having bowed to Dīpaṅkara, I then rose from my seat. Divine and human flowers, Both gods and humans; Scattered flowers upon me, As I rose from my seat. And both gods and humans, Proclaimed this blessing: "May you attain that great wish of yours, May you obtain it as you desire. May all misfortunes be warded off, May sorrow and disease be destroyed; May no obstacles befall you, May you quickly attain the supreme enlightenment. Just as when the time comes, Flowering trees blossom; So too, may you, great hero, Blossom with the wisdom of a Buddha. Just as all the Buddhas of the past, Fulfilled the ten perfections; So too, may you, great hero, Fulfill the ten perfections. Just as all the Buddhas of the past, Awakened at the Bodhi-mandala; So too, may you, great hero, Awaken to the enlightenment of a Conqueror. Just as all the Buddhas of the past, Set in motion the Wheel of Dhamma; So too, may you, great hero, Set in motion the Wheel of Dhamma. Just as the moon on the full moon day, Shines forth perfectly pure; So too, may you, with a perfect mind, Shine forth in the ten thousand worlds. Just as the sun, freed from Rāhu, Shines forth exceedingly with heat; So too, may you, from the world... Having lifted you up, you shine with glory. Just as whatever rivers, Flow down to the great ocean; Even so, may beings with devas, Flow down to your presence. Praised and extolled by them, He took up the ten Dhamma practices; Perfecting those practices, He entered the forest then. The Story of Sumedha is ended. Then, having fed, The world-leader with his Saṅgha; They went for refuge, To that teacher, Dīpaṅkara. In taking refuge, some, The Tathāgata established; Some in the five precepts, Others in the superior ten precepts. To some he gives the ascetic life, To others the four supreme fruits; To some the unequalled Dhamma, He gives the discriminations. To some the excellent attainments, The bull among men gives eight; To some the three knowledges, He bestows the six higher powers. By that method, the great sage, Admonishes the populace; By that, widespread became, The teaching of the world-leader. Like a great elephant's shoulder, Named Dīpaṅkara; He carries many people across, And frees them from misfortune. Seeing a person fit for awakening, Even at a hundred thousand leagues; In a moment he goes to them, And awakens them, the great sage. At the first penetration, the Buddha, Awakened a hundred crores; At the second penetration, the leader, Awakened ninety crores. And when in the deva-world, The Buddha taught the Dhamma; Of ninety crores of thousands, The third penetration occurred. There were three assemblies, Of the teacher Dīpaṅkara; Of a hundred thousand crores, The first gathering was. Again, at Nārada's peak, In the solitary-gone Jina; The taintless, free from stain, A hundred crores assembled. At the time when the great hero, On Sudassana's rock-peak; With ninety crores of thousands, The great sage dismissed. I, at that time, was, A matted-hair ascetic, Uggatāpana; Moving in the sky, Gone to the far shore in the five higher powers. Of twenty thousand, A Dhamma-penetration occurred; Of one or two penetrations, Beyond counting from calculation. Widespread, much-practiced, Prosperous, thriving it was then; Of the Blessed One Dīpaṅkara, The teaching was well-purified. Four hundred thousand, With the six higher powers, The miracle; Dīpaṅkara, knower of the world, is always surrounded. Those who, at that time, abandon human existence, Imperfect trainees, are blamed. Well-flowered is the teaching, by such arahants, Defilement-free, immaculate, it shines with the world of gods. The city was named Rammavatī, the king was named Sudeva, Sumedhā was the mother, of the teacher Dīpaṅkara. Sumaṅgala and Tissa, were the chief disciples; Sāgata was the attendant, of the teacher Dīpaṅkara. Nandā and Sunandā, were the chief female disciples; The Bodhi tree of that Blessed One, is called a pipphalī tree. Eighty cubits in height, was the great sage Dīpaṅkara; He shone like a lamp tree, like a flowering Sāla king; His radiance spread, twelve yojanas around. One hundred thousand years, was the life span of that great sage; Living for that long, he ferried many people across. Having lit up the true Dhamma, having delivered the great multitude, Having blazed like a fire, he passed away with his disciples. That power, that fame, those wheel-jewels on his feet; All that has vanished, truly, all conditioned things are empty! After the Blessed One Dīpaṅkara, after one incalculable age had passed, the teacher Koṇḍañña arose. He also had three gatherings of disciples. In the first gathering, one hundred thousand crores. In the second, one thousand crores, in the third, ninety crores. Then the Bodhisatta, named Vijitāvī, having become a wheel-turning king, gave a great donation to a Saṅgha of monks headed by the Buddha, numbering one hundred thousand crores. The Teacher, having predicted that the Bodhisatta would become a Buddha, taught the Dhamma. Having heard the Teacher's Dhamma talk, he relinquished the kingdom and went forth. Having learned the three baskets, and having developed the eight attainments and the five superknowledges, he was reborn in the Brahma world with undiminished jhāna. The city of the Buddha Koṇḍañña was named Rammavatī, the king, Sunanda, was the father, Sujātā was the mother, Bhadda and Subh He had two chief disciples, Adda and Dve; Anuruddha was the attendant; Tissā and Upatissā were the two chief female disciples; Sāla-kalyāṇī was the Bodhi tree; the body was eighty-eight cubits in height; the lifespan was one hundred thousand years. In the latter part of that aeon, after one incalculable period had passed, four Buddhas arose in the same aeon: Maṅgala, Sumana, Revata, and Sobhita. In the first gathering of disciples of the Blessed Maṅgala, there were one hundred thousand crores of monks. In the second, one hundred thousand. In the third, ninety crores. Ānandakumāra, the Vemātika brother, went to the Teacher along with a retinue of ninety crores to hear the Dhamma, and the Teacher delivered a graduated discourse to him. He, together with his retinue, attained arahantship with analytical knowledge. The Teacher, observing the past conduct of those young men, saw the potential for robes and bowls made of psychic power, extended his right hand, and said, "Come, monks." All of them, at that very moment, became endowed with robes and bowls made of psychic power, possessing the appearance of sixty-year-old elders, and after venerating the Teacher, surrounded him; this was his third gathering of disciples. While the bodily radiance of other Buddhas extends only eighty cubits all around, it was not so with him. The bodily radiance of that Blessed One constantly pervaded the ten-thousandfold world system. The trees, earth, mountains, oceans, and even pots and pans, appeared as if covered with golden cloth. His lifespan was ninety thousand years. For that long, the moon and sun were unable to shine with their own light, and there was no distinction between day and night. During the day, beings moved about constantly in the light of the Buddha, as if by sunlight. The world discerned the distinction between day and night by the evening blooming of flowers and the morning songs of birds. What need is there to mention the power of other Buddhas? Is there no halo? No, there is. If they wished, they could illuminate ten thousand world-systems or even more with light. But the Blessed One Mangala, due to his previous aspiration, had a body-radiance that, like the arm-span radiance of others, constantly shone forth, filling ten thousand world-systems. It is said that during his Bodhisatta-conduct, dwelling in a state like Vessantara, he lived with his wife and children on a mountain like Vanka. Then a yaksha named Kharadāṭhika, hearing of the Great Being's inclination to generosity, approached in the guise of a brahmin and asked the Great Being for his two children. The Great Being, delighted, saying, "I give the children to the brahmin," making the earth tremble to the water's edge, gave both children. The yaksha, standing with his back against a plank at the edge of the promenade, devoured the two children like a bundle of lotus stalks, as the Great Being looked on. Even seeing the yaksha, and his mouth emitting a stream of blood like a flame of fire, not even a hair's breadth of sadness arose in the Great Being. Thinking, "My giving is well given," a great joy and happiness arose in his body. He made the aspiration, "In the future, from this very essence, may rays emanate from my body in this same manner." Based on that aspiration, when he became a Buddha, rays emanated from his body and filled such a place. Furthermore, he had another past conduct. It is said that in the Bodhisatta-time, seeing a shrine of a Buddha, he thought, "It is fitting that I sacrifice my life for this Buddha." In the manner of wrapping a torch with bark, he wrapped his entire body, filled a golden bowl worth a hundred thousand with ghee, lit a thousand wicks in it, and carrying it on his head, circumambulated the shrine, burning his entire body, and spent the entire night. Even striving until the dawn, he did not feel even a pore's worth of heat. It was as if he had entered a lotus chamber. For truly, Dhamma protects one who protects oneself. Therefore, the Blessed One said: "Dhamma, indeed, protects the follower of Dhamma, Dhamma well-practiced brings happiness; This is the benefit in Dhamma well-practiced, The follower of Dhamma goes not to misfortune." By the residual effect of that deed, The radiance of that Blessed One's body Spread throughout the ten thousand world-systems And remained. Then, our Bodhisatta,