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Mahāvaṃsa -(Great History)(English | 中文 | བོད་ཡིག)

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Having heard, to bring him, with an elephant-chain binding; Having sent and brought him, beneath the white parasol. 91. Having seated him on a couch, having honored with various flowers; Surrounded by sixteen thousand women, he spoke. 92. Of the Wheel-turning King of the True Dhamma, the great sage, the Fully Awakened One; The form of infinite wisdom, show it to me, sir, he said. 93. Endowed with thirty-two marks, shining with eighty minor characteristics; Encircled by a fathom-long aura, adorned with garlands of light. 94. That Naga king created, a charming Buddha-image; Seeing that, filled with great faith, and with wonder. 95. The form created by him, if it is like this, how indeed; Is the form of the Tathāgata? He was greatly elevated. 96. Known as "eye-offering", that for seven days continuously; The great powerful king, caused a great festival to be held. 97. Thus, the king was of great power, and also faithful; And the elder Moggaliputta, was seen by those masters before. The entry into the Dispensation is finished. The Elder Moggaliputtatissa and others 98. At the second council, the elders, looking into the future; Saw the danger to the Dispensation, in the time of that king. 99. Looking throughout the whole world, for one who could destroy that danger; They saw Tissa Brahmā, who would not long remain. This life. 100. Having approached them, they requested the great lord, to be reborn among humans, for the destruction of that calamity. 101. He gave them a promise, desiring to illuminate the Dispensation; He addressed Siggava and Caṇḍavajji, the young ascetics. 102. Eighteen centuries and more after this, there will be a calamity for the Dispensation; We will not be there for that. 103. This dispute of yours, you did not resolve, O bhikkhus; Therefore, you are deserving of punishment, a disciplinary measure indeed for you. 104. For the purpose of illuminating the Dispensation, Tissa the brahmin, the great lord, in the house of the Moggalī brahmin, will take rebirth. 105. In due time, one of you should ordain that young boy; One should make him learn the Buddha's word well. 106. There was a Thera, Upāli Thera's co-resident; Dāsaka was he, Soṇaka was his; These two Theras were Soṇaka's. 107. There was in Vesālī, formerly, a brahmin named Dāsaka; He was chief of three hundred students, dwelling near his teacher. 108. Only twelve years old, having mastered the Vedas, wandering, with his disciples, he saw (Upāli) dwelling in Vālikārāma, who was well-received. 109. Having seen Thera Upāli, and sat down near him, he asked about difficult passages in the Vedas; He (Upāli) explained them. 110. "Pervading all phenomena, there is indeed one phenomenon, O young man; All phenomena converge, what indeed is that one phenomenon?" 111. Thus he said, referring to the concept, the Thera; but that young man, when asked, did not know the teaching, it was spoken of as the Buddha-mantra. 112. "Give (it to me)!" he said. He (Upāli) said, "We do not give (it) to those in (this) garb." He asked permission from his teacher for the teaching, and from his mother and father too. 113. With three hundred young men, near the Thera, having gone forth, in due time, the young man received higher ordination. 114. He, Thera Upāli, with Dāsaka Thera as chief, made a thousand Arahants recite the entire Three Baskets. 115. The number of those, other noble and ordinary people, by whom the Piṭakas were learned near the Thera, surpassed (them). 116. In Kāsī, there was a caravan-leader's son named Kosala; To Giribbaja for trade... he went, by his parents. 117. To Veḷuvana went the prince, fifteen years old; fifty-five young men, surrounding him, went. 118. Seeing the elder Dāsaka, with his group, he was pleased; He asked for ordination, he said, "Ask your teacher." 119. Without eating for three days, that young prince Soṇaka; Having obtained permission for ordination, from his parents, he came. 120. Together with those princes, at the elder Dāsaka's side; He received ordination and higher ordination, and learned the Three Piṭakas. 121. Among the thousand Arahants, of the elder's assembly; Soṇaka the ascetic, became the chief knower of the Piṭakas. 122. There was one named Siggava, formerly called Pāṭali; A wise minister's son, he was eighteen years old. 123. Living in three palaces, suitable for the six seasons; Taking the minister's son, Caṇḍavajjī, as a companion. 124. Surrounded by ten hundred men, he went to Kukkuṭārāma, and saw the elder Soṇaka. 125. Engaged in attainment, seated, with senses restrained; He bowed, and knowing him to be speaking, he asked the Saṅgha. 126. "Those engaged in attainment, do not speak," they said; "How then do they arise?" when asked, the bhikkhus said. 127. "By the call of the Teacher, and by the call of the Saṅgha; According to the time limit, and by the exhaustion of life. 128. "They arise," having said, and seeing their disposition; They sent the Saṅgha's message, and he arose and went there. 129. The prince asked, "Venerable sir, why did you not speak?" He said, "We have eaten, we should eat." "Feed us too," he said. 130. He said, "It is possible to feed those like us." With his parents' permission, that prince Siggava. 131. And Caṇḍavajjī, and five hundred men; Were ordained and received higher ordination, at the elder Soṇa's side. 132. At the preceptor's side, those two learned the Three Piṭakas in time, and attained the six supernormal powers. 133. Knowing Tissa's rebirth, from then on to Siggava. The elder, for seven years, approached that house. 134. "Go!"—even a mere word, for seven years he did not obtain; He obtained in the eighth year, the word "Go!" there. 135. As he was leaving, entering, Moggali the brahmin saw him; "Did you get anything in the house?" he asked. "Yes," he said. 136. Going to the house and asking, on the second day thereafter; He rebuked the elder, who had come to the house, for lying. 137. Hearing the elder's words, the brahmin, with a clear mind, Provided him with alms constantly, as was his custom. 138. Gradually, all the people of the house became pleased with him; The brahmin always fed him, seating him in the house. 139. Thus, gradually going on, in time, when he was sixteen years old, That Tissa Kumāra became one who had crossed the ocean of the three Vedas. 140. The elder thought, "There will be a dispute in the house"; He did not offer seats, except for the student's seat. 141. Having gone to the Brahma-world, he was fond of purity; Therefore, his couch, after being perfumed, was tied up. 142. Seeing no other seat, when the elder stood, in confusion, The people of the house arranged that seat for him. 143. Seeing him seated there, the student, coming from his teacher, Angrily uttered unpleasant words. 144. "Student, what mantra do you know?" the elder asked him; The student then reported that very question to the elder. 145. Acknowledging, "I know," he asked the elder about the elder; Then the elder explained to him the knotty points in the Vedas. 146. That elder, though a householder, had become a master of the Vedas; What could he not explain, he who had attained the analytical knowledges? "Whose mind arises and does not cease, His mind will cease; it will not arise. Or whose mind ceases and does not arise, His mind arises, it does not cease." 147. The elder, skilled, asked him this question on the twin minds; It was as if darkness for him. He said to him. 148. "A monk is a mantra," he said, "a Buddha is a mantra." When asked, "Give it," he said, "I will give it to one who does not hold to the new." 149. Permitted by his parents, he went forth for the mantra. The elder, having ordained him properly, gave him a meditation subject. 150. Engaged in meditation, the greatly wise one, in no long time, attained the fruit of Stream-entry. The elder, knowing this to be so, 151. sent him to the elder Caṇḍavajji to grasp the suttas and abhidhamma, so that he might not grasp them wrongly. 152. Then that young Tissa, having begun insight, became one with six supernormal powers in due course, and attained the state of an elder. 153. He became exceedingly renowned, like the moon, like the sun. People believed his words as if they were the words of the Fully Enlightened One. The rise of the Elder Moggaliputtatissa is finished. 154. One day, that viceroy, having gone hunting, saw deer playing in the forest, and having seen them, he thought this: 155. "Even deer play like this in the forest, feeding on grass. Why do not monks, who live on pleasant food, play?" 156. Returning home, he reported his thought to the king. To make him understand, the king gave him the kingdom for seven days. 157. "Enjoy this kingdom, you young man, for seven days. After that, I will kill you," said the king. 158. "Alas!" In those seven days, "Why are you so thin?" When he said, "From fear of death," the king said to him again: 159. "I will die in seven days, why did you not play? Monks, my dear, play always, mindful of death." 160. Thus spoken, he was pleased with the Dispensation. In due course, going hunting, he saw the restrained elder. 161. Seated at the foot of a tree, he saw the Elder Mahādhammarakkhita, the taintless one, being fanned by a Nāga with a sāla branch. 162. "Like this elder, I too will go forth in the Dispensation of the Victor, and dwell in the forest someday," thought the wise one. 163. For the sake of his purification, the elder, having risen into the air, went to the pond of the Asokārāma. he stood there. 164. Having placed his excellent robes in the sky, he entered the pond and sprinkled water on his body. 165. Seeing that power, the viceroy was greatly pleased; "I will go forth today," the wise one resolved. 166. Approaching the king, he respectfully requested ordination; Unable to prevent him, the king took him. 167.