English
in the Kaliyuga, when one thousand, two hundred, and fifteen years had passed, in the time of that king, fell into the power of death. Then the king performed the cremation ceremony with thousands of unheard-of and wondrous palaces. Then, in the Kaliyuga, when one thousand, one hundred, and sixteen years had passed, he again appointed the elder named Ñeyyadhamma, a disciple of that great elder, to the position of Sangharaja. First, he gave the title Ñeyyadhammālaṅkāradhammasenāpatimahādhammarājādhirājaguru. After that, secondly, he gave the title Ñeyyadhammābhivaṃsasiripavarālaṅkāradhammasenāpatimahādhammarājādhirājaguru. That elder, in the Kaliyuga, when one thousand, one hundred, and sixty-one years had passed, in the village of Devasūra, was born by rebirth. Having been born in Isandhi, in the year one thousand and eighty, on the fourteenth day of the bright half of the first Asāḷha month, he attained the stage of higher ordination. In the time of that king, when the Kaliyuga reached the year one thousand ninety-nine, the elder named Paññātissa from the island of Sri Lanka, together with the bhikkhu named Sunanda, the novice named Indasāra, one lay follower, and one boy, arrived at the city named Amarapura. Then the Saṅgharāja supported them with material requisites and with the Dhamma. Later among them, when the Kaliyuga reached the year two thousand two hundred and two, the elder Paññātissa, overcome by old age and sickness, unable to transcend the nature of conditioned phenomena, passed away. His thought, "I will take up the training again," did not reach its culmination and perished. Therefore the Blessed One said: – Even the unthought-of comes to be, And the thought-of perishes; For possessions are not born of thought, For woman or for man. In this world, a wise person, wishing to do merit, should hasten to do it. Who indeed knows whether death will be today, or tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow? Therefore the Blessed One said: – Hasten to do good, Restrain the mind from evil; For when one is slow in doing merit, The mind delights in evil. Then the great king performed his cremation ceremony with many festive celebrations. After that, he gave the bhikkhu named Sunanda the training again. And he established the novice in the stage of higher ordination. And the boy in the stage of a novice. Then the great king, in the month of Māgha, when the Kaliyuga reached the year two thousand two hundred and three, having supported them with many requisites, and completed all those tasks, entrusting them to a minister who was the chief of Kusimanagara, and assigning all duties to him, sent them to the island of Sri Lanka. But the Saṅgharāja Mahāthera, for the long-lasting of the Dispensation, and for the easy comprehension of listeners, purified the text from various manuscripts. He made an explanation of the meaning of the great commentary named Saddhammappajjotikā in the Burmese language. By way of reciting the scriptures for many disciples, he rendered assistance to the Buddha's dispensation. Later on, in the Kaliyuga, when the year one thousand two hundred and eight had arrived, on the eighth day of the bright half of Migasira month, his son, named Sīripavarādityavijayānantayasamahādhammarājādhirāja, ruled the kingdom. At that time, he appointed the elder Paññājotābhidhajamahādhammarājādhirājaguru, a disciple of the great elder Sūriyavaṃsābhisiripavarālaṅkāradhammasenāpatimahādhammarājādhirājaguru, to the position of Saṅgharāja. He too was virtuous, skilled in the scriptures, desirous of training, modest and gentle. For the Pāli of the Aṅguttaranikāya and its commentary, he made an explanation of the meaning in the Burmese language. During the reign of that king, the elder Ñeyyadhammābhivaṃsasiripavarālaṅkāradhammasenāpatimahādhammarājādhirājaguru made an explanation of the meaning for the commentary on the Paṭisambhidāmagga, named Saddhammāvilāsinī, in the Burmese language. The elder Maṇijotasaddhammālaṅkāramahādhammarājādhirājaguru made an explanation of the meaning for the Pāli of the Saṃyuttanikāya and its commentary, in the Burmese language. The elder Medhābhivaṃsasaddhammadhajamahādhammarājādhirājaguru made an explanation of the meaning for the Pāli of the Dīghanikāya and its commentary, in the Burmese language. I, Paññāsāmi, the disciple of the elder Ñeyyadhammābhivaṃsasiripavarālaṅkāradhammasenāpatimahādhammarājādhirājaguru, who was five years after my higher ordination, made a commentary on the difficult words and meanings for the book named Saddatthabhedacintā in the Burmese language. And when I was ten years (after ordination), for the commentary on Abhidhānappadīpikā, I made an explanation of its meaning in the Burmese language. And its text, having compared it with many books, I purified it. Later on, when the Sakkarāja year one thousand two hundred and fourteen had arrived, this righteous king of ours, by the power of merits accumulated in hundreds of previous births... To uphold the teaching, as if appointed by the righteous devas, he attained royal prosperity. The wish of the Dharma King, who desired to uphold the teaching of the Ten-Powered One, was fulfilled. Like water that breaks its banks and finds an opening, the great flood of faith spreads and remains. Four years passed, and in the month of Vesakha, surrounded by the five royal insignia and many other royal treasures, he was consecrated on the Udumbara-bhadda throne together with his chief queen. Therefore, we said in the Nāgarājuppatti story: This king is of great merit, as if he came from a tree trunk; Having attained prosperity in his own kingdom, he is truly devoted to giving. Then, four years having passed, and even more, together with his chief queen, he was consecrated on the great earth. He illuminated the Wheel of the Dhamma, just like Mahāsoka and others; Suppressing the shameless, and upholding the modest. He engaged the country in giving, virtue, and meditation, just like King Nimi and others. At that time, because he performed acts of suppression as if casting into Avīci hell those who ought to be suppressed, the shameless, they found no opportunity and hid, like owls at dawn. Therefore, we said in the Nāgarājuppatti story: Then, the Wheel of the Dhamma, was manifest like the moon in the sky; The shameless hid, like owls at dawn. And because he performed acts of upholding as if raising to the highest heaven those who ought to be upheld, the modest, they found opportunity and stood with raised heads, without fear, like the people of the first eon when they received the light of the moon and sun. Therefore, we said: Then too, the Wheel of the Dhamma, was manifest like the sun in the sky; The modest also rose up, like the people of the eon who received light. Desiring to make the Tipiṭaka, the nine-membered Buddha-word, long-lasting, he had it purified by great elders who were experts in the Pariyatti, and giving wages to scribes, he repeatedly reviewed the arrangements of gutturals and labials, and of loose and tight sounds, until finally He, without missing even a single letter of the divisions, entered the inner palace, and had it written in books made of gold and made of copper. And choosing monks endowed with wisdom and strength, he had them memorize and retain the Vinaya Piṭaka, each according to their ability, separately. Starting with the chief queen, he had many royal servants, including all the ladies of the harem, ministers, and citizens, each according to their ability, memorize and retain the Suttanta Piṭaka and the Abhidhamma Piṭaka, dividing them separately by individual suttas, mātikā words, divisions, and mental moments. And he himself recited daily many kinds of suttas, such as the Anattalakkhaṇa Sutta. For the long endurance of the Buddha's Dispensation, in his entire kingdom, around the hermitages of the forest-dwelling monks, in an area of five hundred bows, he granted safety to all beings, those living on land and in water. And the relatives, such as the parents, of the elder and junior monks who were skilled in the Pariyatti (scriptures), he freed from all royal duties and tax obligations, and allowed them to live as they pleased. Even in a single day, he established over a thousand noble youths in the stages of renunciation and full ordination, thus upholding the Dispensation. He performed many other meritorious deeds. And having done them, he aspired only to liberation (Nibbāna), not to the cycle of existence. And he constantly advised others, including the ladies of the harem: "Whatever meritorious deeds you perform, aspire only to liberation, not to the cycle of existence." He constantly advised with Dhamma talks connected with the characteristic of impermanence, and so on. He himself also constantly applied himself to calm and insight meditation. However, due to the nature of kings, the rulers of the land, and the abundance of their duties, he sometimes did not find an opportunity to engage in meditation. Even so, he engaged in meditation even during the time of attending to bodily impurities, and did not waste time idly. Indeed, even things considered in the world to be inauspicious, such as human skulls and bones, he had brought from the charnel ground, or had tooth-sticks or similar items made from them, and keeping them near him, he cultivated merit through meditation on bones and so on. At that time, our excellent teacher Skilled in the scriptures, endowed with sharp, swift, and profound knowledge, whose discourses on Dhamma are varied and eloquent, a place of reverence for all Burmese monks, respectful of elders, attained beauty of form, speaking appropriately, who received the third title of "Chief of the Dhamma Army, Banner of Glory, Knowledge of the Foremost Sage, Knower of the Dhamma, Great Dhamma King, Guru of Kings"— he established him as the leader of the Sangha and all residents of the country,