English
In Jambudīpa, near the Great Bodhi Tree, there was a border town to the south. There lived a devotee, full of faith, devoted to the Triple Gem. At that time, an arahant, having placed a footstool used by the Buddha in a bag, worshiping it wherever he went, gradually arrived at that town, well-dressed and robed, carrying his bowl, entering the inner streets, delighting the people with the grace of his asceticism, showing the span of a yoke. Then the devotee, seeing the Elder going thus, with a pleased mind approached him, bowed with five prostrations, took his bowl, fed him, and earnestly requested, "I wish you to come to my house regularly, please stay here out of compassion for me, O Lord," and having begged, he built a pleasant grove near the town. Having made a leaf hut by the riverbank, he gave it to the Elder, attending to him with the four requisites, honoring and venerating him, he lived there. The Elder, in that pleasant place, having enshrined a footstool relic used by the Blessed One, made a stupa of sand, always worshiping with incense, lamps, flowers, and offerings, he spent his days. At that time, that lay follower's neighbor, a devotee of Īsvara, constantly worshiped his deity. Seeing him, the lay follower, speaking of the Buddha's virtues, said, "Do not exert yourself wrongly in a barren field, abandon this view." Then that boorish devotee of Īsvara said, "What is the power of your teacher's virtues? The virtues of our Īsvara are great!" And speaking of his faults as virtues, he said: 1. "He destroyed Tripura with the fire of his forehead eye; And he destroyed the Asuras, the great Īsvara with his trident. 2. With matted locks swirling, he dances at the juncture of day; He plays the drum and lute, and also sings songs. 3. He has three wives, he carries one in his matted hair; Looking at one with one side, he wanders alone. 4. Clad in an elephant skin garment, his asceticism is hindered by it; With incomparable sons, and very famous in form. 5. Always engaged in pleasure and drinking honey, Bearing a human skull on his head, he eats from a skull. 6. He is unborn, he has no fear, there is no death, he is eternal; Such is my great god, there is no other with such virtues." Having heard that, the lay follower said, "Well, let these be the virtues of your Īsvara. How many are his faults?" And gathering together all the virtues of the Blessed One, he spoke: 7. "As the ocean is the basis of all the rivers flowing in the world, So is the Tathāgata the basis of all the heaps of virtues. 8. As this earth is the basis of all moving and unmoving things, So is the Tathāgata the basis of all virtues. 9. Thus he is peaceful and wise, thus he is full of compassion; Thus is his way of dispelling delusion, thus, thus are his virtues." 10. "Buddho..." Whose glory, Even an aeon cannot exhaust by speaking; Even Brahma, gods, and demons, Cannot describe the virtues of the boundless one. Thus speaking, both of them, "Our god is supreme, our god is supreme," increasing the quarrel, went to the king. The king, hearing their words, said, "Then we shall know the greatness of your deities by the power of miracles. Let them show us their power." He had a proclamation made in the city. "After seven days from now, the miracles of these two teachers will occur. Let everyone assemble." Hearing that, many people from various directions gathered. Then the heretics, thinking, "Today we shall see the power of our god," offered great worship but found no essence there. The right-believers also, thinking, "Today we shall see the power of our Blessed One," went to the sand mound, worshiped with incense and flowers, circumambulated it, and stood with joined palms. Then the king also, surrounded by a strong army, stood to one side. The proponents of various doctrines also, thinking, "Today we shall see their miracle," made tiered platforms and stood there. In their assembly, the right-believers, facing the sand mound, with joined palms, said, "Lord, our Blessed One, having completed all the Buddha-duties, passed into Nibbana without remainder. Sāriputta, Mahāmoggallāna, and the eighty great disciples also passed away. There is no other refuge for us here," and making a declaration of truth, they spoke: 11. If to the end of our lives, we have not gone for refuge to the Buddha; By that truth, may the relic show a miracle. 12. If to the end of our lives, we have not gone for refuge to the Dhamma; By that truth, may the relic show a miracle. 13. If to the end of our lives, we have not gone for refuge to the Sangha; By that truth, may the relic show a miracle. 14. In the time of Rāma, the shoes of the Lord of Sages were wondrous; By that truth, may the relic show a miracle. This. 15. In the Chaddanta birth, the Sage's tooth, adorned with rays; By that truth, may this relic, emit six rays. 16. As soon as born, the Buddha then, stood on a lotus' crest; Uttering the bull-like speech, "I am the foremost, the best," and so on; By that truth, may this relic, display a miracle. 17. Having seen the four omens, he went forth, the great renunciation; By that truth, may this relic, display a miracle. 18. Having routed Māra's army, he sat down, awakened at the Bodhi tree; By that truth, may this relic, display a miracle. 19. The Wheel of Dhamma he set rolling, the Conqueror at Isipatana then; By that truth, may this relic, display a miracle. 20. Nanda and Upananda, the serpent king, the Nāga named Nālāgiri; Āḷavaka and other Yakkhas, Brahmās such as Baka and others. 21. Saccaka and other Nigaṇṭhas, Kūṭadanta and other twice-born; He tamed them, by that truth, may it display a miracle. Thus having spoken, the lay followers, out of compassion for us, for the sake of shattering the wrong views of the multitude, requested, "O Lord, display a miracle." Then, by the Buddha's power, and the Elder's power, and by the power of the lay followers' truth-act, the sand mound split in two, and the Footrest Relic, rising into the sky, emitting six-colored rays, playing, stood there. Then the multitude, throwing up thousands of cloths, playing the game of "well done," making a great noise, made a great offering. Those of wrong views also, seeing this wonder, with astonished minds, shattering their wrong views, went for refuge, devoted to the Triple Gem. 22. Touched even by the foot of the Conqueror thus, Kaliṅga was indeed of great power; Of the unique Protector of the world, the taintless one, Great indeed is the power, inconceivable. The third story of the Footrest. 24. In the story of Uttara the novice, this is the sequential account: He, having performed meritorious deeds under former Buddhas, accumulating merit conducive to liberation in those various existences, Having been a wizard in the time of the Blessed Sumedha, he dwelt in the Himalayas. Then, the perfectly enlightened Buddha named Sumedha, practicing solitude, went to the Himalayas, and sat down, folding his legs in a delightful place. Then, the wizard, going through the sky, seeing the Blessed One shining with six-colored rays, honored him with three karnikara flowers. By the Buddha's power, the flowers remained above the Teacher in the form of a parasol. He, with his mind greatly pleased by that, passed away at the end of his life, and was reborn in the Tavatimsa heaven, experiencing great divine prosperity, and having stayed there as long as his life lasted, he passed away from there, wandering among gods and humans, in this Buddha-era, he was born in the city of Rajagaha, as the son of a wealthy brahmin. He was named Uttarotissa. He, possessing excellent beauty, having reached understanding, having attained perfection in brahminical knowledge, became worthy of the world by birth, beauty, knowledge, morality, and conduct. Seeing his perfection of wisdom, Vassakara, the chief minister of Magadha, wishing to give his daughter to him, announced his intention. He, having an inclination for renunciation, rejected that, and from time to time attending upon the Commander of the Dhamma, having heard the Dhamma in his presence, having regained faith, having gone forth, being accomplished in duties, attended upon the Elder. And at that time, a certain illness arose in the Elder. For the sake of medicine for him, the novice Uttarotissa, taking his bowl and robe early in the morning, having left the monastery, on the road, having placed the bowl on the bank of a pond, went near the water and washed his face. Then, a certain highway robber, having committed a crime, pursued by the royal guards, having left the city through the main gate, fleeing, placed the jewel casket he had taken into the novice's bowl and fled. That novice also had approached the bowl. The royal men, pursuing the thief, seeing the casket in the novice's bowl, thought, "This is the thief." They, accusing the novice, "He committed theft," tied his hands behind his back and presented him to Vassakāra the Brahmin. Vassakāra, appointed by the king to adjudicate, was then instructing on what should be cut off and what should be broken. "This one previously did not heed my words. He has become a monk among the false ascetics," and due to his deep-seated hatred, without investigating the matter, he sent an order, "Impale this one alive immediately!" The king's men impaled him on a neem stake. The novice, seated on the tip of the stake, remembered Sāriputta Thera, thinking, "Who will bring medicine for my preceptor?" Then the Thera, knowing that event, told the Sammāsambuddha, and the Blessed One, surrounded by his great disciples, perceiving the maturity of his knowledge, went to that place. Then, because of the Blessed One's departure, there was a commotion in the entire city, and a great crowd gathered.