English
Then the Blessed One, placing his hand, which resembled a stream of flowing vermilion-gold juice mixed with the rays of jeweled nails flashing in his open palm, on Uttara's head, said, "Uttara, this result of your past evil deed has arisen; you must endure it with the power of reflection." He then spoke: 1. In the past, in a certain village, you were a boy; Gathering with other boys, playing in the playground. 2. Taking a fine needle, then from a neem twig; You impaled a living fly there on the stake. 3. Another evil deed of yours, I will tell, listen to me; Your own mother, advising you with good intentions, 4. "May you sit on a living stake," you cursed in anger; By these two evil deeds, you wander in the ocean of existence. 5. Five hundred births you were pierced, on a living neem stake; This is your last birth, even here it ripens. In this way, according to his inclination, he taught him the Dhamma, and Uttara, having obtained great joy and delight due to the pleasure and happiness arising from the touch of the Teacher's hand, similar to the anointing of immortality, just as he should. Having ascended the path of insight, having reached maturity of knowledge, by the Teacher's skillful teaching, through the stages of the path, having destroyed all defilements, he became endowed with the six superknowledges. They say that after hearing the Dhamma, four hundred and eighty thousand gods and humans who had gathered there attained the Dhamma. Then Uttara, having attained the six superknowledges, rose from the stake and stood in the sky, displaying a miracle. The crowd was filled with wonder and amazement. Even as his wounds were being bandaged, monks asked him, "Venerable, how could you, experiencing such suffering, manage to practice insight?" He replied, "Indeed, venerable ones, I had a clear view of the dangers of Saṃsāra and the nature of conditioned things. Therefore, even while experiencing such suffering, I was able to develop insight and attain distinction." Then, later, in the midst of the Saṅgha, revealing the origin of his past deeds, he spoke these verses: 6. Sumedha, the Buddha named, with thirty-two excellent marks, desiring solitude, the Buddha, approached the Himalayas. 7. Having entered the Himalayas, the foremost compassionate sage, having folded his legs in the lotus position, sat down, the best of men. 8. I was then a Vidyādhara, moving through the sky; taking a well-made trident, I was going in the sky then. 9. Like a fire on a mountaintop, like the full moon, the Buddha illuminates the forest, like a flowering Sāla tree. 10. Coming out of the forest, the Buddha's rays spread out; resembling the color of a flame, seeing them, I gladdened my heart. 11. Searching, I saw a flower, a Kanikāra, divinely fragrant; taking three flowers, I honored the best of Buddhas. 12. By the Buddha's power, those three flowers of mine then, with stems upward, petals downward, provided shade for the Teacher. 13. By that skillful deed, and by the aspiration of my mind, having abandoned the human body, I went to Tāvatiṃsa. 14. There, my skillful palace, is known as Kanikārī; sixty yojanas in height, thirty yojanas Not withered. 15. A thousand-sectioned, a hundred-rimmed, a flag-staff, green-hued; A hundred thousand arrays, in the sky appeared to me. 16. Golden, bejeweled, and red-lacquered too; Crystal and couches, as desired, as desired. 17. A priceless bed, with a fine mattress; With an upper covering, secluded, adorned with images. 18. Having left the mansion, wandering in divine conduct; Whenever I wish to go, preceded by a host of gods. 19. I stand beneath a flower, a canopy above me; On all sides for a hundred leagues, covered with Karnikara trees. 20. Sixty thousand instruments, attend morning and evening; They surround me always, tirelessly day and night. 21. There with dances, with songs, with rhythms, and with instruments; I delight in play and pleasure, I rejoice in every desire. 22. There having eaten and drunk, I rejoice among the gods then; Together with groups of women, I rejoice in the supreme sky. 23. Five times a hundred, I ruled as a divine king; Three times a hundred, I was a wheel-turning monarch; Extensive regional rule, countless beyond reckoning. 24. Wandering in existence and non-existence, I obtain great wealth; In wealth there is no lack for me, this is the fruit of Buddha-worship. 25. In two existences I wander, in divinity or in humanity; I know no other destiny, this is the fruit of Buddha-worship. 26. In two families I am born, in the noble and the Brahmin; In a low family I am not born, this is the fruit of Buddha-worship. 27. Elephant vehicles, horse vehicles, palanquins, and litters; I obtain all of these, this is the fruit of Buddha-worship. 28. Troops of female slaves, troops of male slaves, and women adorned; I obtain all of these, this is the fruit of Buddha-worship. 29. Silken and woolen cloths, linen and cotton fabrics; I obtain all of these, this is the fruit of Buddha-worship. 30. New clothes, new fruits, new flavorsome foods; I obtain all of these, this is the fruit of Buddha-worship. 1. Eat this, enjoy this, Lie on this bed; I obtain all this, This is the fruit of worshipping the Buddha. 32. Everywhere I am honored, My fame is exceedingly high; I become very powerful, Always with an unyielding retinue; I am the best of relatives, This is the fruit of worshipping the Buddha. 33. I do not know cold or heat, There is no burning affliction; And mental suffering, Does not exist in my heart. 34. Having become golden-colored, I wander through existence after existence; I do not know ugliness, This is the fruit of worshipping the Buddha. 35. Having departed from the deva-world, Impelled by the root of merit; I was born in Sāvatthi, In the wealthy family of Mahāsāla. 36. Having abandoned the five strands of sense pleasure, I went forth into homelessness; At the age of seven, I attained arahantship. 37. The Buddha ordained me, Knowing my qualities, the one with vision; Even as a youth, I am worthy of veneration, This is the fruit of worshipping the Buddha. 38. My divine eye is pure, I am skilled in concentration; I have reached the perfection of the higher knowledges, This is the fruit of worshipping the Buddha. 39. I have attained analytical knowledge, I am skilled in the bases of psychic power; I have reached the perfection in the true Dhamma, This is the fruit of worshipping the Buddha. 40. Thirty-one thousand aeons ago, I worshipped the Buddha; I do not experience suffering, This is the fruit of worshipping the Buddha. 41. My defilements are burnt up, All existences are eradicated; Like an elephant breaking its bonds, I live without defilements. 42. Welcome indeed was my arrival, To the presence of the best of Buddhas; The three knowledges are attained, The Buddha's teaching is done. 43. The four analytical knowledges, And these eight deliverances; The six higher knowledges are realized, The Buddha's teaching is done. Hearing that, many were devoted to wholesome deeds. 44. Even beings with a cause, the last ones, Cannot abandon evil thus; Suffering is unwanted by people, Evil should be avoided like a precipice. The fourth story, about Uttarasāmaṇera. 25. This sequential story is in Kavīrapaṭṭana, It is said that in Jambudīpa, in the Coḷa country, in Kavīrapaṭṭ There was a place named Ṭaṇa. There, many Māhissarikas, holding wrong views, lived. In one of their temples, while painting, on one panel, they depicted the Blessed One in an attitude of bowing down to Īsvara. At that time, many lay followers, going to that temple, while looking at the paintings here and there, saw that painting on the panel. Having seen it, they thought, "Alas, we have seen what should not be seen! In the world with its deities, with Māra, with Brahmā, in the population with ascetics and Brahmins, deities and humans, and in the immeasurable world systems, there is no one equal to the Blessed One, let alone superior. The Blessed One is worthy of worship and veneration by all groups of beings. This done by these people is inappropriate for him!" Crying and lamenting, they went to the royal palace and protested loudly. Hearing that, the king summoned them and asked, "Why are you protesting loudly?" They said thus: "O King, our Blessed One is the god of gods, the Sakka of Sakkas, the Brahmā of Brahmās, like Mount Meru, immovable, like the ocean, deep, like the sky, endless, like the earth, widespread," and so on, they praised the virtues of the Blessed One. Therefore, it was said in the Apadāna: 1. Possessing the thirty-two marks, like the moon with auspicious stars; Endowed with the minor marks, like a blossoming Sāla king. 2. Surrounded by a network of rays, shining like a golden mountain; Encircled by a fathom-long aura, like the sun with a hundred rays. 3. The Jina, the best of men, is golden-hued, like a heap of jewels; His heart full of compassion, like an open ocean. 4. His fame known throughout the world, like the best of mountains, Sineru; The wise one, spread with glory, the sage like the sky. 5. With a mind unattached everywhere, the leader like the wind; The best of sages, the refuge of all beings, like the earth. 6. Untainted by the world, like a lotus by water; Burning the thicket of bad speech, he shines like a mass of fire. 7. Like a medicine everywhere, destroying the poison of defilements; Like Gandhamādana mountain, adorned with the fragrance of virtues. 8. The wise one, a mine of virtues, like the ocean of jewels; Like the Indus of forest groves, the defilements Like a victorious great warrior, crushing the army of Māra; Like a sovereign king, lord of the jewels of the awakening factors. Like a great physician, curing the diseases of defilements; Like a surgeon, skillfully removing the tumor of wrong views.