English
The king, for the great dedication of the monastery, assembled the Sangha. A hundred thousand monks and ninety thousand nuns gathered at that assembly. The king, having venerated the Sangha, said thus: "Venerable sirs, unknowingly, without the Sangha, I consumed a chili pepper. For that, let there be a penalty for me." "Having built a shrine and a monastery in the chili pepper field, may the Sangha accept it, venerable sirs, this shrine and monastery." Having poured the water of dedication, he gave the monastery to the Sangha of monks. Around the monastery, for the seating of the Sangha of monks, he had a large pavilion built. The pillars of the pavilion were established in the water of the Abhaya tank. There is no mention of the remainder of the space. There, having seated the Sangha of monks, having given a great donation for a week, he gave all the requisites. There, the requisite received by the Sangha Elder was worth a hundred thousand. Thus- "In battle and in giving, a hero, a hero in the Triple Gem, With a clear and pure mind, desiring to illuminate the Teaching; By the grateful king, from the construction of the stupa onwards, To greatly honor the Triple Gem with monastery dedications; Having relinquished priceless wealth here, Twenty crores less one remain;" Thus, wise, in the essence-less, impermanent, Body and wealth, overcoming attachment, Having done merit for the attainment of happiness, One should constantly strive to grasp the essence; The Story of the Maricavatti Monastery 18. Then the king thought, "The Great Mahinda Thera indeed said to my grandfather, King Devanampiyatissa, 'Your grandson, Great King Dutthagamani Abhaya, will build the Golden Sand Stupa, a hundred cubits high. And for the Sangha, a nine-storied Lohapasada, a chapter house.'" Thinking thus and looking around, he saw a golden plate inscription placed in a casket in the royal palace and had it read. "In the future, four hundred and forty years having passed..." King Kāka Vaṇṇa Tissa's son, Duṭṭha Gāmaṇi Abhaya, hearing that he would accomplish this and that, rejoiced, elated, and exclaimed, "Indeed, the Great Mahendra has seen him!" Then, early in the morning, going to Mahāmegha Grove, having assembled the community of monks, he said this: "Venerable sirs, having built an Uposatha hall for the community of monks, I will construct a palace like a celestial mansion. Send to the world of the gods, have the form of the mansion drawn on cloth, and give it to me." The Sangha sent eight arahants. They, going to Tāvatiṃsa heaven, having seen the nine-storied palace, twelve yojanas in height and forty-eight yojanas in circumference, adorned with a thousand pinnacles, with a thousand chambers, born of the power of merit of Khīraṇā, a celestial maiden, standing in the sky, drew its form on cloth with red arsenic and brought it, and gave it to the community of monks. The Sangha sent it to the king. Seeing that, the king, with a delighted mind, then built the Lohapāsāda according to that drawing. At the time of commencing the work, he placed eight hundred thousand pieces of silver at the four gates. Then, at the four gates, he placed a thousand pieces of cloth, and thousands of jars filled with molasses, oil, sugar, and honey. Having proclaimed with a drum, "No work should be done on the palace without payment," he had the work done without payment valued and paid the workers their wages. The palace was one hundred cubits by one hundred cubits on each side, and so was its height, and it had nine stories. On each story were one hundred pinnacles, and all of them were adorned with jewels and surrounded with golden bells. The pinnacles had various jewel decorations and coral railings, and their lotus flowers were adorned with various jewels. And the thousand chambers were adorned with various jewels and decorated with lion-windows. Hearing of Vessavaṇa's chariot named Nārivāhana, he built a jewel pavilion in the middle in that form. He [adorned it] with many jewel pillars in the form of lions, tigers, etc., and gods. Adorned with beautiful forms, And surrounded on all sides by a net of hanging pearls, Its coral terrace was as previously described. In the middle of the seven-jeweled pavilion, There was an ivory couch on a floor of goat-hair cloth, Even the headrest was of ivory. It was decorated with golden sun-discs, Silver moon-discs, And pearl stars, With various jewel lotuses placed appropriately, And delightful Jātaka scenes. Golden vines were also made in between. There, a priceless spread was laid out, And a pleasing ivory fan was placed. Coral slippers were made. Also, above the couch, On the goat-hair cloth floor, A silver staff was erected, And a white umbrella was made. There, eight auspicious objects of seven jewels, And rows of four-legged stands of jewels and pearls, Were made in between. From the edge of the umbrella, Rows of jewel bells hung down. The palace, the umbrella, the couch, and the pavilion, These four were priceless. Having prepared expensive chairs and benches there, He had expensive blankets and floor coverings spread out. The water pot and the spittoon were of gold. There is no need to mention the remaining utensils. Even the gatehouse was surrounded by a beautiful wall. Because it was covered with copper-colored bricks, The palace was called the Copper Palace. Having completed the palace like a divine assembly hall in the Tāvatiṃsa heaven, He assembled the Saṅgha. The Saṅgha gathered like at the Maricavaṭṭi monastery festival. On the first floor, only ordinary people stood. On the second floor, those who knew the Tipitaka. On the three floors from the third upwards, Sotāpannas, Sakadāgāmis, and Anāgāmis stood in order. On the four upper floors, only those who had destroyed the āsavas stood. Having assembled the Saṅgha in this way, And having given the palace to the Saṅgha, He gave a great donation for a week, Like at the Maricavaṭṭi monastery festival. "Because of the palace, four things, Were established by the king with great generosity, Priceless things, They were..." "Iṅsakoti." Abandoning what is desirable, giving away accumulated wealth, Giving wealth to be followed, thus do the wise act. 19. Then one day, the king, having spent a hundred thousand to perform a great Bodhi tree offering, and entering the city, seeing the stone pillar established at the stupa site, recalling the words spoken by the Elder Mahinda, resolved, "I will build a great stupa." Entering the city, ascending the royal terrace, having eaten fine food, lying on the royal bed, he thought thus: "By me, suppressing the Tamils, this world has been exceedingly oppressed. By what means, without oppressing the world, with justice and equality, shall I produce bricks befitting the Great Cetiya?" The deities who were on the royal umbrella and robe, knowing the king was thinking thus, proclaimed it aloud. The news reached the heavens, and there was a great commotion. Knowing this, Sakka, the king of the gods, summoned Vissakamma, saying, "Dear Vissakamma! King Dutthagamaṇi Abhaya has thought about bricks for the Great Cetiya. Go and, in the northern region, about a league from the city, on the bank of a deep river, make bricks and come here." Knowing this, Vissakamma, the divine son, came and there made bricks befitting the Great Cetiya, and then went to the city of the gods. Again, one day, a dog hunter, taking dogs and going into the forest, wandering here and there, reached that place and, not seeing the bricks, departed. At that moment, a earth deity, to show him the bricks, took the form of a large iguana and showed herself to the hunter and his dogs, and being pursued by them, went towards the bricks and disappeared. The dog hunter, seeing the bricks, thought, "Our king wishes to build a stupa, surely we have received a great gift!" Delighted, the next day, early in the morning, he came and reported to the king the gift of bricks he had seen. The king, hearing that message, was pleased and had great honor done to him, and appointed him to guard the bricks. He had it done. Then the king said, "I myself will go to build the brick enclosure, sharpen the stake." At that very moment, they brought another message. In the village of Ācāra Viṭṭhi, three yojanas from the city, in the northeast corner, for three watches of the night, rain fell on a place the size of sixteen karisas, and golden seeds sprang up. Those of the best quality were a span in size. Those of the lowest quality were eight fingers in size. Then, at dawn, the villagers saw the golden seeds and, thinking, "A treasure worthy of the king has arisen," they established guards all around, filled a bowl with the golden seeds, came and showed them to the king. The king had them honored appropriately and made them the keepers of the gold. Then, at that very moment, they brought another message. In the district of Tambaviṭṭhi, seven yojanas east of the city, on the far bank of the river, copper arose. The villagers filled a bowl, took the copper, came and showed it to the king. The king had them honored accordingly and made them the keepers of the copper. Thereafter, they brought another message. In the village of Sumanavāpi, four yojanas from the city, in the southeast corner, many jewels arose, a mixture of sapphires and rubies. The villagers filled a bowl, came and showed the jewels to the king. The king had them honored and made them the keepers of the jewels. Thereafter, they brought another message. In the district of Ambaṭṭhakola, eight yojanas south of the city, silver arose in a cave. At that time, a merchant from the city, with many carts, had gone to the Malaya mountains for turmeric, ginger, and the like. Having unyoked the carts not far from the cave, while searching for a goad stick, he climbed that mountain and saw a jackfruit tree. It had one jackfruit the size of a large pot. He bent the slender branch down