English
Of the bright fortnight of Āsāḷha, Under the Uttarāsaḷha constellation," Thus was the relic enshrined under the Āsāḷha constellation; With the relic's enshrinement, the great earth trembled, Various miracles occurred in diverse ways. Then, with water all around, this great earth shook, quaked, and trembled, The great ocean surged, lightning flashed in the sky. A sudden rain fell, the six heavens resounded with a single cry, The king, seeing this wonder, pleased, honored the relics with his golden garland and white parasol, And, bestowing the kingdom of Tambapaṇṇi for a week, Offered ornaments and goods worth thirty hundred thousand. Likewise, all the dancing women, ministers, the remaining populace, and the gods offered all their ornaments, therefore: Whoever reverently honors the abiding Sugata, revered by the three worlds, Or whoever honors even a mustard seed's worth of that relic, Their merit is equal, with the same serenity of mind, Knowing this, even after the Sugata's passing, the wise should honor the relic. Then the king, giving robes and cloths, as well as medicines like molasses and ghee, to the Sangha, Had the Sangha recite all night, and the next day had a proclamation made in the city: "Let the populace, taking perfumes and garlands, go and venerate the relics for this week!" Indagutta Thera also resolved: "Let the people throughout Tambapaṇṇi, desiring to venerate the relics, Come and venerate them at once, and then return to their places." They venerated the relics and departed accordingly, The king, providing great alms to the Sangha for a week, At the end of the week, announced to the Sangha: "The task I had to do in the relic chamber is completed, Seal the relic chamber, venerable sirs." The Sangha addressed Uttarāsumana Sāmaṇera, "Seal the relic chamber with the medavaṇṇa stone you brought earlier." They agreed, saying "Good," and sealed the relic chamber. Then, may the fragrances not fade in the relic chamber, may the garlands not wither, May the lamps not go out, may the jewels not... May the revered objects become discolored, may they not perish. May the stones of Medavaṇṇa be joined together, may there be no opportunity for adversaries, thus they resolved. Thus, the king, having deposited the relics, again had a proclamation made in the city, "Having deposited the relics in the Great Cetiya, bring relics and make deposits." The great multitude, according to their own ability, had caskets made of gold, silver, etc., and having placed the relics therein, deposited them on the Medavaṇṇa stone platform above the relic deposit. All the relics gathered together amounted to a thousand. Thus, in the Thūpavaṃsa, composed for the pleasing of the minds of good people, the story of the relic deposit is finished. 24. Then the king, having covered all that and building the cetiya, completed the square chamber together with the belly. Then, while the umbrella work and plaster work were not yet finished, he became ill with a deadly disease and, having summoned his younger brother from Dīghavāpi, said, "Quickly finish the unfinished umbrella work and plaster work on the cetiya and please me, brother." Knowing the king's weakness, he, being unable to do the unfinished work inside, had a tunic made of pure cloth and fastened to the cetiya, and had painters paint a railing and rows of full pots and five-fingered marks on the top of the tunic. Having had umbrella makers make a bamboo umbrella and a railing with sun and moon discs made of coarse cloth on the top, and having made it beautiful with lac and kukkuṭṭha, he announced to the king that the thūpa work was finished. The king said, "Then show me the Great Cetiya," and lying down in a palanquin, circumambulated the cetiya and had a ground-bed prepared at the southern gate, and lying there, lying on his right side, looking at the Great Thūpa, lying on his left side, looking at the Lohapāsāda, he was of a serene mind. Then, considering the great benefit of the king to the Dispensation, ninety-six crores of monks, who had come from here and there to inquire about his illness, surrounded the king and stood. Then the Saṅgha, group by group, recited the scriptures in unison. The king, not seeing Theraputta Abhaya Thera in that assembly, thought thus: "He engaged in twenty-eight great battles with me against the Tamils, never turning his back. Now, in this war of death, seeing my defeat, I think he has not come." Then the Thera, dwelling on Pajjalita Mountain at the source of the Kariṇda River, knowing the king's thoughts, came through the air with a retinue of five hundred arahants, appearing before the king. The king, seeing the Thera, had him seated before him and said thus: "Venerable sir, you took ten great warriors and fought with the Tamils. Now I have begun to fight alone with death. I am unable to defeat even death, the enemy." Then- Theraputta Abhaya Thera: "Fear not, lord of men, Without conquering the enemy of defilements, death, the enemy, is unconquerable." Thus speaking, he exhorted him thus: "Great king, all this world is followed by birth, pursued by old age, overcome by disease, struck down by death." Therefore- "Just as great, towering rocks, Come rolling from all sides, crushing the four quarters; So do old age and death, Overwhelm living beings, Khattiyas, Brahmins, Vessas, Suddas, Caṇḍālas, Pukkusas, It spares nothing, it crushes all; There is no ground for elephants there, Nor for chariots, nor for infantry, Nor can it be conquered by mantra warfare, nor by wealth." Therefore, this death falls without hesitation even upon the great in glory, the great Sammata and others, the great in merit, Jotika and others, the great in power, Baladeva and others, the mighty, Mahā Moggallāna and others, the wise, Sāriputta and others, the truths realized by self-awakened knowledge, Paccekabuddhas, and Sammāsambuddhas endowed with all virtues, what then to say of other beings? Therefore- The great in glory, the best of kings, all those great Sammata and others have passed away, The impermanent nature, Baladeva and others, great... Thus went the foolish; Those who were virtuous attained fame, great wealth, Jotiyamaṇḍaka and others, With all their possessions, they entered the mouth of Vaccu, all like the moon in the mouth of Rāhu; He who was renowned as the foremost among the sons of the Buddha, endowed with psychic powers, That Elder, along with the great king, entered the mouth of death with his psychic power; Except for the Jina, among all beings, there was none equal to him in wisdom, That general of the Dhamma, the disciple, also went to impermanence, O great king; By the power of self-born knowledge, they attained peace, even the self-born ones, O great king, All those endowed with the power of knowledge did not transcend impermanence; The three-world leader, the best of men, having overcome the state of impermanence, Even the Sugata could not escape, O king, what to say of other beings; Therefore, O great king, all beings in existences are not freed from death, All that is conditioned is impermanent, suffering, and not-self, thus contemplate; "In your second existence, you had a great inclination for the Dhamma, Having appeared in the deva-world, you abandoned divine bliss; Coming here, you performed much merit in various ways, The making of a single reign was for the illumination of the Teaching; O great king, the merit you have done up to this day, Remember it all, and happiness will immediately arise; Having heard that, the king, with a delighted mind, said, "Venerable sir, I see you even in the battle of death," and having gained relief, he ordered the scribe to read the book of merit, and the scribe read the book of merit thus: "Ninety-nine monasteries were built by the great king, The Maricaṭṭi monastery for ninety-nine crores; The excellent Lohapāsāda was built for thirty crores, Twenty-four priceless items were made in the Great Thūpa; The remaining items in the Great Thūpa were made with good wisdom, Worth a hundred thousand crores, O great king, by you again; At Kolamba, named Maleya, at the Akkhakkhāyika alms-hall, Having given two priceless earrings, he took them back; To five arahants, the foremost of the great elders, A kaṅgu, ambila, and piṇḍaka were given with a pleased mind; In the battle of Cūḷaṅgaṇiya Having been defeated and fled, Having announced the time, he came through the sky; To the monk, the Khīṇāsava, without regard for himself, "A bowl of alms-food was given," he recited the book of merit; 25. Hearing that, the king, pleased, said, "Stop, stop!" and spoke thus. At the Maricavaṭṭi monastery festival and the stupa-commencement festival, for seven days each, I dispensed great and precious gifts to the Sangha from all four directions. I held twenty-four great Visakha Pujas. In Tambapaṇṇidīpa, I gave robes to the great community of monks three times. For seven days at a time, I gave the kingdom of Lanka to the Sasana five times. In twelve places, I lit lamps with clarified butter, well-prepared and pure. In seven thousand islands, I lit lamps. In eighteen places, I constantly provided medicine and food to the sick through physicians. In forty-four places, I gave oil-cakes. In just as many places, I constantly provided ghee-cakes and fried cakes with food. Month by month, on the eight Uposatha days, I provided lamp oil in all the monasteries in the island of Lanka. Having heard that the gift of Dhamma is greater than the gift of material things, I sat on the Dhamma seat in the lower Lohapāsāda and, having begun to recite the Mangala Sutta, I could not finish it out of reverence for the Sangha. From then on, I honored the Dhamma preachers and had the Dhamma preached in all the monasteries.