English
The relics of that Blessed One were not scattered; having gathered all the relics, they made a stupa one gavuta high. Therefore it was said, "Kakusandha, the victorious Buddha, passed away in Khemarama, Right there his excellent stupa, rises a gavuta into the sky." After him, a teacher named Konagamana arose. Then the Bodhisatta, having become a king named Pabbata, surrounded by a retinue of ministers, went to the Teacher, heard the Dhamma teaching, invited the Sangha of monks headed by the Buddha, offered a great donation, giving blankets of fine cotton from China, silk, wool, and linen, as well as golden plates, and went forth in the presence of the Teacher. That Teacher also predicted him. The relics of that Blessed One were scattered. Therefore it was said, "Konagamana, the Enlightened One, passed away in Pabbatarama, His relics were scattered, in those various regions." After him, a teacher named Kassapa arose. Then the Bodhisatta, having become a brahmin youth named Jotipala, was foremost in the mastery of the three Vedas and was renowned like the sky, and was a friend of Ghaṭīkāra the potter. He, together with him, approached the Teacher, Heard the Dhamma talk, and having gone forth, with aroused energy, having learned the three baskets, he adorned the Buddha's dispensation with the attainment of the duty of recitation. That Teacher also predicted him. The relics of Kassapa, the Teacher, were not scattered; all the inhabitants of Jambudipa gathered together, each golden bone worth a koṭi. A jeweled and ornate construction, Each for the exterior costing one and a half crores, For the interior filling, Using red arsenic for the clay work, Oil for the water work, They made a stupa one Yojana in diameter. Therefore it was said: "Mahākassapa, the Jina, the Teacher, Passed away in Setavya, There indeed his Jina-stupa, Rose one Yojana in diameter." And here: Dīpaṅkara, Koṇḍañña, Maṅgala, Sumana likewise, Anomadassī, the Buddha, Nārada, Padumuttara; Sujāta, Piyadassī, Dhammadassī, best of men, Siddhattha, Tissa, the Buddha, Vipassī and Sikhī likewise; Kakusaṇdha, Kassapa, These sixteen great sages, The size of their stupas, Is shown in the Pāli itself; Therefore, by me, the good one, All of them are declared, Stupas, faithful people, Reverently venerate them; Of those eight, however, Sugatas, wishing well, Relic expansions were, In those various regions. In the Stūpavamsa, made for the pleasing of the minds of good people, the stupa stories of the Buddhas with existing stupas and the making of aspirations near all are complete. After Kassapa, the Blessed One, having passed away, there is no other Buddha named before this Sammā Sambuddha. Thus, the Bodhisatta, having received predictions in the presence of the twenty-four Buddhas beginning with Dīpaṅkara, having fulfilled the perfections, standing in the state of Vessantara - "This earth is without consciousness, Without knowledge of pleasure and pain, Yet by the power of my giving, It trembled seven times." Having done such meritorious deeds causing the great earth to tremble, at the end of his life, having passed away from there, he was reborn in the Tusita heaven, there surpassing other gods in ten ways, experiencing divine prosperity for as long as his life lasted. When, according to human reckoning, seven days remained until the end of his life, his clothes become stained, his garlands wither, sweat exudes from his armpits, and ugliness descends upon his body. The god does not delight in the divine seat. When these five omens arise, seeing them, the empty-dwelling... Knowing that the gods, filled with anxiety that the heavens would be empty, recognized the Great Being's fulfillment of perfections, thinking, "Now, without going to another heaven, having been born in the human world and attained Buddhahood, having done meritorious deeds, they will pass away and fill the heavens," "When I was content in the Tusita realm, Ten thousand gathered, and begged me with folded hands; 'Now is the time, Great Hero, to be born in a mother's womb, Rescuing the world with its gods, awaken to the deathless state'; Thus, requested for the sake of Buddhahood, having considered the time, continent, country, family, and the mother's lifespan, these five great observations, having made a decision, he passed away from there, took rebirth in the Sakyan royal family, being cared for there with great prosperity, gradually reaching auspicious youth, experiencing royal glory like celestial glory in three palaces suitable for the three seasons, on the occasion of going to the pleasure garden, gradually seeing the three divine messengers known as old age, sickness, and death, having become agitated, he returned, and on the fourth occasion, seeing a renunciant, having created a liking for renunciation, saying, "Renunciation is good," having gone to the garden and spent the day there, sitting on the bank of the auspicious lotus pond, adorned and prepared by Vissakamma, the divine son, who had taken the form of a barber, having heard the morning message of Rāhula Kumāra, knowing the strength of paternal affection, thinking, "Before this bond grows, I will cut it," entering the city in the evening, "Surely, that mother is at peace, surely, that father is at peace, surely, that woman is at peace, whose husband is like this"; Having heard this verse spoken by Kisā Gotamī, the daughter of his maternal uncle, thinking, "By this one, the word 'peace' has been uttered," having taken off a pearl necklace worth a hundred thousand from his neck and sent it to her, having entered his palace, lying on the royal bed, seeing the disorder of the dancers overcome by sleep, disgusted. Having roused Channa, and having fed Kanthaka, and having mounted it, accompanied by Channa, surrounded by deities from ten thousand world-systems, having departed with the Great Renunciation, and in the remaining part of that night, having crossed three yojanas, having reached the far bank of the Anoma River, having dismounted from the horse's back, standing on the sandy bank resembling a heap of silver, (he said to) Channa, "Take my ornaments and Kanthaka and go." Having sent back the ornaments and Kanthaka, having taken the auspicious sword in his right hand, and having cut off the crest-jewel together with the hair with his left hand, having thrown it into the sky (saying), "If I become a Buddha, let it stand in the sky, if not, let it fall to the ground," the crest-jewel, together with its band, having gone to a distance of one yojana, stood in the sky. Then Sakka, the king of the gods, received it with a jeweled casket of one yojana. As it was said: Having cut off the crest-jewel, scented with excellent perfumes, The scion of the Sakyas threw it into the sky, The thousand-eyed one received it on his head With a golden, excellent casket, Vasava. Having received it, and having taken it to the world of the gods, on the summit of Mount Meru, he made a crest-jewel shrine of three yojanas, made of sapphire. Then, Ghaṭikāra Mahābrahmā, an old friend from the time of Kassapa Buddha, having remembered the affection (he had for him), having attained the state of non-returner for one Buddha-interval, thought, "Today my friend has gone forth in the Great Renunciation, I will take the requisites of an ascetic for him." "Three robes, a bowl, a razor, a needle and thread, A strainer, with the eight requisites of a bhikkhu endowed with yoga." Having brought these ascetic requisites, he gave them (to him). The Great Being, having put on the banner of the Arahant, having taken the excellent garb of a renunciate, threw the pair of cloths into the sky. Brahmā received them, and in the Brahma-world, he made a cloth-shrine of twelve yojanas, made of all jewels. "Even though defilements were not abandoned at that moment by the Great Being, By whose power the cloth and crest-jewel were thus honored, Therefore, in the practice of those Great Bodhisattvas, One should not be without great effort." Indeed, people call him the wise Aṃva-ko. The Story of the Two Stupas of Cūḷāmaṇi 9. The Bodhisatta, having renounced the world, gradually went to Rājagaha, and there, having wandered for alms, sat on the slope of Paṇḍava Mountain. Though invited to rule by the king of Magadha, he refused, and resolving to attain omniscience and return to Tissavijita, he approached Āḷāra and Uddaka. Dissatisfied with the special attainments he gained from them, he exerted great effort for six years. On the Visākha full moon day, having partaken of the milk-rice given by Sujātā in Senāni village, he floated the golden bowl in the Nerañjarā River. Having spent the day in various meditative attainments in the great forest grove on the bank of the Nerañjarā, in the evening, having taken a handful of grass given by Sotthiya, and with his virtues praised by the black Nāga king, he ascended the Bodhi-maṇḍa and scattered the grass. "I will not break this seat until my mind is freed from defilements without residue," he made a vow, and sitting facing the east, before the sun had set, he vanquished the army of Māra. In the first watch, he attained knowledge of previous lives; in the middle watch, knowledge of the passing away and rebirth of beings; and at the end of the last watch, he realized the knowledge of omniscience, adorned with all virtues such as the ten powers and four confidences. Having spent seven weeks near the Bodhi tree, in the eighth week, sitting at the foot of the Ajapāla Banyan tree, as he reflected on the profundity of the Dhamma, he inclined towards disinterest. Then Sahampati Mahābrahmā, with his retinue of ten thousand Mahābrahmās, requested him to teach the Dhamma. Surveying the world with the eye of a Buddha, accepting the request of Brahmā, he considered, "To whom shall I first teach the Dhamma?"