English
He gave the foremen of his retinue new clothes and all necessary equipment. Having shown them great honor in various ways and consulted with the Elder, he said: "Venerable Sir, today is the Visakha full moon, an Uposatha day, therefore, it is fitting to perform a ceremony for the forehead relic and lay the foundation brick at the Cetiya site." Hearing this, the Elder said: "Excellent, O Great King, it is the birth day of the Blessed Buddha," and chose five men for the Cetiya construction work. Their names were: Varadeva, Sankha, Vijja, Pussadeva, and Mahadeva. Having had a ceremony performed for these foremen, dressed them in festive attire, and adorned them with all ornaments, the king himself, adorned with all ornaments, had a ceremony performed, worshipped the Sangha with incense and flowers, circumambulated three times, venerated at the four places with the five-point prostration, dismissed them, entered the golden chamber, and had the auspicious, agreed-upon, jeweled, pearl-and-gem-encrusted measuring rod, adorned on both sides by living parents, taken by a minister's son. While building the great Cetiya there, he himself, taking the measuring rod, walked around the prepared ground and stood aside. Then the master foreman, at an auspicious time and moment, laid the foundation brick at the Cetiya site. At that moment, this great earth, thick with two hundred and four thousand leagues, as if uttering approval, emitted a great roar. Gods and humans, day by day, kneaded sufficient clay with sediment and sifted it with winnowing baskets, and gave it. Doing thus, having built the three flower platforms in a few days, he informed the great Sangha of monks. Hearing this, the Sangha ordered two novices named Cunduttara: "Go to the Himalayas and bring Medavanna stones." Those novices were sixteen years old by birth and possessed the six supernormal knowledges. Having attained analytical knowledge through distinctions. Accepting the word of the monastic community from the community of great monks who were rid of defilements, they rose into the sky and brought stones of meda color from the Himalayas by their own power. Spreading one stone on the ground of the relic chamber, establishing four stones on the four sides, they made another invisible to cover the relic chamber and placed it. Then the king, finishing the work on the relic chamber, had nine crores worth of gold brought and ordered the goldsmiths, "Make bricks for the relic chamber." Those goldsmiths made bricks one ratana in length, one span in width, and four angulas in thickness, and built the relic chamber. That relic chamber, sixteen cubits in height and ten by ten ratanas in width, was completed with gold bricks, and in the middle of the relic chamber, they had a Sineru made of seven jewels, and above the Sineru, a paṇḍukambala stone seat of jati-hingulaka, a pāricchattaka tree of seven jewels, and a white parasol of silver, which Brahma held, made to be held above the image of the Teacher. At the foot of Sineru, he had rows of one hundred and eight golden pots filled with fragrant water and adorned with blue lotuses placed. After that, he had rows of one hundred and eight silver pots filled with fragrant water and adorned with jewel lotuses placed. After that, he had rows of one hundred and eight jeweled pots filled with fragrant water and adorned with white lotus garlands placed. After that, he had rows of one hundred and eight pots of masāragalla filled with fragrant water and adorned with white lotuses placed. After that, he had rows of one hundred and eight pots of lohitaṅka filled with fragrant water and adorned with champaka flowers placed. After that, he had rows of one hundred and eight earthen pots filled with fragrant water and adorned with five lotuses placed. Of those rows of pots, He had a jeweled bowl filled with fragrant powder placed inside. He also had made golden and jeweled ornate garlands, auspicious water pots, auspicious swastikas, auspicious seats, and rows of elephants, horses, lions, tigers, bulls, etc. He had depictions made of the Descent from Heaven, the Twin Miracle, the taming of Dhanapāla, Aṅgulimāla, and Āḷavaka, and the likenesses of the venerable Sāriputta, Moggallāna, Mahākassapa, and the eighty great disciples. In the middle of Mount Sineru, he had a silver moon disc made, surrounded by constellations. He also had a golden sun disc made, adorned with radiating light. Then, on the summit of Mount Sineru, at the foot of the Pāricchattaka tree, on the paṇḍukambala stone seat, he had an image of our Teacher made of solid, refined red gold, and had it seated in the manner of teaching the seven treatises of the Abhidhamma to ten thousand world-systems of deities, headed by the mother deity. Its twenty fingernails and toenails, the white parts of the eyes, were made of nutmeg crystal. The fingers were made of gold, and the palms and soles of the feet, the tooth coverings, and the red parts of the eyes were made of ruby coral. The hair, beard, and eyebrow areas were made of sapphire, and the forty-four even teeth were made of diamond. The ūrṇā hair was made of silver, resembling a silver bubble placed on a golden wall. Around the unseen crown of the Buddha's head, he had a jeweled, ornate net of small bells placed. Inside the pavilion, he had a beautiful canopy of cloth hung, with strings of pearls worth nine hundred thousand, and around the edge of the pavilion, he had a net of pearls and then a jeweled, ornate net of small bells placed. He also had the mother deity of our Blessed One made of seven jewels. Likewise, he had Erāvaṇa, Vissakamma, the deva sons, and the deva king Sakka with his retinue, the four great kings, the deva son Pañcasikha, the gandhabba deva sons, and the great Brahmās, headed by Sahampati Mahā Brahmā, made. The Vessantara Jātaka, he King Sañjaya, Queen Phusatī, and also Queen Maddī, the two children, and the brahmin Jūjaka, and so on, he had them depicted. The Vidhura, Soṇadatta, Mahānārada-kassapa, Sutasoma, Suppāraka, Saṅkhapāla Jātakas, and so on, and the manner of teaching the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, the Mahāsamaya Sutta, and so on, King Suddhodana, Mahāmāyā, Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī, Bhaddakaccānā, Rāhula's mother, and also Prince Rāhula, and Channa, and Kanthaka, the Great Renunciation, the Great Bodhi-maṇḍala, the eighty great disciples, King Kosala, Anāthapiṇḍika the great merchant, Cūḷaanāthapiṇḍika, Visākhā, Suppavāsā, and later the alms-round of Cūḷapiṇḍapātiya Tissa Thera, and himself, he had them depicted and enshrined all those relics in the relic chamber. The description of the relic chamber is complete. Having thus had the method of worship in the relic chamber arranged, well-divided and very beautiful, did he speak with the Thera? "Venerable sir, what I had to do in the relic chamber is finished. Tomorrow, under the Rohiṇī constellation, I will enshrine the relics. But venerable sir, please bring the hair relics." He entrusted the task to Tissa Thera. The Thera, hearing that, said, "Very good, great king, I will collect and bring the hair relics," and summoning his co-resident monk, Sivatthera, he commanded, "Friend, in the Bhūmindhara Nāga-vimāna dwells a Nāga king named Jayasena. He has the hair relics. During the time of attending to the merchant brothers Tapussa and Bhallika, knowing their negligence, the Nāga king took two hair relics and placed them in the Nāga-bhavana. You must bring those relics and give them to the king." The Thera, accepting that word, departed. Then the king sent a message to his sister, Somadevī, and to his nephew, King Giriabhaya? "Tomorrow we will enshrine the relics. You should come with your army." Likewise, he sent a message to the great Nāga king in Loṇa city and to King Siva in Seru city, and he himself, in his own kingdom, even a piece of land as small as a karīsa from my hand "Got it!" Taking that, he had a drum paraded, "All of you, come with your families!" Hearing that, the joyful populace, adorned and prepared, according to their means, went. The king, as the night dawned, said, "All the armies, taking perfumes, garlands, incense, flags, etc., should come to the relic deposit." Having given a great donation to the Sangha of monks, having given valuable cloths, etc., for triple robes, he himself, fully adorned, having eaten various delicious foods, having undertaken the Uposatha, surrounded by dancing, singing, musical, and instrumental women, resembling celestial nymphs, wearing various fine and beautiful clothes of silk and other materials, adorned with all sorts of ornaments, such as jeweled earrings, girdles, anklets, bracelets, etc., went to the cetiya site with the aforementioned, having venerated the great Sangha of monks, he stood. Then, in Somanagara, King Giriabhaya also, having had a drum paraded in the city, "All the citizens, come to the relic deposit site, according to your means!" he himself, fully adorned, surrounded by a well-prepared retinue of ministers, went out. Queen Soma also, having bathed her head, wearing new clothes, fully adorned, like a celestial nymph, had five hundred maidens in her retinue clothed in blue garments, and adorned them likewise, having them carry full pots. After them, five hundred maidens clothed in yellow garments, and adorned them likewise, having them carry offerings. After them, five hundred maidens clothed in red garments, and adorned them likewise, having them carry boxes filled with various flowers. After them, five hundred maidens clothed in white garments, and adorned them likewise, having them carry incense burners. Thus, having arranged the method of offering, having gone to the cetiya site with her retinue, having venerated the great Sangha of monks with the fivefold prostration, having made offerings with perfumes, garlands, etc., she stood with her husband, Giriabhaya. Standing to one side with the king.