English
In Loṇanagara, the great city king, adorned with all finery, beautifully arrayed with all ornaments, surrounded by a retinue of ministers, having dances, songs, and music performed, taking incense, garlands, and ladles of smoke, came to the cetiya site, venerated the Saṅgha of monks, and stood to one side. In Serunagara, King Siva also, adorning himself with all finery, with a great retinue, having the rites of worship performed, came to the cetiya site, venerated the great Saṅgha of monks, and stood to one side. The royal assembly, resplendent with garments and ornaments according to their means, with sandalwood and garlands, wearing on their foreheads strings of pearls and elaborate golden bands, adorned and embellished like a divine assembly with various ornaments including armlets, holding various weapons appropriate to their rank, stood to one side. Riding in excellent chariots adorned with tiger, leopard, and panther skins, decorated with golden ornaments, golden flags, and golden nets, and in carriages adorned with all finery, they stood to one side. Brahmin youths and others, wearing decorated skins, adding to the splendor, stood to one side. Many ministers, adorned with costly garments and ornaments befitting their rank, with their retinues, stood to one side. Holding conch shells filled with scented water turned to the right, wearing the sacred thread over one shoulder, wrapping the Brahmin's covering, the Brahmin priests, with a great retinue, having the rites of worship performed, came to the cetiya site, venerated the great Saṅgha of monks, and proclaiming cries of victory, spoke thus: May the country always be safe, prosperous, and secure; May crops flourish, may the king have such victories. The remaining great multitude spoke thus: May he inhabit the earth bounded by the ocean, the earth with the ocean as its earring, surrounded by ministers. Having spoken thus: Our lord, King Kakavaṇṇatissa, established the forehead relic of the one person, the world's protector, in the world with the gods, according to their respective means. Adorned and beautified according to their status. Dwarfs, hunchbacks, and others, all the people, taking offerings, giving approval, stood. In this cetiya place, the assembled crowd should be known thus: Nobles, brahmins, merchants, townsfolk, gathered together, taking flowers and such, all adorned with ornaments. Beyond counting were those many great people; Like the ocean spreading, the nobles came together. Adorned, the great king, surrounded by his court; Like Sakka, king of gods, he stood in the cetiya courtyard. With the approval of beings, and the fivefold instruments; With the sound of elephants, horses, chariots, the earth was filled. Then Cūḷapiṇḍapātiyatissa Thera, surrounding himself with five hundred arahants, his co-residents, came to the cetiya place. Mahāsāgalatissa Thera also, surrounding himself with five hundred arahants, came to the cetiya place. Mahinda Thera also, taking about sixty arahant disciples, came to the cetiya place. Thus, in this manner, one, two, three, four, five arahants coming, there were about seven thousand. Then Cūḷapiṇḍapātiyatissa Thera, surrounding himself with so many monks, sat down in the cetiya courtyard. Then the king, having come, paid homage with the fivefold prostration, and spoke with the Thera: "From where shall we obtain the hair relic, venerable sir?" At that moment, Tissa Thera looked at his co-resident, Sivatthera. He, at the moment of being looked at, rising from his seat, putting on his robe, having paid homage to the great Sangha of monks, the great arahant with the six superknowledges, having attained the fourth jhāna, having arisen from that, plunged into the earth, and appeared in the Bhumindhara Nāga's palace. (Having heard of him, Sivatthera, skilled, confident; Appeared in the Nāga city, before him in a moment.) At that time, Jayasena, the Nāga king, surrounding his nephew with two hundred million nāgas, experiencing great glory, having been seated, giving a signal, saw the Thera coming from afar. Having seen, he thought: "In this Nāga-palace, there is no duty for monks to perform. Undoubtedly, he must have come relying on the hair-relic." Rising up, he entered the relic-house, swallowed the relic-casket, and sat down as if unaware of anything. At that time, the elder approached him. The Nāga-king went to greet him, conversing with the elder while exchanging courtesies. When asked, "Why have you come, venerable sir?" he said thus: "I have come for the sake of the hair-relics of our Sambuddha, the Lord of the Three Worlds. Give me the hair-relics kept with you without delay; I have been sent by my preceptor specifically for that purpose." When he said this, he replied, "There are no hair-relics of our Perfectly Enlightened One with me." The elder, knowing that he had swallowed the relic-casket, said, "I will take the hair-relics, great king." He replied, "Yes, seeing them, take them and go." Having taken the promise in this way three times, he stood there just as before? Having fashioned with psychic power a subtle hand, Inserting it into his mouth, he took the relic-casket; Having emerged from the Nāga's abode, he spoke, "Stay, Nāgas!" At that moment, the Nāga-king, Jayasena, saying, "I have sent him away deceiving the monk," and looking at the relic-casket after his departure, and not seeing the relic, thinking, "The monk has destroyed it," raising both hands and placing them on his head, and making his entire Nāga-palace a commotion, lamenting with a great sound: "As if having plucked out our eyes, the hair-relics of the Perfectly Enlightened One, the foundation of the world with its gods, who release us from the suffering of the lower realms, having overcome us, the monk has taken the relics and gone; having chased after him, we will seize him!" Taking about two hundred million Nāgas along with his nephew, chasing after him from behind, they ascended into the sky. At that moment, Sivatthera, descending from the sky, entered the earth. Then they too entered the earth. Thus, the elder, along with them, diving and surfacing, Having performed the miracle, he rose up on Piṭṭhipāsāṇa, not far from Serunagara. There itself, having stirred their emotions, he appeared in the courtyard of the Cetiya, in front of the great Saṅgha of monks. The Nāgas, unable to seize him, gave a great cry, echoing back. "From here, he is lost to us!" On that Piṭṭhi Pāsāṇa, all having gathered, they lamented with a great noise. "Lost, alas, is he!" From that time on, that Piṭṭhipāsāṇa, giving back the cry and lament of the Nāgas, became known as Nāgagalla. The Nāga, following the Thera right to the Cetiya courtyard, said to the king thus: "O King, this monk has come, taking the relic not given by me." Hearing that, the king said, "Is the Nāga's word true, Venerable Sir?" When he said, "No, Great King, he has taken only the relic that was given," the Nāga said, "Let him give a witness." The Thera made his nephew, the Nāga king Samaṇuppala, a witness. The king, having heard all the words of his nephew, believed. At that time, the Nāga king, overcome with sorrow, went and stood outside. From that time on, that Nāga king, having sat outside, became known as Bahināgarājā. But he had his nephew seated inside the Cetiya courtyard. "Nāgas who have taken on the protection of this Cetiya should be spoken of. Six koṭis of Nāgas were the retinue of the Nāga king Sumana, one hundred koṭis of Nāgas were the retinue of Jayasena, two koṭis of Nāgas were the retinue of the Nāga king Samaṇuppala. All took on the protection of the relic." The king, having taken the hair relic from the Thera's hand, placed it in a jeweled casket and gave it to the minister named Mahinda. In that assembly, there were four novices, disciples of the Thera Mahāphussadeva, possessor of analytical knowledge, learned in the Tipiṭaka. Among them, one was the royal prince of Malaya, the novice Sumana by name, one was the son of Sivarāja's sister in Serunagara, the novice Uttara by name. One was the gardener's son in Mahāgāma, the novice Cunda In a great village, a householder's son, the novice Mahākassapa. These four novices, today King Kākavaṇṇatissa will enshrine relics in the Great Thūpa. "Let us go to the Himalayas, and bring beautiful flowers," they said, venerating the Elder. From the sky, they went to the Himalayas, taking Campaka, Nāga, Salala, and other flowers for worship, they went to the Tāvatiṃsa heaven. At that time, Sakka, king of the gods, adorned with all ornaments, taking deities from two deva-worlds, mounted the neck of Erāvaṇa the elephant, surrounded by one and a half crore devas, wandering in the great Sudassana street, saw those four novices coming from afar, with all their belongings. Descending from the elephant's neck, he venerated them with the five prostrations, seeing the flower baskets in their hands, he asked, "What is in your hands, venerable ones?" Hearing that, the novices said, "Great King, do you not know? In Laṅkā, King Kākavaṇṇatissa, taking the forehead relic of the Ten-Powered One, on the southern side of the great Mahāvālukagaṅgā river, at the end of the Seru pond, on the head of the Varāha tusk, is having a thūpa built. By your command, Vissakamma, the divine son, having taken bricks made, is having the thūpa built, and today he is enshrining the relics. For the purpose of worship there, these flowers are brought from the Himalayas," saying, "We have come to take more flowers from here." Hearing their words, Sakka said, "Venerable ones, after worshiping the Cūḷāmaṇi Cetiya with the flowers in your hands, take flowers from our garden and go." Having said this, he went with them, and with their flowers, worshiped the Cūḷāmaṇi Cetiya. Then, they informed Sakka, "There will be no obstacles." Hearing that, Sakka, gave the novices Pāricchatta, Koviḷāra, and other flowers from the five great gardens,