English
He was pleased with the elder; when the upper robe was being offered, he thought, "I will have only one robe," therefore, this very one... "How can I give, not being able to give?" Thinking thus, speaking with the Elder, He stood there in the pavilion itself. At that moment, a crow, sitting in a mango branch, Making a sound, declared thus: "O King Kākavaṇṇatissa, You have no doubt, Give the upper robe to the preacher at the moment of joy." (The crow, capable of speech, speaks to Kākavaṇṇa, You are joyful towards the Elder in the true Dhamma teaching; Give the upper robe to the Great Elder, O Lord of the Earth!) "O Great King, I have come, taking five messages for you. Vihāradevi has given birth to a son. This is one message. A female elephant has given birth to a fine young elephant calf at Tittha Lake. This is the second message. Seven ships have returned to port through the midst of Goṭhasamudda. This is the third message. At the foot of Uttara Vaḍḍhamāna Mountain, In a field the size of two karīsas, Gold masses the size of young palm trunks have sprung up. This is the fourth message. At the foot of Giripabbata Mountain, In Koṭaraṭṭhaka Monastery, An Elder named Koṭaraṭṭhaka, Having spoken of the cessation of the path, Rose seven tālas high to the peak of Giripabbata Mountain, And, sitting in the sky, attained final Nibbāna. This is the fifth message." (A son, an elephant, and a ship, The fourth, a mass of gold; The Elder's final Nibbāna, This is the fifth message. Having taken this, I have come to your presence; Having heard such a message, be devoted to meritorious deeds. Quickly give the cloth, the entire assembly has gathered; Knowing this constantly, why are you attached to the upper robe?) Hearing the crow's words, the king laughed. "Elder? Why did the Great King laugh?" he asked. "Venerable Sir, hearing the crow making a sound, sitting in this mango branch, I laughed," he declared everything. The Elder, seeing the deed done by the king in a previous existence, also laughed. "Why did the Elder laugh?" the king asked. "O Great King, in your next existence, in the country of Malaya, named Amaruppala, you did..." Seeing the deed, he smiled. Being asked, he explained in detail all the meritorious deeds he had done. The king, filled with joy, gave his upper robe, paid homage to the Elder, and went home. Going to Koṭaraṭṭhaka Vihāra, he had the Elder's body cremated, took the relics, built a stupa, made great offerings, and went to Mahāgāma. He had gold brought and placed in the royal courtyard. He had clothes brought from ships that had arrived in Goṭhasamuddakucchi, gave them to the community of monks for robes, initiated a great almsgiving, and had a monastery built near Mahāgāma. While residing there, he summoned his son Duṭṭhagāmaṇi, saying, "Son, go and reside in the city on the mountain," and appointed an advisor in his father's place and sent him to Girinagara. Seeing this, Prince Giriabhaya gave clothes, food, and other things to the army that had come with the prince and showed great respect. The prince resided at the foot of Giripabbata. Later, due to lineage, a dispute arose among the nobles. King Abhaya, thinking, "What is the use of this dispute?" along with his wife Somadevi and a strong army, gradually went to Sivarāja, his friend, who was ruling in Serunagara, and approached him. Sivarāja also showed great honor to the army that had come with King Giriabhaya, had fine clothes, sesame, rice, and other things brought and given. After a few days, he asked, "Friend, why have you come?" He told him all the reasons for his coming. "Good, friend, it is well that you have come. I will see to what needs to be done for you. Do not worry," he said, and while searching for a place for him to live, he saw a very beautiful place in Sarakoṭi. In that area, he had a city built, and thinking, "I will give it a name similar to the queen's," he named it Somanagara. That city was very prosperous, rich in wealth, grain, and other necessities, with gate towers, ramparts, and moats. The city was filled with the sounds of trumpets, drums, and kettledrums, crowded with elephants, horses, chariots, and infantry, and complete with all necessities. Abhaya lived long in Somanagara, enjoying great power. Then, at another time, Somadevi spoke with the king, "Sire, it is fitting that we build a shrine and a monastery as our refuge." Pleased with her words, he sought a site for the monastery. Not too far, not too near the city, there was a great sal forest. He went to see it. At that time, in that sal forest, there was a monk named Mahāmahindathera, of the lineage of Mahāariṭṭhatthera. He lived there with about sixty monks. Seeing him, pleased with his deportment, the king said to the monk, "Venerable sir, I will build a monastery for you in this sal forest." Hearing his words, the monk consented in silence. The king, pleased, paid homage to the monk, returned to the city, and addressed Somadevi, "O fair Somadevi, our wish has reached its peak. A delightful site has been found for building the monastery. There, a monk named Mahinda lives with about sixty ascetics. Having paid homage to him and taken a vow for the monastery, I have returned. I will build a monastery there." Hearing this, she was pleased and replied, "Well done!" The next day, with the queen, he went to the monk, paid homage, and sat to one side. The monk recited the Mahāsamayasutta to them. Both of them, hearing the Dhamma, became joyful. Then the king asked the monk, "Venerable sir, from where shall we obtain relics?" "Do not worry, great king, we will find the relics," he replied. From then on, he had the monastery site cleared, removing thorns and stumps, making it level and beautiful like a drumhead. He summoned bricklayers and had bricks made, starting the construction of the shrine. As the bricklayer was building the shrine, in a few days, Having completed all the work to be done in the relic chamber, he reported it to the king. The king came and informed the Elder, "The relic chamber is completed, venerable sir." Hearing the king's words, the Elder gave the right tooth relic of the Buddha, which he had been keeping, to him. Taking the relic, the king, with a good constellation and auspicious moment, deposited it in the relic chamber with a great retinue, and had a stupa built resembling a very beautiful water-bubble-like Kailasa peak. Endowed with faith and other virtues, protector of the world and the dispensation, The great king had a stupa and a monastery built. Then, for the sake of sixty monks under the Elder, he had sixty residences built, and having completed the monastery adorned with gate towers and ramparts, naming it after one of his queens, he gave the dedication water to the Elder Mahinda. Paying homage with incense, garlands, and flags, going to the relic shrine three times a day, performing meritorious deeds such as giving, King Giriabhaya, experiencing great prosperity, resided in Somanagara. (In the beautiful and delightful city named Somanagara, Rejoicing with the queen, the leader ruled the kingdom.) Then, the queen's brother, the Elder Cullapiṇḍapātiyatissa by name, one day, contemplating the life span of King Kākavaṇṇatissa, knowing it would not last long, went to the king the next day and spoke with him. "Great king, a prediction has been given by the Teacher regarding your forehead relic: 'In the future, on the southern side of the Mahāvālukā River, at the end of a lake named Seru, on the head of a sow named Varāha, a great king named Kākavaṇṇatissa will enshrine my forehead relic,' thus spoke the Blessed One, entering into meditative absorption with that in mind. Bear his words in mind," he said. Hearing his words, thinking, "Without destroying our accumulation of merit, let us go to build a stupa in accordance with the Elder's words," he said, "Good, venerable sir," to the Elder. Having accepted that, summoning his son Duṭṭhagāmaṇi from Girinagara, seating him in Mahāgāma, he had a drum paraded in the city, saying, "I will go to construct a cetiya near the Gaṅgā River, at the Seru pond in the great sandy area, on the head of the boar named Soṇḍi; let all the armies and the great populace come with me." Having said this, the king went to the Elder Cūḷapiṇḍapātiyatissa at Tissa Mahāvihāra, and to the Elder Sāgala, saying, "Venerable sirs, taking about five hundred monks from your retinue, attending to the relic, come with me." In the month of Bhadda, on an auspicious day, under a good constellation, at an auspicious moment, having prepared the camp, taking out the relic casket from the relic chamber, placing it on a well-decorated chariot, and raising a white parasol above it, he had a jeweled pavilion constructed ahead, and went forward. Then the king, summoning his son Duṭṭhagāmaṇi, instructing him, and taking his son Saddhātissakumāra and Vihāradevi, quickly departed. The Elder Cūḷapiṇḍapātiyatissa, taking about five hundred monks from his retinue, attending to the relic, came behind. All the armies and the king, having given a great donation to the community of monks, went with the community of monks and reached Dīghavāpi. Having seated Saddhātissakumāra there, coming gradually, they established a camp at Sumanamālāpiṭṭhi and sat down. But why did that place become so named? The Nāga king Sumananāga, delighting in nāga wealth for seven days, (forgot the forehead relic.) At the end of the week, remembering the forehead relic, looking back, knowing that the king had taken the relic and come, experiencing great joy, with great intention, taking about six koṭis of nāgas from his retinue, going to the path of the relic, at the place where the relic was placed, he rained down a shower of suman flowers from the earth to the navel's measure. Therefore, that place is called Sumanamālāpiṭṭhi. Then the next day, the king, taking the relic, reached a place called Varaha Sondi.