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Jinavaṃsadīpaṃ - (Victor Lamp)(English | 中文 | བོད་ཡིག)

English

The forest adorned with fragments of rice and dancing grounds. With hundreds of disciples of the Teacher, Breaking through the darkness of delusion with meditation, They appear there, without any desire, Like wombs giving birth to peace. Black crows, with reddish-brown wings, Kalaviṅkas and sālikās in the galleries, Having enjoyed the scattered rice, fearless, There, they coo in harmony with the Dhamma's sound. V There, the eye, fearing death, Desiring the water of the Ālavāla, Motionless, enjoying the Buddha's sweet voice, Appears like a herd of deer. 38. There, fanning with creepers held in their hands, Like monkeys with jeweled fans, They conquer fear of the heat of existence, Meditating at the foot of the tree. 39. That forest range, dark as a cloud, With roots, tubers, and fruits for food, Satisfies, as if fulfilling the perfection of giving, The Buddha with the community of monks. 40. From the canopy of the Dhamma hall, In the interior of the hanging jeweled bubbles, Constantly flickering lightning streaks Shine, surpassing the beauty of stars and lotuses. 41. That forest, with birds chirping In the hollows of tree trunks, Conquers the beauty of the sounds of conches, drums, flutes, and lutes, The essence of the music of the gods. 42. There, the light of the sapphire archway Dispels darkness like the sky, The two orbs of the moon and the fierce sun Seem to find the splendor of the lord of demons. 43. There, the pure white walking paths, Like waves of the milk ocean, With beautiful lotus-like footprints, Shine greatly in the hermitages of those devoted to meditation. 44. By meditation, the winds are purified, By teaching, the tongue is adorned, Servants, givers of alms, with their disciples, Honor the poet's guidance, bringing happiness. 45. Bamboo shoots, by the wind's sound, bamboo shoots, Speakers, as if a group of speakers, Releasers, releasers of new fruits, Dark, the dark jeweled pillars. 46. Humming bees, served, unconquered, Shining, adorned, indeed worshiped, With reverence, the sound of crows, the sound of water lilies, Water lilies, the sound of crows, with reverence. 47. Ketakī flowers, great desire, In the sky, droplets hanging, Chosen, by the seasons controlled, Beautiful land, a most delightful land. 48. Always thirsty, always giving offerings, always present, Who is always kind, always controlled, that is always, He is the destroyer of darkness, the most intense, indeed the truth, Free from darkness, the greatest, indeed Gotama. 49. Sālakā trees, with playful creepers, Rows of garlands, beautiful vines. Even ground, Beautiful grounds, lovely even ground, Pleasing grounds, delightful, protective ground; 50. Born in the forest, victorious in the forest, Like a Jina, desireless in the forest, knowing the forest, A leader, a trainer, in the wind of the deserted forest, Leading people, subduing in the conquering forest; Thus, in the Jinavaṃsadīpa, a treasury for bestowing joy to the hearts of all poets, composed by the wise one named Medhānanda, in the near section, the seventeenth canto, a complete exposition on the adornment of Jetavana monastery. 1. Whose, of the Jina, the compassionate one, In the theater of the wise, (Beautiful with virtues such as Arahantship) Shines the playful, beautiful fame; 2. In the deer park, Isipatana, of Gotama's lineage, The charioteer of men, the first rains, He spent in the royal city of Bārāṇasī; 3. Then in the Veḷuvana, the leader, In the city of Rājagaha, Giribbaja, The second, third, and fourth, He spent the rains, full of compassion; 4. The sage, the fifth rains, in the mansion, In the great forest of the city of Vesālī, He dwelt, a city dweller, stout, Relying on it, like a lion; 5. Dispeller of darkness, a creeper of medicine, Shining, cool, full of waterfalls, The sage, the sixth rains, without a dwelling, happily, He spent the rains on Mount Maṅkula; 6. Gone to the abode of the gods, the very difficult to understand, The Abhidhamma, speaking on the stone seat, Well-seated, respectfully, The Sugata, the seventh rains, daily; 7. Fragrant with red sandalwood, purified, In the forest called Bhesakalā, The leader of the world, with gods and men, The sage Nāga, spent the eighth rains; 8. Sweet-voiced, proclaimed, Famous, made by Ghosita the merchant, The ninth rains he spent in the hermitage, In the city of Kosambī, the lord of sages; 9. The sage lion, in Pārileyyaka, Given life by the elephant, honored, The tenth rains he spent in Pārileyyaka, In the forest grove, adorned with tree clusters; 10. With the essence of the excellent Dhamma, together, The Jina, the eleventh rains, equally, Delighting in the excellent village of the twice-born, He spent, without a dwelling, in Nāḷā, well-known; 11. The village of the earth gods, having arrived, Again at Verañja, the Conqueror, the Wise One, At the root of the castor-oil plant, Unequalled, he dwelt in harmony for twelve years. 12. With eyes beautiful like blooming lotuses, The Sage-King, unshaken like a diamond mountain, On the peak-covered Cāliya mountain, The abode of virtues, he dwelt for thirteen years. 13. In the Jetavana, cool with watery ponds, In the gentle, delightful breeze, The Great Ascetic dwelt harmoniously for fourteen years, Pacifying those who were not ascetics. 14. Near the royal capital called Kapilavatthu, In the royal rest-house for men, The Sage spent fifteen years, In the beautiful Nigrodha grove. 15. Subduing the fierce Mālavaka and the ogre, With a body stout like a mountain, In the beautiful capital of Ālavī, The Conqueror dwelt for sixteen years. 16. Again, relying on the bamboo grove, the hermitage, And the city of Giribbaja, The Lion of Sages dwelt for seventeen years, Having destroyed the elephant of Māra. 17. Freeing beings from the pain of suffering, With the medicine of the Dhamma discourse, The Teacher of Sages dwelt in the Cāliya mountain dwelling, For eighteen years. 18. In the following year, in Magadha, On the extensive Cāliya mountain itself, He dwelt for twenty years in Giribbaja, In the bamboo grove hermitage in the city. 19. Thus, unattached to any fixed dwelling, Wandering here and there, the Blessed One, Like a jewel radiating light, fulfilling desires, Passed twenty autumns. 20. The Sage dwelt in the Jetavana hermitage, And also in the mansion of Migāramātā, For twenty-five esteemed years, With a fixed abode. 21. For him, dwelling sometimes attached, sometimes unattached, Mindful, here and there, Indeed, there existed five daily duties, For one who had completed his task, to be performed daily. 22. At sunrise, having arisen, Out of compassion for those who attended him, The Sage-King, having prepared The washing of his face and feet, and all his duties, 23. Sitting properly on a well-prepared seat, Until the time for accepting offerings, The Knower of Time found A brief moment of the bliss of meditation in solitude. 24. Having tied the girdle, Having properly put on the lower robe and the upper robe, With his body covered by the Arahant's banner, Like a sapphire-colored lotus bud, I; 25. By the power of accumulated merit, From the monastery's open door, Like a lion from a mountain cave, He sometimes went out alone. 26. A circle of stars, Like a new moon in the clouds, With a following of monks, The sage sometimes went out. 27. Whether begging in the usual way, Or with miraculous gait, Looking only a yoke's length ahead, He proceeded in villages, towns, and cities. 28. When he walked to beg, Establishing a great miracle, A gentle, fragrant breeze purified The earth before him. 29. Dust settled before him As he walked with graceful head, Like canopies appeared New clouds showering drops. 30. Other breezes scattered Flowers brought from the forest, The ground became level As if his feet owned it. 31. The soft, pleasant earth, A woman, touched his feet sometimes, And lotuses kissed His lotus feet breaking the earth. 32. Fragrant and lovely with The nectar of lotus-born pollen, The scent of the victorious elephant, They surrounded and sprinkled him. 33. Surpassing the splendor Of a band of nectar, And the beauty of red powder, He made the moving and unmoving world reddish. 34. What did not the swans, peacocks, mynahs, And cuckoos sing in their own voices, What did not bipeds and quadrupeds Honor in him as he went? 35. Musical instruments and ornaments Sounded themselves at that moment, Seeing the miracle in the Buddha, What heart would not be pleased? 36. The great crowd, aware Of the various wonderful miracles, Thinking, "The Buddha, Out of compassion, has come here for alms," 37. With hands full of flowers and the like, They filled the inner streets of their homes, Their pale bodies covered By a hundred rays of light from the Buddha. 38. The crowd, the rays of light from their nails, Having bathed in the Kasanadi River, Delighted, she reverently worships The pair of feet of the Sage, worthy of veneration. 39. Twenty-ten times, the great multitude, Along with the monks headed by the Conqueror, drinking the nectar, Request, "Give to us," The Blessed One, according to their means. 40. Knowing the acceptance of it, The people, taking it from the Conqueror's hand, That bowl, placed in the mansion, They lead into the alms-hall. 41. Scented with perfumes of four kinds, On an excellent seat arranged on the ground, With freshly laundered cloths of various kinds, The Well-gone One sits well, with his disciples. 42. Prepared, exquisite food, With their own lotus-like hands right there, The great multitude satisfies, And honors him with robes and the like. 43. Even in taking refuge, five each, They are established in the precepts, Somewhere in the four paths and fruits,