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And desire's sword cut, Was never born In the hells of the world's end; 44. He did not attain The state of an impotent eunuch, a mute, or a cripple, A blind person from birth, A deaf person, a woman, or a dullard; He did not come to be In the species of flies, gnats, lice, or ants, Nor in the species Of insects or moths; 45. He did not attain The state of a foul-smelling elephant, He did not attain The state of being stout, He did not attain The state of being very subtle, He did not attain The state of being without a mother or father, He did not attain Such a very inferior state; 46. He was not a murderer of his mother, Nor a murderer of his father, He was not a divider of the Sangha, Nor a murderer of an Arahant, He did not, with a malicious heart, Cause blood to flow From the body Of the Tathagata; 47. Those who opposed Action and its fruit, Who lived with annihilationist views, He never embraced their doctrines, Believing in action and its fruit, He was intent on certain enlightenment; 48. In whatever existence There is only a group of four names, Even there, For the sake of doing merit, In the mindless realm, He did not take rebirth, Out of fear of proliferation, Never in the five Pure Abodes; 49. The Buddha-seed, Destined for certain enlightenment, Never desiring happiness In long-lived existences, Having made a firm resolution In this world, He was reborn in the Tavatimsa heaven For the fulfillment of the perfections; 50. Thus, that foremost of men, Perfecting the thirty steps For descending into the impregnable Enlightenment-palace, Always delighting in the welfare of others, The collection of perfection-qualities. Wandering in saṃsāra for a long time, enduring terrible suffering; Thus, in the Jinavaṃsadīpa, composed by the ascetic named Medhānanda, the giver of joy to the hearts of all poets, the light illuminating the tradition of the lineage of the Jina, the fourth chapter, a detailed description of the accumulation of pāramī-dhammas in the distant past, is concluded. 1. The city of Jetuttara, rich in meaning-filled words, adorned with various gems, Was like a beautiful poem with appropriate meter; (Śleṣa bandhana) 2. The capital city, with its moat like a girdle, and its ramparts bound by a red line, Shone like a bride adorned for her husband; 3. With rays of jewels like garlands, and the splendor of young rays, The moon-like palace in it was like an assignation place for lovers; 4. Abounding in mansions of Indirā, and rows of radiant jewel-houses, With golden banners, it made the peacocks play; 5. That city shone like a king of nāgas, adorned with ornaments, With its tusks and streams of gifts, like clouds in the spring; 6. The sky, made dusty-gray by the rising of horse hooves, Took away the heat and brought the splendor of a colorful awning; 7. With dark hair like blue algae, faces like blooming lotuses, Eyes darting like blue lotuses, and breasts full like swans; 8. With hips reddened by the pollen of lotuses, And anklets jingling like bees, the lotus ponds were like women; (Śleṣa bandhana) 9. That capital city was like the world of gods, without the Kevaka art, Like the capital of Visāṇa, full of all prosperity; 10. Once upon a time, in that city, there was a king, a noble man, Named Vessantara, renowned in the three worlds; 11. Even as a young prince, he was devoted to the sport of giving, And gave away his own body parts, as well as jewels and ornaments to the nurses; 12. Breaking them into pieces, he gave away nine times a hundred thousand, Thus, giving away external objects, at the age of eight; 13. Ascending to the palace, he thought, while lying on his bed, "I will give away my head, eyes, flesh, and blood," making a firm resolution; 14. Nourished with happiness, the great being, like the moon in the waxing fortnight, Ruled the people with the ten virtues, having attained royal glory; 15. Sitting in the palace, the king, one day in solitude, O, The defilement of desires, and saw the misery in repeated existence; 16. Delighting in renunciation, the king disgusted with prosperity and existence, Taking the essence of attainment, abandoning the excellent royal glory; 17. Like a royal elephant in rut, from a blazing forest fire, Amidst the weeping assembly of relatives, he departed from his home; 18. Adorned with groves of campaka, ashoka, and vakula trees, Where peacocks danced and cuckoos cooed; 19. A refuge for many animals and birds, a reservoir of water, With breezes perfumed by the fragrance of blooming flowers; 20. A lake filled with intoxicated bees humming around lotuses, With mountains abounding in waterfalls and echoing caves; 21. A forest difficult to enter, with winding paths and mountain caves, Hard to access, named Vaṅkagiri forest; 22. Reaching there, the king Kavilāsa, having received ordination, Living the holy life, spent a long time; 23. The queen of that king, named Maddi, raised in comfort, Together with her son and daughter, approached that hermitage; 24. Then a brahmin, greedy and seeing the opportunity, Approached him, drawn by Vessantara's essence of generosity; 25. "I need workers," said the brahmin, worn out by old age, Asking for his son and daughter from the compassionate and wise one; 26. Both Kanhājina and Jāli, a burden for the army, Desiring perfect enlightenment, from the bondage of craving; 27. Into the brahmin Jūjaka's cupped hands, filled with water, He offered them, having bound them, the merciless one took them away; 28. Examining his inclination for giving, the king of gods approached in disguise, And requested the virtuous Maddi Devi; 29. His hand washed with water, he poured the water, And the god gave the queen to the brahmin disguised as a god; 30. Seven times the earth trembled with the power of his perfection, As if Mother Earth approved, saying "Well done, well done!"; 31. Thus, the foremost of men, having perfected his perfections, In a palace adorned with the radiant light of jewels; 32. With a gentle breeze wafting five-colored Of nets, Of tinkling jewels, a sound delightful, a taste supreme; 33. With heavenly dance and song, With instruments played, delightful, Adorned with love-bower walls, and painted stages; 34. Like hundreds of Indra's bows, Of heavenly, divine kings, The sky was thick with the rays of crest-jewels; 35. From afar, nymphs with breasts adorned with sandalwood, In the wind, waving lovely yak-tail fans, a shower of moonlight; 36. Like one awakened from sleep in Tushita, the heaven of delight, Having passed away from there, he was born as Santusita; 37. Dwelling in the heaven of Tushita, enjoying the five heavenly pleasures, The one eye of the world attended to the five senses; 38. Then, in ten thousand world-systems, the deities, Gathered together, hearing the cry "Buddha!"; 39. Approaching him, the best of men, Making his lotus-face, a dwelling place for the bees of their eyes; 40. On a seat made of crest-jewel rays, with feet washed, With folded lotus-bud hands, they offered; 41. "By the rank of universal monarch, Sakka, Mara, Brahma, O Sir, you have perfected the perfections, desiring nothing!" 42. "Desiring perfect enlightenment, as a friend to those who can be guided, O Sir, with difficulty, you have fulfilled the ten perfections!" 43. "For the good of the world with its gods, in a mother's womb, May the wise one, full of compassion, be born!" they requested; 44. Since for Buddhas there is no untimely death, even below a hundred years of age, or above a thousand, Therefore, he considered the time; 45. Since in other islands, Buddhas do not arise, They are born in Jambudipa, therefore he considered the island; 46. Since in barbarian lands, the Tathagatas do not arise, They are born in the middle country, therefore he considered the country; 47. Since they are not born in the Vessa or Sudda castes, they are born In the Khattiya or Brahmana castes, therefore he considered the family; 48. Since a Buddha's mother's womb is not for another, Therefore, he considered the mother, based on the lifespan; 49. Thus, the one eye of the world, having made the five great observations, To those... He gave his promise, his mind full of compassion. 50. The diadem kissed by those lotus feet, Vanished then into the assembly of the prosperous gods, Descending into Nandanavana, the king of Tusita, Departed thence, the compassionate leader of the wise. Thus ends the fifth chapter, a clear exposition of the Vessantara conduct, the beginning of the divine worship, in the Jinavaṃsadīpa, a great gift that gladdens the hearts of all poets, composed by the wise Medhānanda, entitled Distant Beginnings. The First Part of the Jinavaṃsadīpa: Distant Beginnings. 1. Which, born of the seven essences, in glorious Jambudīpa, Was the crest jewel of cities, like the thriving Amarāvatī, The land of the lineage of solar kings, Was once Kapilavatthu, the abode of fortune. 2. Endowed with colors, sounds pleasing to the ear, tastes, Forms, abundance of wealth, and ascetics, That capital, a giver to a multitude of beings, Was like a composition in the vasantatilakā meter. (Silesa binding;) 3. Whose rampart, well-plastered with lime, shone, Bringing the splendor of a conch-shell bracelet, To the arm-like eastern direction of the earth-woman, An immovable wheel, like an imitation of a crown. 4. Whose moat shone around the city-king, Delightful with the banks echoing with the cries of birds, The lines of bees humming, Seemed like the sky dripping with red lac from the rampart. 5. Intoxicated with the madness of love's pride, The arbors, swayed by gentle breezes and covered with blue vines, In which the quivering eyes were eagerly drinking, Resembled drinking places. 6. That capital, with its firm, full breasts, Reflected in the crystal mirrors of the palace's upper stories,