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Even today, all honor that banyan tree, With its flavor of liberation. By that, they, gone to heaven, in their mansions, Rejoice with incomparable pleasures. Thus the fifth week. 463. Then the Lord of Sages, at the foot of Mucalinda, Went and sat down, the best of refuges. Like the young sun, on Yugandhara, Filling the world with rays of light; 464. Then a cloud, with its streams of water, Filling the sky, thundering with lightning, With cold winds, pouring down rain, Shining forth, without any hindrance; 465. With great joy, Mucalinda the serpent, Seeing the Lord at the foot of Mucalinda, Coiled around him with his great hood, Covering him well with his hood; 466. He sat there for his benefit, Having gone to the serpent's seat, The Teacher then, like a golden temple, For seven days, with a mind well-liberated; 467. Even today, that tree and that place, Are honored by all for that experience, By that very merit, those gone to heaven, Rejoice in celestial mansions with unparalleled pleasures; Thus the sixth week. 468. Then, the king of ascetics, having departed, Sat at the foot of the Rājāyatana tree, Experiencing the joy and happiness born of liberation, For seven days, foremost in the quality of compassion; 469. Even today, that tree and that place, Are honored by all for that experience, By that very merit, those gone to heaven, Rejoice in celestial mansions with unparalleled pleasures; Thus the seventh week. 470. For him, devoid of the need for food, Experiencing the happiness born of liberation, With body refreshed, for that Conqueror, Thus passed seven days, seven times; 471. Then, by the king of the gods, Having used the provided face-washing water, etc., As soon as the king of ascetics was seated, There arrived two merchants in an instant; 472. Encouraged well by a divine being, Tapussa and Bhallika, with red-oxen, Taking honey cakes and sweet parched grain, Approached the Lord and spoke thus; 473. "For our benefit, O Wise One, Accept and partake of this offering, May it be for your welfare and happiness, In countless ages to come;" 474. Having accepted it with a bowl, Given by the gods, made of precious stone, Having eaten, for their approval, He taught the Dhamma, the bestower of boons, the praised; 475. The two merchant brothers, Having heard the Dhamma of the Conqueror, with minds pleased, Went for refuge as lay followers with two declarations, They requested. That is worthy of your reverence again; 476. Then, having touched his head, The Jina gave a handful of hair relics, They, delighted and happy with that, Honored them, taking them away according to their means; 477. The Teacher then, having gone to the foot of the Ajapāla tree, On the Yugandhara mountain, like a thousand rays of light, Sitting, looking over the world, Thought thus in his mind; 478. This essence of the excellent Dhamma, attained by me, Is deep and boundless, like the ocean with its rabbits, To whom shall I reveal it today, For this world is dull; 479. If I teach the excellent and sublime Dhamma, It would only be wearisome for me, Thinking thus, "What is the use of this suffering?" The Sage was disinclined to teach; 480. Then, the Brahma named Sahampati, Knowing his mind with his own, "Indeed, this whole world will perish, If he does not teach," trembling; 481. Having come to that Jina, With a respectful group of Brahmās there, Kneeling on the earth, And paying homage, he spoke thus; 482. You, the god of gods, in the time of Sumedha, Looking out over the world, Having abandoned the feet of Dīpaṅkara, Attained that deathlessness through compassion; 483. Having entered the difficult forest of Saṃsāra, You gave gifts of flesh, eyes, head, and so on, You experienced immeasurable, unbearable suffering, That was for the sake of others, not for yourself; 484. There are beings here with little defilement, Capable of understanding the Sugata's Dhamma, My foremost quality of compassion is aroused, Teach the Dhamma, having compassion; 485. In due season, mixed with hot rays, Various lotus flowers bloom on the land, Likewise, touched by your rain of Dhamma, Various people will come to bloom; 486. Accomplished in knowledge and conduct, mindful, Radiant, bearing his last body, Having accepted his invitation, He generated compassion in his mind for beings; 487. Open are the doors of deathlessness for them, Let those who have ears release faith, I did not speak the excellent Dhamma among humans, Thinking of harassment, O Brahma; 488. "He has accepted," with a joyful mind, The request. Four-faced Brahma attended to me, Having bowed to the Lord with his retinue, He departed from that mansion quickly; 489. Then the Conqueror, with his permission received, Considering to whom should I teach, The wise one considered Āḷāra and Uddaka, Knowing their passing would be soon; 490. "Where now shall I the excellent Dhamma-wheel, Un-turnable by anyone else, Like a wish-fulfilling gem for the world, Set rolling?" thus he pondered; 491. Seeing the five monks, the sage, Taking his bowl and triple robe, Towards the Deer Park at Bārāṇasī, The Teacher set out on the road; 492. There, purified by hosts of gods and Brahmās, On the path, snakes, birds, and quadrupeds, Forest deities, trees, and mountains, Honored him with many wonders; 493. Then approaching the Deer Park road, Seeing the ascetic, the ascetics approached, They performed their duties, models of practice, There he set rolling the Dhamma-wheel; 494. Aññāta-Koṇḍañña was foremost, Eighteen crores of beings attained the Deathless, Eighty crores also, a pure assembly, Understood the path, in due course; 495. When the hot season had passed, And the rainy season had arrived, There, entering the rains, the wise one, For three months, the master resided; 496. Then, having established Yasa, with his companions, On the path of Arahantship, Increasing the welfare of the people, There he ended the rains; 497. At the end of the rains, the world-knower, the sage, Addressed those ascetics with their sons, They came, without craving, with joined palms, To them, the infinitely wise one spoke; 498. Proclaiming my Dhamma-sound, Beating my Dhamma-drum, Sounding well my Dhamma-conch, Wander forth, you, for gods and humans; 499. Raising my victory flag in the world, Hoisting my Dhamma-banner, And raising my Dhamma-spear, Wander forth in the worlds with their gods; 500. The well-preparedness of the path to the Deathless, The thorniness of the path to hell, The smearing of soot on Māra's face, Tell it to the world. For the world with its gods; 501. The interval between Buddhas was well-covered, The door to liberation was wide open, But now the Blessed One has opened it for us, Announce this to all today; 502. That I have arisen in the world today, And that the Dhamma has appeared, And that the best of beings have arisen, Go forth and proclaim it in the world; 503. In a secluded forest, in a mountain cave, At the foot of a tree, or in an empty dwelling, Dwelling diligently, my path of Dhamma Teach to the world, to humans and gods; 504. Having spoken thus, the Master sent The ascetics to the various directions, Then he, going to Uruvela, Set out on the road, entering the Kappāsika forest; 505. There, for about thirty leagues, The best of kings tamed beings, Giving the nectar of Dhamma, teaching it, Then, like a king of elephants, he went to Agoruvela; 506. There, to Uruvela-Kassapa, Famous by that name, with his disciples, He ripened the highest fruit, The master, the best of the masters, dwelling there; 507. Then the townsfolk and villagers brought A great sacrifice for the ascetic Kassapa, The Conqueror, knowing his mind with his mind, Separately, for the sake of his faith; How? 508. Going to Uttarakuru, the Blessed One then, Having begged for alms and gone to the beautiful Himalayas, Having come to Anotatta, lovely with its delicious, cool waters, The Sage partook of it; 509. He thought, "I will remain for a short time, My dispensation will be in the future, On the island of Lanka, there is now a yaksha Crowd, I must go there now"; 510. "All fear of non-humans will vanish," Thinking thus, the ascetic, out of compassion for beings, Like the red sun enveloped in the evening clouds, Wearing a robe like a ripe banyan fruit; 511. Holding a beautiful stone bowl in his hand, Filling the directions with a mass of six-colored rays, Enlightened on the full moon day of Phussa, He came by air to conquer the island of Lanka; 512. Brahmā, asuras, gods, snakes, and garudas With Vijjādhara and attendants, With flags, parasols, pots, lamps, and arches, They made great offerings in the sky; 513. Lankan women, with bright star necklaces on their breasts, Like cool, lovely waters, The great Dipada, named Vāluka Ganges, Flowed through the earth, delightful to behold; 514. Not far from it, in a pure, delightful place, Extending for a league in length and breadth, Four gāvutas in size, pleasing to the eye, With a loud roar from a continuous stream of cool water; 515. Filled with the mingled sounds of drunken bees, birds, and songs, Frequented by herds of maddened deer, With groups of dancing peacocks and trees, Was a garden called Urunāgavana; 516. Then, in the beautiful island of Lanka, In Lokābhidhāna, Harikaṇḍaka, Yakkhadāsa, Odumbara, Sumanakūṭaka, Taṇḍuleyya, Selesa, Māragiri, Missakariṭṭhanāma; 517. And any other mountains and delightful forests, Rivers, streams, mountain caves, and sandy shores, There lived secretly, fiercely, and unrestrained, Yakkhas devoted to killing, deceitful and cunning; 518. Gathering together in that great Nāgavana, They consulted with their soldiers and attendants, "Who are you?" they asked each other harshly, With sharp words, piercing and tormenting; 519. They became angry for trivial reasons, Engaged in battle with arrogant words, With minds unsteady like a shaken pot,