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Sāmantakūṭavaṇṇanā(Samantakuta Mountain Description)(English | 中文 | བོད་ཡིག)

English

Lost themselves in their own wives and each other, The King of Sages, shining in the middle of the dark sky, Went forth like the radiant one, spreading various rays; 569. Having pierced through the mass of clouds, His body shining brightly, like the moon with its cool rays, Making a canopy of trees above, shining brightly, Going to the place of the serpent battle, sitting in the sky; 570. Having dispelled the dense darkness with his power, There, with a mind free from fear, without terrible agitation, A hundred thunderbolts falling, a fearsome downpour, He dispelled the great mass of clouds, and made a cool breeze; 571. Thus, the Lord of the Three Worlds, in the assembly of serpents, filled with pride, To cause their arrogance to cease, showed a terrifying form, Then, when they knew the Teacher, their arrogance gone, He dispelled the fear that had arisen, at that very moment; 72. Whose splendor rivaled the young sun, adorned with a garland of flags, Whose face was auspicious and radiant, whose body was marked with auspicious signs, Knowing him to be the giver of the three realms' wealth, the Nāgas With mango blossoms in their hands, bowed down and honored him. 573. With hands placed on their heads, with red lotus-like Blooming faces and eyes like dark blue lotuses, Each holding various colored fans and parasols, With diverse flowers, clothes, and countless lamps and flags; 574. The Nāga maidens, dwelling in the Nāga palaces, having gathered, Bearing thousands of water-filled pitchers gracefully, With bodies swaying like golden vines, With mouths full of praise, they played beautifully; 575. Then the sage, to reconcile that conflict of the Nāgas, Uttering a lovely, pleasing, and flowing Brahma-like voice, Revealed to the serpents the path to the unborn and undying, well-praised by the wise, The supreme and excellent Dhamma. 576. "O good sirs, truly there is not even a drop of essence in Saṃsāra, Especially as coolness is never found in a blazing fire, Always, passion causes disease and countless evils to people, And life is like a dewdrop facing the sun." 577. "This body is a thirty-two-part corpse, devoid of essence, Youth is fleeting, like a flower, its beauty fading, Having abandoned this collected wealth born of existence, one must depart, Therefore, who wise person would choose existence?" 578. "Human prosperity is like a Butea frond, a fly, or a grain of millet, Having passed away, people go to a more terrible hell, Serpents, monkeys, jackals, and cave-dwelling apes, repeatedly Kill each other, and they experience this suffering and impermanence." 579. "In the past, crows and owls, and forest-dwelling creatures, writhing, Having done evil in inappropriate places, long experienced suffering and impermanence, Alas, this is a world-destroying, chariot-like evil, a source of enmity, There is not even an atom of taste in this quarrel; friendliness is nectar." 580. "Strength, for fools, becomes only for their own destruction, In the past, small quail chicks lost their young, A drunken, rutting elephant is not a refuge, nor is strength a protection." What do you do in the wrong place, exerting effort to destroy prosperity? 581. Those who are free from strife and of one mind have no suffering. In the past, they spoke kindly, were humble, and used gentle words. They lived happily when they were together, but then they became separated. They fell under the power of the hunter; alas, the strength of Medhaga! 582. Thus, with sharp intellect, to make them united, He spoke the excellent Dhamma, praised by the wise. Then, with joyful minds, those Nāgas were pleased with him, And they honored that incomparable jeweled seat. 583. Then the Sage, rising into the sky, descended to the earth, Shining on that seat like the young sun. Then those hosts of serpents, with divine foods and the like, Served the Lord of Sages and listened to the good Dhamma. 584. Then, of the countless serpents who had come there to fight, From water and land, eighty crores of serpents, With pure refuge and precepts, well-established and content, Made an exceedingly grand offering to the Teacher. 585. Then the Nāga king, maternal uncle of Mahodara, Named Maṇinayaka, from the beautiful Kalyāṇi region, Having come to Nāgadīpa because of the serpent war, Seeing the excellent body of the Sugata, bowed and spoke thus: 586. If you, Sugata, had not come to this place, We would have killed each other, losing our lives. This land would have been covered with flowing blood; You have calmed the burning fire like a cloud. 587. O Blessed One! I have never before seen Your beautiful, glorious body, covered with rays of light, Nor heard you teaching the sweet Dhamma to the gods, Nor experienced your power, O Ten-Powered One. 588. I am well-known as your humble servant from a long time ago. If you have compassion for your servant again, There is the Kalyāṇi River on the excellent Ratana Island; I beg you to come and see my dwelling there. 589. Thus, the Lord of Ascetics, accepting his invitation, Having established a shrine on his familiar ground, And also that jeweled seat that they had used, And the king of trees, the Sumana, for the purpose of worship, 590. The Ten-Powered One... Enough, O Serpents, is all this enjoyed. Like a jewel is its splendor, from its very essence, Therefore, greatly, constantly bow down, as if to me, to heaven and liberation, Saying thus, and admonishing, the Teacher; 591. Ascending to the sky, the great Deva-Nagas, Scattering blue, yellow, and other rays in every direction, Captivating the minds and eyes of beings, the essence of the world, He went like the sun from the sky to the Jetavana monastery; 592. Then, to humans and immortals, to the Nattas, Siddhas, and others, Constantly teaching the immortal Dharma, to the serpents, In the beautiful forest dwelling, in the city named Mankula, the king of serpents, The Sage made his abode in the sixth year; 593. Then, in the park of the gods, at the foot of the Parijata tree, Shining on the soft red stone, the Lord of Sages, Skillfully teaching the Abhidhamma to the gods, Made his excellent abode there in the seventh year; 594. Then, the happiness-giving Sage, in the Jetavana monastery, Dwelled, of immaculate wisdom, in the eighth autumn, Touching the ageless, immortal peace for others, Teaching the doctrine, varied in its methods, and wondrous; Thus ends the second visit to Lanka. 595. Thus the Jina, dwelling in Jetavana, Depending on Savatthi city, resided, How was that city then, How was that Jetavana monastery; 596. Adorned with various jewels, shining, Placed on the head of Mother Earth, With broad streets, like a broad diadem, It shone beautifully in Jambudipa; 597. The abode of fortune, bringing glory, It shone on the surface of the earth, Like Amaravati of the King of Gods, Like Alaka of King Kuvera, beautiful; 598. Inhabited by people of merit and wisdom, Streets filled with shops full of gold and other things, Lofty elephants, horses, and chariots, It shone with rows of golden mansions; 599. It shone with radiant princes, Displaying the playground of merit, With Brahmins versed in the Vedas, And constantly resounding with two and five sounds; 600. Crowded with hundreds of artisans, Merchants come from various directions, Purified by the feet of many arahants, It shone like an auspicious mansion; 601. Bha He, while practicing charity, Dwelling under the Suva tree, by virtue, Made the Yaññaṅga tree, with its dead leaves, Flourish with fruits and shoots; 602. Now, having reached the end of existence, The Sage dwells relying on which, Who, indeed, can fully recount Its virtues, even with a year's simile? 603. Near it, like a priceless jewel, Delightful, frequented by the best of beings, The monastery, dispelling the people's longing, Became known by the name of Jetavana; 604. Where trees stand like skilled dancers, With swarms of bees delighted by the juice of fully blossomed flowers, Their humming sounds like the music of lutes, And intoxicated, countless birds sing songs; 605. Where the sandbanks shone like an ocean of milk, Washed by the waters of milk, Dried by the fragrant breezes of the Malaya mountains, with the moon's radiance, And scattered, as if strewn, with fine sand; 606. Where the Perfumed Chamber shone, With rows of steps, like a smile, On the face of a radiant jewel, As if saying, "I have renounced attachment To the abodes of the gods"; 607. Where rays of light, Like sparks emerging from the bellows of a smith, Or like a network coming from a charcoal pit, Spread from the body of the Awakened One; 608. Where the roots of trees, resorted to by ascetics, Reign like the smiling mouths of wish-fulfilling trees, Praised, delighted, and harmonious with the pure ones, Singing, "You are free from the company of passionate people"; 609. Where the earth, strewn with flowers Of punnāga, nīpa, vakula, arjuna, rājarukkha, Nāga, agaru, cūta, yugapattaka, and campaka trees, Shines like a divine abode covered with various jewels; 610. Where groups of minds rejoice, With hymns of praise and auspicious songs, Proclaimed by Brahmās, Asuras, humans, nāgas, liṅgis, siddhas, Vijjādharas, and other beings who have paid homage; 611. May the virtuous ones be pleased With the clear, cool waterfalls, The ponds resounding with the calls of intoxicated birds, And the stone slabs strewn with kiñjakkha petals. Where constantly ascetics' minds delight; 612. He who, a heap of merit gathered for hundreds of thousands of aeons, Abandoned immeasurable Kapilavatthu's great glory, And the great sage, the Sugata, came there without desire, Who there can tell of matchless prosperity? 613. In that Jetavana monastery the Jina dwells, Like Indra in the delightful Nandana grove,