In Ketumati, best city,
there was a king named Vijaya,
a hero, endowed with great strength,
inhabiting that city then.Because of that king’s indolence,
wild men of the forest rose up.
They were spies, and men with foul mouths;
they laid waste to the country then.When the borderlands angered him,
the king then quickly assembled
his dependents and officers,
to restrain all those enemies.Elephant-riders, sentinels,
champions, shield-bearing soldiers,
archers and mighty noblemen:
they all assembled at that time.The cooks and those who dress the hair,
the bath boys, the garland-makers,
heroes and conquering soldiers:
they all assembled at that time.The swordsmen as well as the waiters,
bowmen and people in armor,
hunters and conquering soldiers:
they all assembled at that time.Mātaṅgas rutting in three ways
and tuskers sixty years of age,
adorned with headdresses of gold:
they all assembled at that time.The soldiers who have done the job,
enduring cold as well as heat,
also excrement-removal:
they all assembled at that time.The sound of conchs, the sound of drums,
and thus the sound of trumpets;
they being gladded by those sounds
did all assemble at that time.Those who crush and those who injure
with tridents and knives and mantras,
suits of armor, also lances:
they all assembled at that time.Dressing in a suit of armor
that king, victory-less victor,
impaled on tridents at that time
sixty thousand living beings.The people then let out the cry,
“Alas! the king is unrighteous.
When will there ever be an end
for one who is roasting in hell?”On the bed I then tossed and turned,
as though I’m lying down in hell:
I do not sleep by day and night;
they torture me with a trident.“What good is this careless kingship,
these vehicles or this army?
They aren’t able to support me;
they terrify me all the time.What good are these sons and these wives,
as well as this entire kingship?
Well then why don’t I now go forth?
I will cleanse the road to rebirth.Disregarding all my wealth and
fighting battles I abandoned
my sixty thousand elephants
decked out in all the ornaments,
mātaṅgas with gold headdresses,
clothed in harnessing made of gold,
mounted by elephant-trainers
with lances and goads in their hands.
Frightened by my own bad karma,
I went out into homelessness.My sixty thousand horses too,
decked out in all the ornaments,
thoroughbreds of good pedigree,
horses from Sindh, fast vehicles,
mounted by trainers of horses
wearing armor with bows in hand—
having abandoned all of them,
I went out into homelessness.Sixty thousand chariots too,
decked out in all the ornaments,
covered in the skins of leopards
and likewise tigers, flags hoisted—
having abandoned all of them,
I went forth into homelessness.Sixty thousand milch-cows as well,
and all the metal pails for milk—
eliminating even them,
I went forth into homelessness.My sixty thousand women too,
decked out in all the ornaments,
with varied clothes and jewelry
and wearing earrings made of gems,
with long eyelashes, lovely smiles
and slim waists, pleasant to look at—
abandoning them as they wept,
I went forth into homelessness.And sixty thousand villages,
completely full in all regards—
throwing away that whole kingship,
I went forth into homelessness.Having gone out from the city,
I approached the Himalayas.
On Bhāgīrathī River’s banks,
I constructed a hermitage.Having built a hall out of leaves
I made myself a heated room;
bent on exertion, resolute,
I’m living in my hermitage.Terror does not arise in me;
I don’t see frights or fearful things
when meditating under trees,
in pavilions or empty homes.The Sambuddha named Sumedha,
Chief, Compassionate One, the Sage,
blazing with the light of knowledge,
arose in the world at that time.There was a powerful spirit
living near my hermitage then.
When the Best Buddha came to be,
he then announced that fact to me:“A Buddha’s risen in the world,
an Eyeful One named Sumedha;
he’s helping all the folk to cross;
he will ferry you across too.”After hearing the spirit’s words,
all the time I was deeply moved;
thinking, “A Buddha! A Buddha!”
I made my hermitage ready.After chopping wood for the fire
and smoothing out my sleeping mat,
having worshipped my hermitage,
I went out from the forest then.Taking sandalwood from village
to village, city to city,
searching for him, the God of Gods,
I then came up to him, the Guide.At that moment, the Blessed One,
Sumedha, Leader of the World,
was preaching the Four Noble Truths,
enlightening the people then.Pressing both my hands together
with the sandalwood on my head,
having greeted the Sambuddha,
I spoke these verses to him then:“When jasmine trees are flowering
their scents are diffused around them;
Hero, with the scent of virtue you
permeate every direction.When the sal trees are flowering,
champak, ironwood, vanika,
hiptage vines, and and also screw-pine,
their scents get diffused with the wind.Having smelled your perfume-like scent,
I came here from Himalaya.
I worship you, O Sage So Great,
World’s Best One, O One of Great Fame.”I anointed the World-Leader,
Sumedha, with good sandalwood.
Bringing pleasure to my own heart
I stood silently at that time.The Blessed One named Sumedha,
the World’s Best One, the Bull of Men,
seated in the monks’ Assembly
spoke these verses about me then:“This one who praised my virtues and
who worshipped me with sandalwood,
I shall relate details of him;
all of you listen to my words:For twenty-five aeons he is
going to be a handsome man
who speaks welcome words, pious
and upright, full of great power.In the twenty-sixth aeon he
will delight in the world of gods.
A thousand times he’ll be a king,
a king who turns the wheel of law.Thirty-three times the lord of gods,
he will exercise divine rule,
and there will be much local rule,
innumerable by counting.Being fallen from there, this man
will go on to the human state.
Bound up with his good karma he’s
going to be Brahma’s kinsman.Learned, knowing all the mantras,
a master of the three Vedas,
endowed with three auspicious marks
will be the brahmin, Bāvarī.Having become that man’s student,
he’ll be a master of mantras.
Going up to the Sambuddha,
Gotama, Bull of the Śākyas,
having asked him subtle questions,
cultivating the straight path, he
knowing well all the defilements,
will reach nirvana, undefiled.”The three fires are blown out in me;
all new existence is destroyed;
knowing well all the defilements,
I am now living, undefiled.My defilements are now burnt up;
all new existence is destroyed.
Like elephants with broken chains,
I am living without constraint.Being in Best Buddha’s presence
was a very good thing for me.
The three knowledges are attained;
I have done what the Buddha taught!The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
I have done what the Buddha taught!
Thus indeed Venerable Todeyya Thera spoke these verses.
The legend of Todeyya Thera is finished.