In the Himalayan region,
there’s a mountain named Paduma.
My well-built hermitage is there,
with well-fashioned halls made of leaves.The rivers that are flowing there
have good banks and are beautiful,
with clear water, water that’s cool;
those rivers are always lovely.There are sheatfish, pāvusa fish,
valaja, reed-fish and red-fish.
They are shining in the river;
the rivers always transport them.They’re veiled in mango, rose-apple,
kareri and coral-bean tree,
golden shower, trumpet-flower,
beautifying my hermitage.Alangium, red bimbijāl,
and māyākārī trees in bloom
are diffusing perfumes there,
beautifying my hermitage.Hiptage vines and sattalika,
ironwood and sal in flower
are wafting divine fragrances,
beautifying my hermitage.Neem, salalā, yellow cheesewood
and aṭṭhaṅga trees in full bloom,
are wafting divine fragrances,
beautifying my hermitage.My hermitage has lots of fruit:
myrobalan and gooseberry,
mango, rose-apple, bahera,
jujube, markingnut, bel.There kadam and banana trees
are flowering in my hermitage.
Wafting divine fragrances, they’re
beautifying my hermitage.Asokapiṇḍī, cavarī,
and yellow cheesewood trees in bloom,
are wafting divine fragrances,
beautifying my hermitage.Laurel and mountain laurel trees
and timira trees in bloom there,
are wafting divine fragrances,
beautifying my hermitage.Nigguṇḍi, sirinigguṇḍi
and champak trees which are in bloom,
are wafting divine fragrances,
beautifying my hermitage.Near the hermitage there’s a pond,
full of the songs of ruddy geese,
covered with mandālaka blooms
and with pink and blue lotuses.It has clear water, cool water,
good bathing-fords which are lovely.
It is clear, the same as crystal,
beautifying my hermitage.Pink lotuses are blooming there,
and white and blue lotuses too.
It’s covered in mandālaka,
beautifying my hermitage.Sheatfish also pāvusa fish,
valaja, reed-fish and red-fish
are swimming around in that pond,
beautifying my hermitage.Crocodiles and alligators,
tortoises and other fierce beasts,
ogāhas, and pythons too are
beautifying my hermitage.Pigeons and ravi-swans as well,
ruddy geese and nadīcaras,
lapwings, also mynah birds are
beautifying my hermitage.Shrubs like nayita, ambagandhi,
and screw-pine are blossoming there,
wafting their divine fragrances,
beautifying my hermitage.Lions and tigers and leopards,
bears and wolves, kara bānā bears
are roaming about in the woods,
beautifying my hermitage.Those bearing weights of matted hair,
who wear deer-leather outer robes,
are roaming about in the woods,
beautifying my hermitage.Those hermits wearing deer-leather
are clever, living peacefully,
and they’re all eating little food,
beautifying my hermitage.Carrying their shoulder yokes,
plunging into the forest then,
eating only roots and wild fruits,
they live in the hermitage then.They do not carry wood for fires
nor water for washing their feet;
through their collective majesty,
that all gets carried by itself.Those eighty-four thousand sages
gathered together in that place;
all practice meditation and
are seeking ultimate meaning.All are ascetics, celibates,
reproving, with vows for fixed minds
and able to fly through the sky;
they live in the hermitage then.For five days they would congregate,
tranquil and living peacefully,
then worshipping one another,
they’re departing the way they face.The Victor, Padumuttara,
was the Master of Everything.
Doing away with the darkness,
the Victor arose at that time.There was a powerful spirit
then, living near my hermitage.
He praised the Sambuddha to me,
the one named “Ultimate Lotus.”“It is a Buddha who arose,
the Great Sage, Padumuttara;
having gone quickly, Sir, you now
should visit him, the Sambuddha.”After hearing the spirit’s words,
with a mind that was very clear,
having shored up the hermitage;
I then set out from the forest.As though my clothes were now in flames,
quickly leaving the hermitage,
staying over a single night,
I came up to Buddha, the Guide.Padumuttara, World-Knower,
Sacrificial Recipient,
explaining the Four Noble Truths,
was declaring the deathless path.Taking a pink lotus in bloom,
I went up to the Sage So Great.
Happy, with pleasure in my heart,
I offered it to the Buddha.Having worshipped the Sambuddha
whose name was “Ultimate Lotus,”
placing deer-hide on one shoulder,
I praised the Leader of the World:“That knowledge by which the Buddha
now dwells here without defilements,
I shall eulogize that knowledge;
all of you listen to my words.Blocking the stream of existence,
you ferry all creatures across.
Having listened to your Teaching,
they’re crossing the stream of craving.You’re the Teacher for those who breathe,
the Banner, the Flag and the Pole;
you are the Goal, the Solid Ground,
the Island, the Best of Bipeds.The heads of groups throughout the world
are said to be leading teachers.
You are the Chief, Omniscient One;
they have all come into your fold.Through your knowledge, Omniscient One,
you ferry many folks across.
Coming to take a look at you,
they make an end to suffering.Whatever perfumes are produced,
waft through this world, O Eyeful One.
None is equal to your sweet scent,
O Field of Merit, O Great Sage.O Eyeful One, you liberate
from woeful states, and wombs of beasts.
O Great Sage, you are explaining
the unconditioned path of peace.”Padumuttara, World-Knower,
Sacrificial Recipient,
seated in the monks’ Assembly,
spoke these verses about me then:“He who thus worshipped my knowledge,
feeling well- pleased by his own hands,
I shall relate details of him;
all of you listen to my words:For thirty thousand aeons he
will delight in the world of gods.
A thousand time’s he’ll be a king,
a king who turns the wheel of law.”The gain for me was well-received,
having pleased him, the Sambuddha.
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 Udena Thera spoke these verses.
The legend of Udena Thera is finished.
The Summary:
Metteyya, Puṇṇaka Thera,
Mettagu, and Dhovaka too,
Upasīva, also Nanda,
and Hemaka seventh from there.
Todeyya and Jatukaṇṇi,
and Udena, greatly famed one.
There are three hundred verses here,
plus eighty-three beyond that count.
The Metteyya Chapter, the Forty-First