On Candabhāgā River’s bank,
I had a well-made hermitage.
It was strewn with very white sand,
and furnished with halls made of leaves.The river there was beautiful,
with flat banks and good bathing-fords.
It was full of fish and turtles;
crocodiles resorted to it.There were bears, peacocks and leopards,
Indian cuckoos and mynah birds;
always chirping and growling, they’re
beautifying my hermitage.Cuckoos with their lovely voices
and swans with their honey-sweet tones
are always singing their songs there,
beautifying my hermitage.Lions, tigers and wild boars too,
wolves, more wolves, kara bānā bears,
roar even on bad mountain roads,
beautifying my hermitage.Eṇi-deer and sarabha-deer,
jackals and many hogs as well,
cry even on bad mountain roads,
beautifying my hermitage.Golden shower and champak trees,
trumpet-flower, Chinese chaste trees,
hiptage vines and ashoka trees
are blooming in my hermitage.Sage-leaf alangium, jasmine,
sattali, bimbijālika,
kaṇṇikā and dinner-plate trees
are blooming in my hermitage.Ironwood, sal and salalā,
white lotuses in bloom are here;
wafting divine fragrances, they’re
beautifying my hermitage.Arjuna and silver greywood,
flowering sugarcane is here,
sal and kaṅgu-flowers too, are
beautifying my hermitage.Mango, rose-apple, coral-bean
tree, neem, and sāla-kalyāṇi,
wafting divine fragrances are
beautifying my hermitage.Ashoka and wood-apple trees,
blooming bhaginimāla here,
wafting divine fragrances are
beautifying my hermitage.Kadam and banana trees and
isimugga are planted there.
They bear fruit continuously,
beautifying my hermitage.Myrobalan and gooseberry,
mango, rose-apple, bahera,
jujube, markingnut, bel
are fruiting in my hermitage.Near the hermitage there’s a pond,
with good bathing-fords, beautiful,
covered with mandālaka blooms
and with pink and blue lotuses.Pink lotuses germinate there;
others, flowering, make pollen.
Kaṇṇika trees with fallen leaves
are blooming in my hermitage.Sheatfish, also pāvusa fish,
valaja, reed-fish and red-fish
are swimming in the clear water,
beautifying my hermitage.Shrubs like nayita, ambagandhi,
and screw-pine, suited to water,
wafting divine fragrances are
beautifying my hermitage.Honey is flowing from the roots
and milk and oil flow from the stems;
wafting divine fragrances, they’re
beautifying my hermitage.The sand that’s there is beautiful,
strewn about beside the water.
Young buds are always blossoming,
beautifying my hermitage.Those bearing weights of matted hair,
who wear deer-leather outer robes,
dressed in garments made of bark, are
beautifying my hermitage.Looking but a plough’s length ahead,
clever and living peacefully,
not looking to indulge in lust,
they’re living in my hermitage.With nails and armpit hair grown long,
muck in their teeth, heads soiled with dirt,
all dressed in muddy dirt-smeared robes,
they’re living in my hermitage.Six special knowledge-perfecters,
they all can travel in the air.
They’re rising up into the sky,
beautifying my hermitage.Surrounded by those students, I
am living in the forest then.
I do not know the day from night,
always doing meditation.The Buddha in that period
was Atthadassi, the Great Sage.
Doing away with the darkness,
the Leader of the World arose.At that time a certain student
arrived there at my hermitage,
wanting to ask for secret spells,
the six branches, reading of marks.“A Buddha’s risen in the world,
the Great Sage named Atthadassi;
explaining the Four Noble Truths,
he’s declaring the deathless path.”Thrilled, my hair on end in delight,
hoping to enter the Teaching,
going out from the hermitage,
I spoke these words to my students:“A Buddha’s risen in the world,
Bearing the Thirty-two Great Marks.
Come, all of you, let us now go
into the Great Sambuddha’s midst.”They all then followed my advice,
perfected in the great Teaching.
Seekers of ultimate meaning,
they agreed, saying, “Excellent!”Those bearing weights of matted hair,
wearing deer-leather outer robes,
searching for ultimate meaning,
then departed from the forest.The Buddha in that period
was Atthadassi, of Great Fame.
Explaining the Four Noble Truths,
he’s declaring the deathless path.Taking a white umbrella, I
carried it for the Best Buddha.
Carrying it for one whole day,
I then worshipped the Best Buddha.Atthadassi, the Blessed One,
the World’s Best One, the Bull of Men,
seated in the monks’ Assembly,
spoke these verses about me then:“Who bore this umbrella for me,
feeling well-pleased by his own hands,
I shall relate details of him:
all of you listen to my words:Whenever this one is reborn,
whether as a god or human,
umbrellas will be borne for him:
the fruit of giving umbrellas.For seventy-seven aeons
he’ll delight in the world of gods.
A thousand times he’ll be a king,
a king who turns the wheel of law.Seventy-seven times as well,
he will exercise divine rule,
and there will be much local rule,
innumerable by counting.Eighteen hundred aeons from now,
Gotama, Bull of the Śākyas,
doing away with the darkness,
will arise, the One with Five Eyes.Worthy heir to that one’s Dhamma,
Dhamma’s legitimate offspring,
knowing well all the defilements,
he’ll reach nirvana, undefiled.”Since I was that karma-doer,
bearing the Buddha’s umbrella,
right up to now I do not know
a white umbrella not carried.This is the final time for me;
my last rebirth is proceeding;
today umbrella-carrying
is happening all of the time.O! My karma was well-done for
Atthadassi, the Neutral One.
All defilements are exhausted;
now there will be no more rebirth.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 Ekachattiya Thera spoke these verses.
The legend of Ekachattiya Thera is finished.