On a Himalayan mountain,
I’m Devala the ascetic.
My meditation walkway there
was made by non-human beings.Bearing a weight of matted hair,
carrying a water-pot then,
searching for ultimate meaning,
I departed from the forest.Eighty-six thousand students there,
waited upon me at that time.
Well-known together with their deeds,
they are living in the forest.Going out from the hermitage,
I made a stupa out of sand.
Assembling various flowers,
I worshipped that stupa then.Bringing pleasure to my heart there,
I re-entered the hermitage.
All my students, come together,
questioned me about what that meant:“All of us would like to find out
which deity you’re honoring
at that stupa made out of sand:
being asked, please tell that to us.”“The Eyeful Ones, Greatly Famed Ones,
have no views and no magic spells;
they’re the ones I am honoring,
the Best Buddhas, Greatly Famed Ones.”“In what way are they Great Heroes,
Omniscient Ones, Lords of the World?
What do they look like? What conduct?
In what way are they Greatly Famed?”“Buddhas have thirty-two great marks,
and also forty adult teeth.
Their eyes with heifer-eyelashes
resemble wild licorice fruits.And when those Buddhas are walking,
they look but a plough’s length ahead.
They do not have a person’s voice;
their euphonic sound is not heard.Also, when those Well-Gone-Ones walk,
they lift up one foot at a time,
always starting with the right foot:
that is the nature of Buddhas.And those Buddhas are not afraid,
just like lions, the kings of beasts.
They do not ever praise themselves,
and don’t revile living beings.They are free of pride and contempt,
the same for all living beings.
Buddhas only praise selflessly:
that is the nature of Buddhas.And when Buddhas are being born,
they radiate light from themselves,
and in six different ways they cause
this whole bountiful earth to quake.And they are able to see hell,
and hell is cooled off at that time.
A massive cloud rains forth as well:
that is the nature of Buddhas.Such-like are those Great Elephants,
Incomparable, of Great Fame;
in beauty they are unsurpassed,
the Thus-Gone-Ones, Beyond Measure.”All of my students, respectful,
then expressed their thanks for my speech,
and likewise went along with me,
as far as they could and had strength.Wishing for their own good karma,
they’re worshipping that sand stupa.
Having faith in that speech of mine,
their minds drifted to Buddhahood.Then a God’s Son, Greatly Famous,
fell down from Tusitā heaven.
He was born in a mother’s womb,
making the ten-thousand worlds quake.I stood on the walkway which was
near my hermitage at that time.
All my students, having gathered,
came into my presence just then.“The earth, bull-like, is bellowing;
it’s roaring like the king of beasts.
It’s shaking like a crocodile;
what will this be the result of?”“The Buddha I detailed for you,
close to the stupa made of sand,
the Blessed One, the Teacher, now
has been born in a mother’s womb.”Discussing the Teaching for them,
and having detailed the Great Sage,
exhorting my own students there,
I sat in lotus position.All my strength was then exhausted,
due to a serious illness.
Remembering the Best Buddha,
I passed away right on the spot.All of my students assembled;
they made me a pyre at that time,
and taking my mortal remains,
they lifted me onto the pyre.Having attended to the pyre,
hands pressed together on their heads,
wounded by the arrows of grief,
come together they lamented.While they were wailing uselessly,
I then came back to the pyre there.
“I am your dead teacher, wise ones;
do not lament my passing on.Endeavor for the highest good,
night and day not being lazy.
Don’t be negligent, all of you;
your moment is offered to you.”Exhorting my own students thus,
I returned to the world of gods.
For eighteen aeons after that
I delighted in the gods’ world.And then a hundred times I was
a king who turns the wheel of law.
Also another hundred times,
I was a king who turns the wheel.
Also another hundred times
I then exercised divine rule.In the remaining aeons I
transmigrated as god or man.
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
that’s the fruit of generating.As in the month of Kattikā,
many trees are in full flower,
likewise in that very season,
I have flowered as a great sage.Vigorous effort’s the yoked ox,
carrying perfect peace for me.
Like elephants with broken chains
I am dwelling without constraint.In the hundred thousand aeons
since I praised the Buddha back then,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
that’s the fruit of praising Buddhas.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 Puḷinuppādaka Thera spoke these verses.
The legend of Puḷinuppādaka Thera is finished.