467. {470.} Nimittavyākaraṇiya (THA-AP472)

Plunged into the Himalayas,
I’m reciting mantras back the,
and fifty-four thousand students
attended on me in that place.

They all learned by heart, true knowers,
were masters of Vedic science;
having come of their own accord,
they dwelt in the Himalayas.

The Son of a God, Greatly Famed,
falling from Tusitā heaven,
was reborn in a mother’s womb,
attentive and remembering.

When the Buddha was being born,
the ten-thousand world-system quaked,
and those who were blind obtained eyes,
when the Leader was being born.

This entire great bountiful earth
quaked in every manner.
Having heard the sound of shouting,
the populace was frightened then.

All the people came together,
and they came into my presence.
“The great bountiful earth has quaked,
what will this be the result of?”

I answered them, “Don’t be frightened;
there is nothing for you to fear.
Let all of you be confident;
this omen portends happiness.

This great bountiful earth quakes through
contact with one of eight causes.
Likewise this sign is also seen:
there’s a huge effulgence of light.

Without a doubt a Best Buddha,
an Eyeful One, will soon be born!”
Having thus informed the people,
I spoke about the five precepts.

Hearing of the five precepts, and
a Buddha’s birth, hard to obtain,
happy and full of excitement,
their hair stood on end in delight.

In the ninety-two aeons since
I explained the signs at that time,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
that is the fruit of explaining.

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 Nimittavyākaraṇiya Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Nimittavyākaraṇiya Thera is finished.

The Summary:

Sālakusumiya Thera,
Pūjā and Nibbāpaka too,
Setuda and Tālavaṇṭī,
Avaṇṭa, Labuja-ppada,
Pilakkha and Paṭibhāṇī,
brahmin Veyyakaraṇaka:
exactly two hundred verses
are counted here by those who know.

The Sālakusumiya Chapter, the Forty-Seventh

Translated by Jonathan S. Walters.

Whitman College, 2017

Legends of the Buddhist Saints (Apadāna) is released under the Attribution, Non-Commercial, Share Alike license.

This is the first-ever complete translation of Apadāna into a Western language.

For more information, visit apadanatranslation.org

Prepared for SuttaCentral by Ayya Vimala.