5.1. The Prologue Telling the Story

Kosalānaṁ purā rammā,

agamā dakkhiṇāpathaṁ;

Ākiñcaññaṁ patthayāno,

brāhmaṇo mantapāragū.

So assakassa visaye,

aḷakassa samāsane;

Vasi godhāvarīkūle,

uñchena ca phalena ca.

Tasseva upanissāya,

gāmo ca vipulo ahu;

Tato jātena āyena,

mahāyaññamakappayi.

Mahāyaññaṁ yajitvāna,

puna pāvisi assamaṁ;

Tasmiṁ paṭipaviṭṭhamhi,

añño āgañchi brāhmaṇo.

Ugghaṭṭapādo tasito,

paṅkadanto rajassiro;

So ca naṁ upasaṅkamma,

satāni pañca yācati.

Tamenaṁ bāvarī disvā,

āsanena nimantayi;

Sukhañca kusalaṁ pucchi,

idaṁ vacanamabravi.

“Yaṁ kho mama deyyadhammaṁ,

Sabbaṁ visajjitaṁ mayā;

Anujānāhi me brahme,

Natthi pañcasatāni me”.

“Sace me yācamānassa,

bhavaṁ nānupadassati;

Sattame divase tuyhaṁ,

muddhā phalatu sattadhā”.

Abhisaṅkharitvā kuhako,

bheravaṁ so akittayi;

Tassa taṁ vacanaṁ sutvā,

bāvarī dukkhito ahu.

Ussussati anāhāro,

Sokasallasamappito;

Athopi evaṁ cittassa,

Jhāne na ramatī mano.

Utrastaṁ dukkhitaṁ disvā,

Devatā atthakāminī;

Bāvariṁ upasaṅkamma,

Idaṁ vacanamabravi.

“Na so muddhaṁ pajānāti,

Kuhako so dhanatthiko;

Muddhani muddhapāte vā,

Ñāṇaṁ tassa na vijjati”.

“Bhotī carahi jānāsi,

Taṁ me akkhāhi pucchitā;

Muddhaṁ muddhādhipātañca,

Taṁ suṇoma vaco tava”.

“Ahampetaṁ na jānāmi,

Ñāṇamettha na vijjati;

Muddhani muddhādhipāte ca,

Jinānaṁ hettha dassanaṁ”.

“Atha ko carahi jānāti,

Asmiṁ pathavimaṇḍale;

Muddhaṁ muddhādhipātañca,

Taṁ me akkhāhi devate”.

“Purā kapilavatthumhā,

Nikkhanto lokanāyako;

Apacco okkākarājassa,

Sakyaputto pabhaṅkaro.

So hi brāhmaṇa sambuddho,

Sabbadhammāna pāragū;

Sabbābhiññābalappatto,

Sabbadhammesu cakkhumā;

Sabbakammakkhayaṁ patto,

Vimutto upadhikkhaye.

Buddho so bhagavā loke,

Dhammaṁ deseti cakkhumā;

Taṁ tvaṁ gantvāna pucchassu,

So te taṁ byākarissati”.

Sambuddhoti vaco sutvā,

Udaggo bāvarī ahu;

Sokassa tanuko āsi,

Pītiñca vipulaṁ labhi.

So bāvarī attamano udaggo,

Taṁ devataṁ pucchati vedajāto;

“Katamamhi gāme nigamamhi vā pana,

Katamamhi vā janapade lokanātho;

Yattha gantvāna passemu,

Sambuddhaṁ dvipaduttamaṁ”.

“Sāvatthiyaṁ kosalamandire jino,

Pahūtapañño varabhūrimedhaso;

So sakyaputto vidhuro anāsavo,

Muddhādhipātassa vidū narāsabho”.

Tato āmantayī sisse,

Brāhmaṇe mantapārage;

“Etha māṇavā akkhissaṁ,

Suṇātha vacanaṁ mama.

Yasseso dullabho loke,

Pātubhāvo abhiṇhaso;

Svājja lokamhi uppanno,

Sambuddho iti vissuto;

Khippaṁ gantvāna sāvatthiṁ,

Passavho dvipaduttamaṁ”.

“Kathaṁ carahi jānemu,

Disvā buddhoti brāhmaṇa;

Ajānataṁ no pabrūhi,

Yathā jānemu taṁ mayaṁ”.

“Āgatāni hi mantesu,

Mahāpurisalakkhaṇā;

Dvattiṁsāni ca byākkhātā,

Samattā anupubbaso.

Yassete honti gattesu,

Mahāpurisalakkhaṇā;

Dveyeva tassa gatiyo,

Tatiyā hi na vijjati.

Sace agāraṁ āvasati,

Vijeyya pathaviṁ imaṁ;

Adaṇḍena asatthena,

Dhammena manusāsati.

Sace ca so pabbajati,

Agārā anagāriyaṁ;

Vivaṭṭacchado sambuddho,

Arahā bhavati anuttaro.

Jātiṁ gottañca lakkhaṇaṁ,

Mante sisse punāpare;

Muddhaṁ muddhādhipātañca,

Manasāyeva pucchatha.

Anāvaraṇadassāvī,

Yadi buddho bhavissati;

Manasā pucchite pañhe,

Vācāya vissajessati”.

Bāvarissa vaco sutvā,

Sissā soḷasa brāhmaṇā;

Ajito tissametteyyo,

Puṇṇako atha mettagū.

Dhotako upasīvo ca,

Nando ca atha hemako;

Todeyya-kappā dubhayo,

Jatukaṇṇī ca paṇḍito.

Bhadrāvudho udayo ca,

Posālo cāpi brāhmaṇo;

Mogharājā ca medhāvī,

Piṅgiyo ca mahāisi.

Paccekagaṇino sabbe,

Sabbalokassa vissutā;

Jhāyī jhānaratā dhīrā,

Pubbavāsanavāsitā.

Bāvariṁ abhivādetvā,

Katvā ca naṁ padakkhiṇaṁ;

Jaṭājinadharā sabbe,

Pakkāmuṁ uttarāmukhā.

Aḷakassa patiṭṭhānaṁ,

Purimāhissatiṁ tadā;

Ujjeniñcāpi gonaddhaṁ,

Vedisaṁ vanasavhayaṁ.

Kosambiñcāpi sāketaṁ,

Sāvatthiñca puruttamaṁ;

Setabyaṁ kapilavatthuṁ,

Kusinārañca mandiraṁ.

Pāvañca bhoganagaraṁ,

Vesāliṁ māgadhaṁ puraṁ;

Pāsāṇakaṁ cetiyañca,

Ramaṇīyaṁ manoramaṁ.

Tasitovudakaṁ sītaṁ,

Mahālābhaṁva vāṇijo;

Chāyaṁ ghammābhitattova,

Turitā pabbatamāruhuṁ.

Bhagavā tamhi samaye,

Bhikkhusaṅghapurakkhato;

Bhikkhūnaṁ dhammaṁ deseti,

Sīhova nadatī vane.

Ajito addasa buddhaṁ,

Sataraṁsiṁva bhāṇumaṁ;

Candaṁ yathā pannarase,

Pāripūriṁ upāgataṁ.

Athassa gatte disvāna,

Paripūrañca byañjanaṁ;

Ekamantaṁ ṭhito haṭṭho,

Manopañhe apucchatha.

“Ādissa jammanaṁ brūhi,

Gottaṁ brūhi salakkhaṇaṁ;

Mantesu pāramiṁ brūhi,

Kati vāceti brāhmaṇo”.

“Vīsaṁ vassasataṁ āyu,

So ca gottena bāvarī;

Tīṇissa lakkhaṇā gatte,

Tiṇṇaṁ vedāna pāragū.

Lakkhaṇe itihāse ca,

Sanighaṇḍusakeṭubhe;

Pañcasatāni vāceti,

Sadhamme pāramiṁ gato”.

“Lakkhaṇānaṁ pavicayaṁ,

Bāvarissa naruttama;

Kaṅkhacchida pakāsehi,

Mā no kaṅkhāyitaṁ ahu”.

“Mukhaṁ jivhāya chādeti,

Uṇṇassa bhamukantare;

Kosohitaṁ vatthaguyhaṁ,

Evaṁ jānāhi māṇava”.

Pucchañhi kiñci asuṇanto,

Sutvā pañhe viyākate;

Vicinteti jano sabbo,

Vedajāto katañjalī.

“Ko nu devo vā brahmā vā,

Indo vāpi sujampati;

Manasā pucchite pañhe,

Kametaṁ paṭibhāsati”.

“Muddhaṁ muddhādhipātañca,

Bāvarī paripucchati;

Taṁ byākarohi bhagavā,

Kaṅkhaṁ vinaya no ise”.

“Avijjā muddhāti jānāhi,

Vijjā muddhādhipātinī;

Saddhāsatisamādhīhi,

Chandaviriyena saṁyutā”.

Tato vedena mahatā,

Santhambhitvāna māṇavo;

Ekaṁsaṁ ajinaṁ katvā,

Pādesu sirasā pati.

“Bāvarī brāhmaṇo bhoto,

Saha sissehi mārisa;

Udaggacitto sumano,

Pāde vandati cakkhuma”.

“Sukhito bāvarī hotu,

Saha sissehi brāhmaṇo;

Tvañcāpi sukhito hohi,

Ciraṁ jīvāhi māṇava.

Bāvarissa ca tuyhaṁ vā,

Sabbesaṁ sabbasaṁsayaṁ;

Katāvakāsā pucchavho,

Yaṁ kiñci manasicchatha”.

Sambuddhena katokāso,

Nisīditvāna pañjalī;

Ajito paṭhamaṁ pañhaṁ,

Tattha pucchi tathāgataṁ.

Vatthugāthā niṭṭhitā.

SC 1SC Verse 983Narrator
A brahmin who’d mastered all mantras,
Desiring the state of no-thingness,
From Kosalans’ fair city he left then
Towards the southern parts.

SC 2SC Verse 984By Godhāvarī river he sojourned
In Assaka’s realm near Alaka’s border,
Surviving on gleanings and fruit.

SC 3SC Verse 985Close by to him a village large,
With revenue derived from there,
Great the sacrifice he performed.

SC 4SC Verse 986With ritual offerings made
For the sacrifice, he returned
To his hermitage again,
And there another brahmin came.

SC 5SC Verse 987Footsore and thirsty, he,
with teeth unclean, dust-covered head,
then approached him begging for
at least five hundred coins.

SC 6SC Verse 988Having seen him, Bāvarī
invited him to take a seat
and asked about his comfort, health—
then to the stranger spoke these words:

SC 7SC Verse 989Bāvarī
Whatever was given for me to give,
All this I’ve given away,
So brahmin please forgive me,
I’ve not five hundred coins.

SC 8SC Verse 990Brahmin
If your honour will not give
To me who begs from him,
Then let your head be split apart
In seven days from now.

SC 9SC Verse 991Narrator
Having done preparatory rites
That charlatan a fearful curse pronounced,
So that having heard his words
“one-with-dukkha” did Bāvarī become.

SC 10SC Verse 992He took no food and withered up,
afflicted with the dart of grief;
and then with mind of such a kind,
his heart enjoyed no jhāna.

SC 11SC Verse 993Seeing him suffering, terrified,
a deva there who wished his good,
on drawing near to Bāvarī,
to him she spoke these words:

SC 12SC Verse 994Devī
He doesn’t know about the head,
that charlatan desiring wealth;
of heads, and splitting heads apart,
in him no knowing’s found.

SC 13SC Verse 995Bāvarī
If my lady knows of this,
when asked, please tell me too;
let me hear your words on this,
on heads and splitting heads apart.

SC 14SC Verse 996Devī
I do not know about this thing,
in me no knowing’s found,
on heads and splitting heads apart
but by Victors it has been Seen.

SC 15SC Verse 997Bāvarī
Who, then knows about this thing?
Who on this sphere of earth?
On heads and splitting heads apart,
O deva, tell me this.

SC 16SC Verse 998Devī
From out of Kapilavatthu town
came lately, Leader of the world,
a Sakyan son bringing light,
a scion of Okkāka king.

SC 17SC Verse 999He is indeed a Wakened One
all dharmas gone across,
all straightly-knowing’s power won,
in all dharmas, Seer,
to exhaustion of all dharmas won,
freed by all assets’ wearing out—

SC 18SC Verse 1000One Awakened, lord of the world,
the Seer who teaches Dharma,
go to him and then enquire—
that matter he’ll explain.

SC 19SC Verse 1001Narrator
On hearing “Sambuddha”—that word,
Bāvarī was overjoyed,
and grief diminished too,
while rapture then arose in him.
Glad at heart, overjoyed, in awe,
spoke Bāvarī to that devatā:

SC 20SC Verse 1002Bāvarī
In which village, in which town,
in which state is the world’s lord found?
Where should we go to honour him,
the All-awakened, best of men?

SC 21SC Verse 1003Devī
In Kosala’s kingdom he dwells,
the greatly wise truly of Knowledge profound,
of Sakyas the scion, burdenless, from inflows free,
the eminent among men knows splitting the head.

SC 22SC Verse 1004Narrator
Addressing then his brahmin pupils,
those who had mastered the mantras:

SC 23Bāvarī
Come here, young brahmins, listen well
for I shall speak to you.

SC 24SC Verse 1005Whose rare appearance in the world
is hard then to experience,
has appeared for us today,
acclaimed as All-awakened One,
quickly now go to Sāvatthī,
to see this Best of men.

SC 25SC Verse 1006Pupils
How, O brahmin, shall we know
on seeing him that he’s Awake?
Tell us, who are so ignorant,
that him we’ll recognize?

SC 26SC Verse 1007Bāvarī
In mantra-hymns come down to us,
the signs of Superman—
two and thirty there complete,
in order are described.

SC 27SC Verse 1008Upon whose body these appear—
these signs of the Superman—
two possibilities are there for birth,
a third bourn is not found:

SC 28SC Verse 1009So should he choose the household life,
this world he’ll conquer weaponless,
non-violently, without a sword,
by Dharma rule it righteously.

SC 29SC Verse 1010But if he go forth from home
to the state of homelessness,
he’ll be Awake, removed the veils,
one of worth, the unexcelled.

SC 30SC Verse 1011Question in your mind alone
my birth, my caste, how I appear,
my mantras, pupils and so on,
with heads and splitting heads apart.

SC 31SC Verse 1012If he’s indeed the One Awake,
who, lacking obscurations, Sees;
to Questions asked in mind alone,
he will reply with words.

SC 32SC Verse 1013Narrator
The voice of Bāvarī they heard,
those brahmin pupils—all sixteen:
Ajita, Tissamettayya,
Puṇṇaka, then there’s Mettagu,

SC 33SC Verse 1014Dhotaka, Upasīva then
Nanda, also Hemaka,
Todeyya, Kappa—just those two,
Jātukaṇṇa the learned one,

SC 34SC Verse 1015Bhadrāvudha, Udaya and
as well the brahmin Posala,
Moghāraja the very wise
and Piṅgiya the greatest sage—

SC 35SC Verse 1016All of them with their pupils’ groups
in all the world they’re famed—
enjoyers of jhāna, meditators Wise,
patterned by past good karmas made.

SC 36SC Verse 1017Having bowed down to Bāvarī
and circumambulated him,
then in deer-skins clad, with dreadlocks all,
they headed for the north:

SC 37SC Verse 1018From Patiṭṭhāna in Aḷaka’s land,
then to the city, Māhissati,
from there to Ujjeni and Gonaddha,
to Vedisa and to Vana town,

SC 38SC Verse 1019Next to Kosambi and Sāketa,
and Sāvatthī of cities best
on to Setavya, Kapilavatthu,
Kusināra and surrounding lands,

SC 39SC Verse 1020To Pāvā and to Bhoga town,
to the Māgadhans’ city of Vesāli,
to the rocky Pāsāṇaka Shrine—
delightful, mind-delighting place.

SC 40SC Verse 1021As a person thirsty for water,
or merchant for profit great,
or a sunburnt person seeks for shade,
so they hastily climbed the Rock.

SC 41SC Verse 1022The Lord on that occasion was
in honour seated with the bhikkhu-Saṅgha,
teaching Dharma to all the monks,
as lion roaring in the jungly woods.

SC 42SC Verse 1023Ajita saw then the Sambuddha
as the sun’s brilliance devoid of rays,
or as the moon completely full,
arrived at its fifteenth day.

SC 43SC Verse 1024Then standing to one side he saw
the set of signs complete
upon the Buddha’s body, so
joyful, in his mind he asked:

SC 44SC Verse 1025Ajita
Speak now about my Master’s age,
tell of his clan and body-marks,
say how far he’s mastered the mantras
and how many the brahmins he instructs.

SC 45SC Verse 1026Buddha
His age is a hundred and twenty years,
by clan he is a Bāvarī,
upon his body appear three signs,
Three Vedas he has mastered all.

SC 46SC Verse 1027In lore of signs and legends in tradition—
in the glossaries and the ritual treatises—
in his own Dharma to perfection he’s arrived,
and five hundred students he instructs.

SC 47SC Verse 1028Ajita
O highest of men, with craving cut,
describe in detail all the signs
upon the body of Bāvarī,
so there may be no doubt in us.

SC 48SC Verse 1029Buddha
Cover his face with his tongue he can,
hair grows between his brows,
ensheathed is the cloth-concealed:
Know this, O brahmin youth.

SC 49SC Verse 1030Narrator
Now none there heard the questions asked,
but all the answers heard;
then the people, overjoyed,
with lotussed hands they thought:

SC 50SC Verse 1031What deva indeed, whether Brahma
or Indra or Sujampati—
these questions asked in mind,
to whom are they addressed?

SC 51SC Verse 1032Ajita
Bāvarī has questioned you
on heads and splitting heads apart.
O Lord, do you explain this,
dispel our doubt, O Sage.

SC 52SC Verse 1033Buddha
Know ignorance as “head”,
gnosis as that which “splits the head”,
with mindfulness, meditation, faith
by determination, effort too.

SC 53SC Verse 1034Narrator
Then the young brahmin overawed,
with great emotion overcome,
(respectfully) with his deerskin (cloak)
over one shoulder (placed),
put his head at (the Buddha’s) feet.

SC 54SC Verse 1035Ajita
Sir, the brahmin Bāvarī,
with all his pupils too,
overjoyed, glad-minded,
to the great Seer’s feet bowed down.

SC 55SC Verse 1036Buddha
May all be well with Bāvarī,
with his brahmin pupils too,
and you as well be happy,
live long O brahmin youth!

SC 56SC Verse 1037Bāvarī, yourself as well
and all the rest have many doubts,
ask now whatever’s in your minds—
you have the opportunity.

SC 57SC Verse 1038So permitted by the All-awake,
Ajita sat, and with lotussed hands,
asked the initial question,
addressed to the Tathāgata.