Chapter 15
(O countrymen) the Exalted Buddha, possessing the yellow colour of the best
refined
singÊ
gold, at the request of the King of Magadha, with His two feet
moving like the sun and the moon, has entered the city of RÈjagaha together
with the one thousand
arahats
, former hermits whom the Buddha Himself
calmed, devoid of the heat of defilements, has calmed with the entire heat of
defilements removed by sharing with them the water of deathlessness; whom
the Buddha, the leading Bull Himself released from the three states of
existences and the three cycles of suffering, has released from those states of
existences and cycles of suffering by teaching the essence of Dhamma.
DasavÈso dasabalo
dasadhammvid| dasabhi cupato
so dasasatapa-rivÈro
RÈjagahaÑ pavisi BhagavÈ
(O countrymen!) The Exalted Buddha, who is endowed with ten deportments
of the Noble Ones, the ten-fold physical strength, and ten-fold cognitive
strength, who perfectly comprehends the ten ways of accomplishing deeds
(
kammapatha
), who is possessed of the ten characteristics of
arahats
(
asekkha
), at the request of the Magadha King, with His two feet moving like
the sun and the moon, has entered the city of RÈjagaha, being accompanied
by the one thousand
arahats
, former hermits.
Singing these verses of praise melodiously, Sakka walked ahead of the
bhikkhus,
led by
the Buddha, announcing their approach to the crowd.
The citizens of RÈjagaha, on seeing Sakka in the guise of a youth, discussed among
themselves: ‚O friends, this youthful person is extremely handsome; this youthful person is
so good looking; this youthful person inspires deference,‛ and they wondered ‚whose
personal attendant he happened to be.‛
Overhearing their remarks about him, Sakka replied to them:
Yo dhiro sabbadhi danto
suddho appaÔipuggalo
ArahaÑ Sugato loke
tassÈham paricÈrako
(O countrymen!) Under the disguise of a youth, I am simply a servant and
donor to Him, who is richly endowed with marvellous virtue; He is one, who
in this world is a great wise personality of Omniscience, who concerning six
sense-faculties and the six sense-doors has tamed Himself so that He may be
free of the blemishes of wrongdoings; who is pure and untainted by the dust
of the one thousand and five hundred defilements; who is peerless
throughout the entire three existences of the universe; who is worthy of
unique homage and offering from devas, humans and BrahmÈs; who speaks
only two kinds of words whether people like them or not; words which are
beneficial and lead one to the Path and the Fruition and words which are
truthful and subject to no change at all.
King BimbisÈra's Dedication of The VeÄuvana Park
The Buddha, accompanied by the one thousand
bhikkhus
, entered the city of RÈjagaha
along the route cleared by Sakka, the King of Devas. King BimbisÈra conducted the
bhikkhus
, headed by the Buddha, to his palace, and served them hard and soft food of
excellent quality with his own hands. After which, he sat at an appropriate place, free from
the six faults, then this thought occurred to him: ‚At which place with the following five
characteristics of: (i) being not too far from the city, (ii) being not too near the city, (iii)
roads for going to and coming from it, (iv) easy access to it for everybody at any required
time, (v) devoid of noise of the city, village and people clamouring for the five sense