Dialogues of the Buddha, Part II — trans. T. W. and C. A. F. Rhys Davids (1910)

From Sata's Hill three thousand Yakkhas more,
Diverse in hue, of wondrous gifts and powers
And comeliness, with splendid following,
Have come rejoicing to the forest glade
To see the brethren met together there.

Thus have I sixteen thousand Yakkhas told,
Of diverse hue, of wondrous gifts and powers
And comeliness, and splendid following,
Who come rejoicing to the forest glade
To see the brethren met together there.

8. [257] Five hundred more from Vessamitta's host,
Of diverse hue, of wondrous gifts and powers
And comeliness and splendid following,
Have come rejoicing to the forest glade
To see the brethren met together there.

Kumbhira, too, of Rajagaha town,
Having his dwelling on Vepulla's mount,
More than a hundred thousand in his train,
This Yakkha likewise to the wood is come.

9. King Dhatara///£a rules the Eastern clime,
Lord of Gandhabbas, mighty monarch he,
With splendid following. Sons has he too,
Many and strong, all after Indra named.
And these of wondrous gifts and mighty power
And comeliness and splendid following,
Have come rejoicing to the forest glade
To see the brethren met together there.

Viru/ha, ruler of the Southern clime,
Lord of Kumba;^as, mighty monarch he,
With splendid following. Sons has he too,
Many and strong, all after Indra named.
And these of wondrous gifts and mighty power
And comeliness and splendid following,
Have come rejoicing to the forest glade
To see the brethren met together there.

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Virupakkha rules o'er the Western clime,
Lord of the Nagas, mighty monarch he,
With splendid following. Sons has he too,
Many and strong, all after Indra named.
And these, of wondrous gifts and mighty power
And comeliness and splendid following,
Have come rejoicing to the forest glade
To see the brethren met together there.

Kuvera rules over the Northern clime,
Lord of the Yakkhas, mighty monarch he,
With splendid following. Sons has he too,
Many and strong, all after Indra named.
And these, of wondrous gifts and mighty power
[258] And comeliness and splendid following,
Have come rejoicing to the forest glade
To see the brethren met together there.

So stood those four great kin^s within the wood
Of Kapilavatthu, on the four climes
Shedding effulgent radiance round about :
Over the East King- Dhatara///^a shone,
To right, Viru/haka, westward
Virupakkha, Kuvera o'er the North.

10. With them are come their vassals versed in craft,
Hoodwinking wizards, apt to cloak and feign : —
Maya, Ku/e/^u, Ve/e/^u, ViAi,

Vi/ucca, Candana, Ramase////a too,

K'mnugha.udu, Nighandu (nine in all).

Next, these Gandhabba chieftains all are come : —

Panada, Opamanfia too, and Matali

The driver of the gods, Cittasena

The Gandhabba, Nala, Janesabha,

Pancasikha and Suriyavaccasa,

Daughter of Timbaru. These princes all

And with them other chiefs, Gandhabbas too,

Are come rejoicing to the forest glade

To see the brethren met together there.

1 1. Now too Nagas are come from Nabhasa,
And from Vesali and from Tacchaka,

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Kambalas, Assataras, Payagas

With all their kin. Nagas from Yamuna,

And Dhatara///£a, too, with brilliant trains,

Eravana, great among Naga folk,

He too is come into the forest glade.

They who twice-born \ winged and keen
Of sight, the heavenly Harpies who,
With violence prey on Naga chiefs, —
Gaudy and Well-winged are their names —
Have flown into the wood. [259] —
The cobra kings felt quite secure.
A refuge from the dreadful birds
Buddha had made. With gentle words
Entreating one another they,
The Harpies and their prey alike
To the Buddha as their Sanctuary come.

12. They whom the Lightning- Hand did smite,
Now dwellers in the ocean, A suras,
Vasava's brethren, they of wondrous gifts
And splendid train 2 : — The Kalakanjas all
Of fearsome shape, the Danaveghasas,
Sucitti, Vepacitti, and Paharada —

With them came Namuci, spirit of Evil ;
And Bali's hundred sons, all of them named
After Veroca 3, having armed a host
Of warriors, hied them to their noble liege,
And Rahu said, " Good luck attend this mote
For which the brethren now have sought the
wood ! "

13. The gods of Fire and Water, Earth and Air
Are hither come ; celestial Varu^as

1 All birds are twice-born, first from the mother's womb (when she lays the egg), and then from the egg itself.

2 These are all born of Suja, Vasava's mother, and had been driven out of heaven by ' Him-with-the-thunderbolt-in-his-hand.' The latter had been identified, at the time when this poem was composed, with Sakka.

8 That is, their uncle Rahu.
III. U