9. Khadiravaniya Revata

The River named Bhāgīrathī
is fed by the Himalayas.
I, a Boatman on the near bank,
ferried folks over the rough ford.

“The Lord named Padumuttara
the Sambuddha, the Best Biped,
with one hundred thousand arahants
will need to cross the raging stream.”

Getting many boats tied as one
very carefully by workers
and having made a covering,
I honored him, the Bull of Men.

When the Sambuddha had arrived
he then climbed onto that large boat.
In the middle of the river
the Teacher spoke these verses then:

“He who ferried the Sambuddha
and undefiled Assembly across,
due to the pleasure in his heart
will delight in the world of gods.

A divine mansion will arise,
well made for you, fixed on a boat
which will always sail across the
sky, with a floral canopy.

In the fifty-eighth aeon thence
he will be a wheel-turning king,
victorious on all four sides
a Kṣatriyan named Tāraṇa.

In the fifty-seventh aeon
he’ll be the king named Campaka.
With mighty power, he will shine
just like the sun when it rises.

In one hundred thousand aeons,
arising in Okkāka’s clan,
the one whose name is Gotama
will be the Teacher in the world.

Falling from the highest heaven
he will go to a human state.
He’ll be a kinsman of Brahma;
he will be known as Revata.

Setting forth from the house and world,
incited by his wholesome roots,
he’ll renounce in the teaching of
the Blessed One named Gotama.

And later on, once he’s renounced,
bound to the rule, contemplative,
knowing well all the defilements,
he’ll reach nirvana, undefiled.”

My effort bearing the burden
brought me release from attachments.
Now I’m bearing my last body
in the Supreme Buddha’s teaching.

Karma done a hundred thousand
aeons hence showed me its fruit here:
well-liberated, arrow-quick,
I have destroyed my defilements.

Seeing my fondness for the woods,
the Sage, Who Reached the World’s End,
the Great Sage, therefore did rank me
foremost among the forest monks.

The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
I have done what the Buddha taught!

Thus indeed Venerable Khadiravaniya Revata Thera spoke these verses.