XXVI. 40. IT IS THE GIVER THAT MAKES THE GIFT!
He that knows his former abodes. This religious instruction was given by the Teacher while he was in residence at Jetavana with reference to a question asked by Brahman Devahita. [232]
For once upon a time the Exalted One suffered from disorder of the humors and sent Elder Upavana to Brahman Devahita for hot water. The Elder went to the Brahman, told him the Teacher was suffering from disorder of the humors, and asked him for hot water. When the Brahman heard the Teacher’s request, his heart was filled with joy. “How fortunate for me,” he exclaimed, “that the Supreme Buddha should send to me for hot water!” The Brahman gave the Elder hot water and a jar of molasses, ordering one of his men to carry the hot water on a pingo. The Elder caused the Teacher to bathe himself in hot water, and then, mixing the molasses with hot water, gave it to the Exalted One to drink. The Teacher’s ailment immediately abated.
The Brahman [233] thought to himself, “To whom should one give alms to obtain a great reward? I will ask the Teacher.” So he went to the Teacher and asked him about the matter, pronouncing the following Stanza,
To whom shall one give alms? To whom must alms be given to get a great reward?
How, for the giver, does the reward become a great one?
Said the Teacher to the Brahman, “The alms of such a Brahman as this yield abundant fruit.” And proclaiming his conception of the true Brahman, he pronounced the following Stanza,
423. He that knows his former abodes, he that beholds heaven and hell,
He that has reached the end of birth and rebirth, the sage in whom Higher Knowledge has been perfected,
That man in whom all the Perfections have been perfected, such a man I call a Brahman.
1 This story is an abbreviated version of Samyutta, vii. 2. 3: i. 174-175. Text: N iv. 232-234.
The King of Righteousness attained the Dhammapada, the Incomparable [Nibbāna]. That Mighty Sage uttered the Stanzas of the Dhammapada.
Revealing the Four Truths, he uttered Stanzas four hundred three and twenty in number. There came into existence three hundred Stories less one.
Residing with grateful heart in the monastery erected by the monarch, in the palace of King Sirikūṭa,
I composed, in a series consisting of seventy-two portions for recitation, this faultless Commentary on the Stanzas,
In accordance with the spirit and letter of the Stanzas, based on the Good Law of the Protector of the World, for the weal and welfare of mankind.
By the merit which I earned thereby, may all the good desires of all living beings be fulfilled, producing sweet fruit.
Prosperity! Happiness! Health!
The Colophon is in three parts: (1) Enumeration of Stories; (2) Epilogue; (3) Ascription of Authorship to Buddhaghosa. The Ascription of Authorship is the usual formula found at the end of Buddhaghosa’s genuine works, and the inclusion of it in the Colophon of this Commentary is without doubt the work of an uncritical scribe or redactor of later times. Cf. Introduction, § 5: HOS. 28. 26 f. Text of the Epilogue: N iv. 235.