Cariyāpiṭaka 1

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The Conduct Leading to Buddhahood

The Chapter With Akitti

The Perfection of Giving (1st)

Akitti’s Conduct

1 Homage to him, the blessed one, the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha!

2 “For a hundred thousand eons

and four incalculable ages,

all my conduct in that period

ripens in awakening.

3 Setting aside my conduct

in past eons through different lives,

I shall speak of my conduct

in this eon, hear me.

4 When I lived having plunged

into the formidable jungle

of empty thickets and glades,

my name was Akitti the mortifier.

5 Then, burned by the fires of my mortification,

the sovereign of the Third Heaven,

came to me for alms

in the form of a brahmin.

6 I had gathered leaves from the forest

without oil or salt,

and seeing him standing at my door,

I placed them in his pot.

7 After giving him the leaves

I turned over my plate,

and having given up on seeking more food,

I entered my hut of leaves.

8 A second and a third time

he came to me.

Undisturbed, ungrasping,

I gave in just the same way.

9 That is the reason why

my body is not discolored.

In rapture and bliss free of relishing

I spend the day.

10 If even for a month or two

I were to find a worthy recipient,

undisturbed, unattached,

I would give the supreme gift.

11 While giving him that gift

I did not wish for fame or profit.

Wishing for omniscience

I performed those deeds.”