Near the lake called Anotatta,
on the lovely level rock ground,
where sparkled gems of different sorts
and varied perfumes filled the woods,

surrounded by the Assembly
of monks, the Leader of the World,
while seated there, did then explain
the former deeds done by himself:

Hear from me, O monks, the karma
which formerly was done by me,
and how those karma rags’ effects
ripen in the Buddha himself.

Among my other, former births
I was a jerk named Munāli.
I told lies about Sarabhu,
an innocent Lonely Buddha.

As a result of that karma,
a long time I circled through hell.
I experienced suffering
for numerous thousands of years.

As its final karmic effect,
here in my final existence,
I received some nasty slander
connected with Sundarīkā.

I was Nanda, a follower
of the Buddha Sabbābhibhu.
My transmigration was in hell
for long after I slandered him.

My long transmigration in hell
continued for ten thousand years.
When I again got human birth,
I also got lots of slander.

Through what remained of that karma,
Lady Ciñca did slander me
in front of a group of people
without any grounding in fact.

I was an erudite brahmin,
attended on, given worship.
In a large wood, I was teaching
mantras to five hundred young men.

To that place had come Sage Gīma,
who possessed vast superpowers.
After having seen him coming,
I slandered that blameless person.

I said this to my students then:
“this sage delights in the pleasures!”
The young men there took that to heart
when I made that declaration.

Then all the young men, my students,
begging for alms from clan to clan,
repeated to a lot of folks,
“this sage delights in the pleasures!”

As a result of that karma,
these five hundred monks now with me
all received some nasty slander
connected with Sundarīkā.

One time eying wealth I murdered
brothers by a second mother.
I put them on a mountain road
and crushed them in an avalanche.

As a result of that karma,
Devadatta threw a boulder
and a splinter off that boulder
then crushed the big toe on my foot.

One time I was a little boy,
playing by the great thoroughfare.
Having seen a Lonely Buddha,
I threw a clod of dirt at him.

As a result of that karma,
here in my final existence,
Devadatta hired some killers
for the sake of murdering me.

Once, while I was on my tusker,
I saw a supreme Lonely Sage,
wandering about for alms food—
with elephant I attacked him.

As a result of that karma,
the elephant Nāḷāgiri,
agitated, cruel, approached me
in the fine town at Vulture’s Peak.

I was the king, named Patthiva;
I killed a man with a dagger.
As a result of that karma,
I roasted in hell a long time.

Through what remained of that karma,
the skin on my foot got all cracked
and caused me a lot of trouble—
karma sure doesn’t just vanish!

I once lived as a fisher-boy,
in a village of fishermen.
Having seen the fish getting killed,
pleasurable thoughts filled my mind.

As a result of that karma,
I suffered a headache one time;
all of the Śākyans were murdered,
when Viḍuḍabha murdered them.

I reviled the holy words and
followers of Phussa Buddha,
“chomp and eat inferior grain
you all, and don’t eat any rice.”

As a result of that karma,
I had to eat grain for three months
when, invited by a brahmin,
I lived in various kingdoms.

In the midst of a wrestling match,
a wrestler’s son, I blocked the fight;
as a result of that karma,
one time I suffered a backache.

I was a practicing doctor
and purged the son of a rich man;
as a result of that karma,
I contracted dysentery.

One time I, Jotipāla, said
to Kassapa, the Well-Gone-One,
“Whence then this baldy’s Waking Up,
Awakening so hard to reach?”

As a result of that karma,
I practiced great austerities
in Uruvela, six long years,
and then achieved Awakening.

“Along that path I did not reach
supreme Awakening,” I thought,
“along which path then should I search,
hindered by previous karma?
Exhausting good and bad karma
and avoiding every torment
free of grief, troubles and outflows,
I shall realize nirvana.”

Thus did he explain, the Victor,
Endowed with All Superpowers,
in front of the monks’ Assembly,
at the great Lake Anotatta.

Thus indeed the Blessed One spoke this short discourse on dharma revealing his own previous conduct, the Buddha-apadāna named “The Rags of Previous Karma”.

The Buddha-apadāna named “The Rags of Previous Karma” is finished.

The Summary:

Avaṇṭa and Labuja too,
Udumbara and Pilakkhu,
Phāru, Valli and Kadali,
Panasa, Koṭivīsaka
and the Rags of Former Karma,
the legend of the Sage so Great:
verses numbering ninety-one
are counted by those who are wise.

The Avaṇṭaphala Chapter, the Thirty-Ninth