Verses on Dhamma 5.15.p5

5.15.p5

Jātamaṅgaladivase pana taṃ dārakaṃ pātova nhāpetvā maṇḍetvā sirisayane satasahassagghanikassa kambalassa upari nipajjāpesuṃ. So tattha nipannakova theraṃ oloketvā ‘‘ayaṃ me pubbācariyo, mayā theraṃ nissāya ayaṃ sampatti laddhā, mayā imassa ekaṃ pariccāgaṃ kātuṃ vaṭṭatī’’ti sikkhāpadagahaṇatthāya ānīyamāno taṃ kambalaṃ cūḷaṅguliyā veṭhetvā aggahesi. Athassa ‘‘aṅguliyaṃ kambalo laggo’’ti te taṃ harituṃ ārabhiṃsu. So parodi. Ñātakā ‘‘apetha, mā dārakaṃ rodāpethā’’ti kambaleneva saddhiṃ ānayiṃsu. So theraṃ vandanakāle kambalato aṅguliṃ apakaḍḍhitvā kambalaṃ therassa pādamūle pātesi. Ñātakā ‘‘daharakumārena ajānitvā kata’’nti avatvā ‘‘puttena no dinnaṃ, pariccattameva hotu, bhante’’ti vatvā, ‘‘bhante, satasahassagghanikena kambalena pūjākārakassa tumhākaṃ dāsassa sikkhāpadāni dethā’’ti āhaṃsu. ‘‘Ko nāmo ayaṃ dārako’’ti? ‘‘Bhante, ayyena samānanāmako, tisso nāmesa bhavissatī’’ti. Thero kira gihikāle upatissamāṇavo nāma ahosi. Mātāpissa cintesi – ‘‘na mayā puttassa ajjhāsayo bhinditabbo’’ti. Evaṃ dārakassa nāmakaraṇamaṅgalaṃ katvā puna tassa āhāraparibhogamaṅgalepi puna tassa kaṇṇavijjhanamaṅgalepi dussagahaṇamaṅgalepi cūḷākappanamaṅgalepi sāriputtattherappamukhānaṃ pañcannaṃ bhikkhusatānaṃ appodakamadhupāyasameva adaṃsu.

Now at the festival held on the day of the child's birth, they bathed the child very early in the morning, dressed him in beautiful garments, and laid him on a bed of royal splendor in a blanket worth a hundred thousand pieces of money. Even as he lay there, he looked at the Elder and said, “This is my former teacher, through whom I have attained this splendor. I ought to make an offering to him.” So when they carried him that he might receive the moral precepts, he wrapped that blanket about his little finger and lifted it up with him.

His kinsfolk cried out, “His finger has caught in the blanket,” and sought to disengage it; whereupon he burst into tears. Then said they, “Leave the child alone; do not make him cry,” and carried him along, blanket and all. When it was time for him to make his bow to the Elder, he removed his finger from the blanket and cast the blanket at the Elder’s feet. His kinsfolk, instead of saying, “The young boy did this without knowing what he was doing,” said to the Elder, “Reverend Sir, pray accept the offering the boy has presented to you; confer the moral precepts on your servant who has honored you with a blanket worth a hundred thousand pieces of money.”

“What is the name of this boy?” “Reverend Sir, he is to be named after you.” “Tissa shall be his name.” Upatissa, as we know, was the name of the Elder in his younger days as a layman. His mother thought to herself, “I shall not interfere with the desire of my son.” Accordingly she presented the five hundred monks led by Sāriputta with rich porridge made of honey, milk, and rice, both at the festival of the naming of the child, and at the succeeding festivals of the partaking of food, the piercing of the ears, the reception of the cloth, and the conferring of tonsure.