Cp 1 Akitti’s Conduct

Text

Cp 1 - Akitti’s Conduct
Translated by Bhikkhu Sujato
Source: https://suttacentral.net/cp1/en/sujato
License: CC0-1.0

The Conduct Leading to Buddhahood
The Chapter With Akitti
The Perfection of Giving (1st)
Akitti’s Conduct
Homage to him, the blessed one, the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha!
“For a hundred thousand eons
and four incalculable ages,
all my conduct in that period
ripens in awakening.
Setting aside my conduct
in past eons through different lives,
I shall speak of my conduct
in this eon, hear me.
When I lived having plunged
into the formidable jungle
of empty thickets and glades,
my name was Akitti the mortifier.
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.
I had gathered leaves from the forest
without oil or salt,
and seeing him standing at my door,
I placed them in his pot.
After giving him the leaves
I turned over my plate,
and having given up on seeking more food,
I entered my hut of leaves.
A second and a third time
he came to me.
Undisturbed, ungrasping,
I gave in just the same way.
That is the reason why
my body is not discolored.
In rapture and bliss free of relishing
I spend the day.
If even for a month or two
I were to find a worthy recipient,
undisturbed, unattached,
I would give the supreme gift.
While giving him that gift
I did not wish for fame or profit.
Wishing for omniscience
I performed those deeds.”