103. Uppalahatthiya (THA-AP105)

I was living in Tivarā,
a garland-maker at that time.
I saw the Buddha, Stainless One,
Siddhattha, Worshipped by the World.

Happy, with pleasure in my heart,
I gave a handful of flowers.
In whichever place I’m reborn,
in accordance with that karma,

I enjoy the pleasant fruit of
what I did well, myself, back then.
I’m encircled by lovely flowers:
that’s the fruit of giving flowers.

In the ninety-four aeons since
I offered that flower to him,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
the fruit of Buddha-pūjā.

Starting ninety-four aeons hence,
and excepting the present time,
there were five hundred kings who lived;
all were known as Najjupama.

The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
I have done what the Buddha taught!

Thus indeed Venerable Uppalahatthiya Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Uppalahatthiya Thera is finished.

Translated by Jonathan S. Walters.

Whitman College, 2017

Legends of the Buddhist Saints (Apadāna) is released under the Attribution, Non-Commercial, Share Alike license.

This is the first-ever complete translation of Apadāna into a Western language.

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