117. Buddhasaññaka (THA-AP119)

When Vipassi, Top of the World,
abandoned life’s constituents,
the land, engirdled in water,
the very earth, did quake back then.

When the Buddha’s life was finished
my dwelling was also shaken.
And my ornamental hair-wreath
was stretched and pulled apart by that.

When my residence was shaken,
I was terrified to feel it.
And for whatever reason then
there was a vast effulgence there.

Vessavaṇa having come here,
dispelled the fears of the people:
“There’s nothing for beings to fear;
be calm, exercise self-control.

O! the Buddha! O! the Teaching!
O! our Teacher’s great achievement!
Also when he was being born
the earth itself did quake back then.”

After he praised Buddha’s power,
I thrilled an aeon in heaven.
During the remaining aeons
I did lots of wholesome karma.

In the ninety-one aeons since
I obtained that perception then,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
the fruit of perceiving Buddha.

In the fourteenth aeon ago,
I was a majestic monarch,
known by the name of Samita,
a wheel-turner with great power.

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

Thus indeed Venerable Buddhasaññaka Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Buddhasaññaka 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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