126. Kusumāsaniya (THA-AP128)

In the city, Dhaññavatī,
I was a brahmin at that time,
a master of the three Vedas,
well-versed in marks and history,
the dictionaries and poetry,
also skilled in reading omens,
an erudite grammarian;
I taught mantras to my students.

At that time I’d placed on the road
five handfuls of lotus flowers,
wishing to offer sacrifice
for my mother and my father.

The Blessed One then, Vipassi,
Honored by the monks’ Assembly,
the Bull of Men went near me then,
lighting up every direction.

Having invited the Great Sage,
I appointed a seat for him,
then spreading out those flowers there,
I led him up to my own house.

Whatever I had in my house,
alms-food which I had been given,
I gave all that to the Buddha,
feeling well- pleased by my own hands.

Discerning when his meal was done,
I gave one handful of flowers.
Giving thanks, the Omniscient One
then departed facing the north.

In the ninety-one aeons since
I gave him that flower back then,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
that’s the fruit of giving flowers.

In an intervening aeon,
I was King Varadassana,
a wheel-turner with great power,
possessor of the seven gems.

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

Thus indeed Venerable Kusumāsaniya Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Kusumāsaniya Thera is finished.

Translated by Jonathan S. Walters.

Whitman College, 2017

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