128. Ñāṇasaññaka (THA-AP130)

I resided on a mountain
in the Himalayan Mountains.
Having seen some pure white sand I
recollected the Best Buddha:

“Knowledge has no analogy;
neither does meeting the Teacher.
After learning all the Teaching
one is set free by that knowledge.

Praise to you, O Well-Bred Person!
Praise to you, Ultimate Person!
There’s no one who’s the same as you
in terms of knowledge, Best of Men.”

Having pleased my heart in knowledge,
I thrilled an aeon in heaven.
During the aeons that remained,
I completed that good karma.

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

In the seventy-third aeon
one named Puḷinapupphiya
was a wheel-turner with great strength,
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 Ñāṇasaññaka Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Ñāṇasaññaka 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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Prepared for SuttaCentral by Ayya Vimala.