135. Rahosaññaka (THA-AP137)

Close to the Himalayan range,
there is a mountain called Vasabha.
My ashram is made very well
there at the foot of that mountain.

For three thousand years that brahmin
uttered his teachings at that time.
Drawing the students together,
he dwelt there, sitting to one side.

The brahmin master of mantras,
while sitting there off to one side,
searching the Buddha’s knowledge,
pleased his heart over knowledge then.

After after pleasing my heart there,
I sat on a mat made of leaves;
getting into lotus posture,
I passed away right on the spot.

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

In the twenty-seventh aeon
there was a king, Siridhara,
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 Rahosaññaka Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Rahosaññaka 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.