137. Atthasandassaka (THA-AP139)

Sitting in a large, peaked building,
I saw the Leader of the World,
Undefiled, Possessing Power,
Honored by the Monks’ Assembly.

“Who is not pleased after seeing
a lakh with the three-fold knowledge,
special knowledges, superpowers,
all surrounding the Sambuddha?

Who is not pleased after seeing
Sambuddha with boundless knowledge,
to whom none comes close in knowledge
in this world with its gods and men?

Who is not pleased after seeing
him, the Whole One, the Mine of Gems,
explaining the Dhamma-body
which no one can ever injure?”

Nārada Saragacchiya
by saying these three verses then
praised Buddha Padumuttara,
the Unconquered, the Sambuddha.

Due to that pleasure in my heart
and my praising of the Buddha,
for one hundred thousand aeons
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth.

In the thirtieth aeon hence
the Kṣatriyan named Sukhitta
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 Atthasandassaka Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Atthasandassaka 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.

For more information, visit apadanatranslation.org

Prepared for SuttaCentral by Ayya Vimala.