148. Phalakadāyaka (THA-AP150)

A carriage-maker in the city,
I was skilled in working with wood.
Having made a sandalwood plank
I gave it to the World’s Kinsman.

Made of gold, this divine mansion
lights up all of the directions.
Elephant, divine and equine
carriages are provided me.

Palaces and palanquins too
are produced according to wish;
unsifted, gemstones come to me:
that is the fruit of a plank-gift.

In the ninety-one aeons since
I gave him that plank-gift back then,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
that is the fruit of a plank-gift.

In the fifty-seventh aeon,
four men named Bhavanimmita
were wheel-turning kings with great strength,
possessors 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 Phalakadāyaka Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Phalakadāyaka 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.