152. Tambapupphiya (THA-AP154)

Employed in others’ transport work,
I committed a crime back then.
I was exiled to the forest;
filled with fear, I was terrified.

Having seen a tree in flower
with tiny, well-fashioned clusters,
picking a copper-colored bloom,
I scattered it on the Bodhi.

Having swept around that Bodhi,
the ultimate pāṭali tree,
getting into lotus posture,
I stayed at the Bodhi tree’s roots.

Searching for the road I’d gone on,
they then came into my presence.
And having seen them, then and there
I recalled the superb Bodhi.

Having worshipped the Bodhi tree
with a mind that was very clear,
I obtained varied tal trees then
inside a frightful mountain crag.

In the ninety-one aeons since
I offered that flower to him,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
that’s the fruit of Buddha-pūjā.

In the thirtieth aeon hence
there was a king, Samphusita,
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 Tambapupphiya Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Tambapupphiya Thera is finished.

Translated by Jonathan S. Walters.

Whitman College, 2017

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