169. Samādapaka (THA-AP171)

In the city, Bandhumatī,
there was a large multitude then.
I was most excellent of them,
and they were all my companions.

Having called them all together
I then promoted good karma,
“let’s build the unsurpassed merit-field,
the monks’ Assembly, a building.”

Those followers of my wishes
agreed by saying, “Excellent!”
and when they finished the building,
we gave it to Vipassi then.

In the ninety-one aeons since
I gave him that building back then,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
that’s the fruit of giving buildings.

In the fifty-ninth aeon hence
there was one lord of the people,
a wheel-turning king with great strength,
known by the name of Āveyya.

The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
I have done what the Buddha taught!

Thus indeed Venerable Samādapaka Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Samādapaka 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.