189. Ekacāriya (THA-AP191)

At that time a great din arose
among the Tāvatiṁsa gods:
“The world’s Buddha has passed away
and we’re still afflicted with lust.”

Among them who had thus been moved,
afflicted with arrows of grief,
made firm by my own mental strength,
I went into Buddha’s presence.

Plucking a mandārava bloom,
tender, created with magic,
I then offered it at the time
of the Buddha’s Passing Away.

All the gods and celestial
nymphs rejoiced for me at that time.
For one hundred thousand aeons
I was not born in a bad state.

Sixty thousand aeons ago
there were born sixteen great people
all named Mahāmallajana
wheel-turning monarchs with great strength.

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

Thus indeed Venerable Ekacāriya Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Ekacāriya 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.