192. Tiṇasantharadāyaka (THA-AP194)

What grass a forest-dwelling sage
is reaping for the Great Teacher,
all those blades turning to the right
fell down upon the earth back then.

That I, taking a load of grass
and bringing blades of grass and leaves
of palmyra did make a mat,
spread out on the excellent ground.

Fashioning that grass and those leaves,
I gave that mat to Siddhattha;
for seven days I bore it there
for the Teacher of Gods and Men.

In the ninety-four aeons since
I gave the Buddha grass back then
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
that’s the fruit of a gift of grass.

In the sixty-fifth aeon hence
there were four named Mahādhana,
wheel-turning monarchs 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 Tiṇasantharadāyaka Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Tiṇasantharadāyaka 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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