194. Asokapūjaka (THA-AP196)

In lovely Tivarā City,
there was a royal garden then.
I was a royal attendant,
the warden of the garden there.

The Self-Become One, Full of Light,
named Paduma was Buddha then.
Sitting in a lotus’ shade
that Sage had not yet left the world.

Seeing an ashoka in bloom
heavy with clusters, beautiful,
I gave a bloom to the Buddha,
the excellent-lotus-named Sage.

In the ninety-four 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 seventieth aeon
were sixteen Aruṇañjahas,
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 Asokapūjaka Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Asokapūjaka 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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