217. Tālavaṇṭadāyaka (THA-AP219)

I gave a palmyra-frond fan
to Tissa, Kinsman of the Sun,
to quench him in the summer heat,
and soothe the burning of the sun.

I am quenching the fire of lust,
and the fire of hatred as well;
I am quenching delusion’s fire:
that’s the fruit of giving a fan.

My defilements are all burnt up,
every existence is canceled.
I now possess my last body
in the Buddha’s dispensation.

In the ninety-two aeons since
I did that good karma back then,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
that’s the fruit of Buddha-pūjā.

In the sixty-third aeon hence
there was one named Mahārāma,
a wheel-turning king with great strength,
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 Tālavaṇṭadāyaka Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Tālavaṇṭadāyaka 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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