222. Ajinadāyaka (THA-AP224)

Thirty-one aeons in the past,
I made mats for the multitude.
I saw the Buddha, Stainless One,
Sacrificial Recipient.

I gave a leather garment to
Sikhi, the Kinsman of the World.
Through that karma, O Biped Lord,
O World’s Best, O Bull of Men,
experiencing happiness,
I destroyed my defilements.
I now possess my last body
in the Buddha’s dispensation.

In the thirty-one aeons since
I gave that deer-leather to him,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
that is the fruit of deer-leather.

In the fifth aeon after that
there was a king, Sudāyaka,
a wheel-turning king of 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 Ajinadāyaka Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Ajinadāyaka 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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