292. Pupphadhāraka (THA-AP294)

I was a bark-clothed ascetic,
wearing deer-leather outer robes.
I had five special knowledges;
a person who could stroke the moon.

Seeing Vipassi, the World’s Torch,
come to the same place as me,
I bore the floral canopy
over the head of the Teacher.

In the ninety-one aeons since
I bore that floral canopy,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
that’s the fruit of bearing flowers.

In the eighty-seventh aeon
hence, there was one lord of the earth
by name Samantadharaṇa,
a wheel-turning king 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 Pupphadhāraka Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Pupphadhāraka 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.

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