338. {341.} Ekapadumiya (THA-AP343)

The Victor Padumuttara
was the Master of Everything.
Explaining all existences,
he ferried many folks across.

At that time I was a swan-king;
I was distinguished among birds.
Plunged into a natural lake,
I am sporting the sports of swans.

Padumuttara, World-Knower,
Sacrificial Recipient,
the Victor would fly, all the time,
over that natural lake there.

I having seen the God of Gods,
the Self-Become One, World-Leader,
gathered lotuses with my beak—
lovely, with a hundred petals—
and having broken off the stems,
tossing them into the sky, I
did pūjā to the Best Buddha,
pleased by the Leader of the World.

Padumuttara, World-Knower,
Sacrificial Recipient,
the Teacher, standing in the sky,
gave me this expression of thanks:

“Due to this single lotus gift,
with intention and firm resolve,
for one hundred thousand aeons
you won’t fall into suffering.”

Having said this the Sambuddha
whose name was Ultimate Lotus,
after detailing my karma,
went according to his wishes.

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

The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
I have done what the Buddha taught!

Thus indeed Venerable Ekapadumiya Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Ekapadumiya 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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