345. {348.} Tiṇamuṭṭhidāyaka (THA-AP350)

In the Himalayan region,
there’s a mountain named Lambaka.
The Sambuddha, Upatissa,
walked back and forth in open air.

I was a deer-hunter back then,
within a grove in the forest.
Having seen that God among Gods,
the Self-Become, Unconquered One,
with a mind that was very clear,
I then gave a handful of grass
to the Greatest Sage, the Buddha,
so that he could sit down on it.

Giving the God of Gods some more,
I brought pleasure to my own heart.
Saluting the Sambuddha, I
then departed, facing the north.

Not long after, a king of beasts
injured me where I had traveled.
Being brought down by that lion,
I passed away right on the spot.

Near when I did that karma for
the Best Buddha, the Undefiled,
quick like an arrow just released,
I went to the world of the gods.

My lovely sacrificial post,
created by good karma there,
was mil-kaṇḍa cent-bheṇḍu large
made out of gold, covered in flags.

Radiating its brilliant light,
like the risen hundred-rayed sun,
it’s crowded with divine maidens.
I greatly enjoyed myself there.

Falling from the world of the gods,
incited by my wholesome roots,
coming back to the human state,
I attained my arahantship.

In the ninety-four aeons since
I gave him a place to sit down,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
the fruit of a handful of grass.

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

Thus indeed Venerable Tiṇamuṭṭhidāyaka Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Tiṇamuṭṭhidāyaka 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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