361. {364.} Kesarapupphiya (THA-AP366)

I was a sorcerer back then,
on a Himalayan mountain.
I saw the Spotless One, Buddha,
Great Famed One, walking back and forth.

At that time I having placed
three kesara flowers on my head,
I approached him, the Sambuddha,
and did pūjā to Vessabhu.

In the thirty-one aeons since
I did that good karma back 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 Kesarapupphiya Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Kesarapupphiya 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.

For more information, visit apadanatranslation.org

Prepared for SuttaCentral by Ayya Vimala.