367. {370.} Salaḷapupphiya (THA-AP372)

On Candabhāgā River’s bank
I was a kinnara back then.
And then I saw the God of Gods,
Bull of Men, walking back and forth.

Plucking a salaḷa flower,
I gifted it to the Buddha.
The Great Hero, the Buddha sniffed
that divinely-scented flower.

Accepting them the Sambuddha
Vipassi, Leader of the World,
the Great Hero, the Buddha sniffed,
conscious of what I was wishing.

Happy, with pleasure in my heart,
I worshipped him, the Best Biped.
Pressing both my hands together
I climbed up the mountain again.

In the ninety-one aeons since
I did pūjā with that flower,
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 Salaḷapupphiya Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Salaḷapupphiya Thera is finished.

The Summary:

Mandārava and Kekkhāru,
Bhisa, Kesarapupphiya,
Aṅkolaka and Kadambi,
Uddāli, Ekacampaka,
Timira, Salaḷa as well:
and exactly forty verses.

The Mandārapupphiya Chapter, the Thirty-Seventh

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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Prepared for SuttaCentral by Ayya Vimala.