370. {373.} Tīṇuppalamāliya (THA-AP375)

On Candabhāgā River’s bank,
I was a monkey at that time.
I saw the Stainless Buddha who
was seated on a mountainside.

I was enraptured seeing him,
Shining Forth in All Directions,
like a regal sal tree in bloom,
Bearing the Great and Lesser Marks.

Happy, with my heart exultant,
and my mind bristling with joy,
I offered on the Buddha’s head
three lovely blue lotus flowers.

After offering those flowers
to Phussa Buddha, the Great Sage,
cultivating great reverence,
I went off from there facing north.

Crouched over going off from there,
with a mind that was very clear,
I alighted on a mountain
and attained the end of my life.

Due to that karma done very well,
with intention and firm resolve,
discarding my human body,
I went to Tāvatiṁsa then.

And afterwards, three hundred times,
I ruled over the world of gods.
And furthermore five hundred times
I was a king who turned the wheel.

In the ninety-two 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 Tīṇuppalamāliya Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Tīṇuppalamāliya 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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