379. {382.} Labujaphaladāyaka (THA-AP384)

In the city, Bandhumatī,
I worked in a hermitage then.
I saw the Buddha, Spotless One,
who was traveling through the sky.

Taking fruit of a breadfruit tree
I gave it to the Best Buddha.
Standing in the sky, the Calm One,
the Great Famed One accepted it.

Having given Buddha that fruit,
with a mind that was very clear,
productive of delight for me,
bringing happiness in this world,
I then came to possess great joy
and vast, ultimate happiness.
A gem was truly produced for
me, being reborn here and there.

In the ninety-one aeons since
I gave the Buddha fruit back then,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
that is the fruit of giving fruit.

Being in Best Buddha’s presence
was a very good thing for me.
The three knowledges are attained;
I have done what the Buddha taught!

My defilements are now burnt up;
all new existence is destroyed.
Like elephants with broken chains,
I am living without constraint.

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

Thus indeed Venerable Labujaphaladāyaka Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Labujaphaladāyaka Thera is finished.

Translated by Jonathan S. Walters.

Whitman College, 2017

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