412. {415.} Nāgapallavaka (THA-AP417)

In the city, Bandhumatī,
I lived in the royal garden.
At that time, near my hermitage,
the Leader of the World sat down.

Taking a sprout of ironwood,
I offered it to the Buddha.
Happy, with pleasure in my heart,
I saluted the Well-Gone-One.

In the ninety-one aeons since
I offered that sprout at that time,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
that’s the fruit of Buddha-pūjā.

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

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!

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

Thus indeed Venerable Nāgapallavaka Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Nāgapallavaka Thera is finished.

Translated by Jonathan S. Walters.

Whitman College, 2017

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