418. {421.} Sakiṁsammajjaka (THA-AP423)

Having seen the chief of all trees,
the trumpet-flower Bodhi tree
of Vipassi, the Blessed One,
I brought pleasure to my heart there.

Having taken a broom with me,
I always swept that Bodhi tree.
After sweeping that Bodhi tree,
I worshipped the trumpet-flower.

Bringing pleasure to my heart there,
hands pressed together on my head,
praising that Bodhi tree I then,
crouched over, departed from there.

Going along a walking path,
remembering the supreme tree,
at that time a python crushed me,
of frightful form, extremely strong.

Due to the fruit of my karma,
being near death I was happy.
The python swallowed my body;
I delighted in the gods’ world.

My mind is always undisturbed,
well-purified and very clear.
I do not know arrows of grief,
nor any torment in my heart.

I do not get the itch, ringworm,
rashes, abscesses, leprosy,
epilepsy and scabies too:
that is the fruit of sweeping up.

Grief as well as lamentation
are not known in this heart of mine.
My mind’s upright and unattached:
that is the fruit of sweeping up.

My mind is pure, I do not cling
when in the meditative states.
Whichever of those states I want,
it always comes to be for me.

I’m not attached to lustful ways
and also not to hateful ones;
not bewildered in ignorance:
that is the fruit of sweeping up.

In the ninety-one aeons since
I did that karma at that time,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
that is the fruit of sweeping up.

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 Sakiṁsammajjaka Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Sakiṁsammajjaka 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.