427. {430.} Sovaṇṇakattarika (THA-AP432)

The Self-Composed One, the Buddha,
the Self-Tamer, Attentive One,
Wandering the Path of Brahmā,
Delighting in Mental Relief,

the Flood-Crosser, the Sambuddha,
Who Loves Meditation and Trance,
the Sage, the Seated One, Attainer,
Brilliant as Blue Lotus Petals:

I approached him, the Best Buddha,
taking a gourd to hold water.
After washing the Buddha’s feet,
I gave that water-gourd to him.

The Sambuddha then had it fetched,
the Leader, Padumuttara,
“Bringing more water with this gourd,
place it at the soles of my feet.”

Agreeing, saying, “Excellent,”
and with respect for the Teacher,
carrying water with the gourd,
I brought it to the Best Buddha.

The Great Hero gave thanks for that,
quenching the anguish in my heart,
“Because of giving me this gourd,
let what you think be accomplished.”

For fifteen aeons after that,
I delighted in the gods’ world,
and thirty times I was a king,
a king who turns the wheel of law.

Whether by day or else by night,
walking back and forth or standing,
a water pot made out of gold
is standing right in front of me.

Giving a gourd to the Buddha,
I receive a gold water-pot:
the deed done with little trouble
becomes huge like that later on.

In the hundred thousand aeons
since I gave him that gourd back then,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
that’s the fruit of giving a gourd.

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 Sovaṇṇakattarika Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Sovaṇṇakattarika Thera is finished.

The Summary:

Sakiṁsammajjaka Thera,
Ekadussī, thus Āsanī,
then Kadamba and Koraṇḍa,
Ghataṅ, also Savanika,
Sucintita, Kiṇkhanika,
and Soṇṇa-Kattarika too:
there are a hundred verses here
plus seventy-one more verses

The Sakiṁsammajjaka Chapter, the Forty-Third

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.