468. {471.} Naḷamāliya (THA-AP473)

I saw the Leader of the World,
the Golden-Colored Sambuddha,
Sacrificial Recipient,
flying along the forest top.

Having taken a reed-flower,
I am setting out all the time.
There I saw him, the Sambuddha,
the Flood-Crosser, Undefiled One.

Happy, with pleasure in my heart,
I offered that reed-flower to
the Great Hero, Worthy of Gifts,
the Pitier of the Whole World.

In the thirty-one aeons since
I presented him that flower,
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 Naḷamāliya Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Naḷamāliya Thera is finished.

Translated by Jonathan S. Walters.

Whitman College, 2017

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