470. {473.} Ukkāsatika (THA-AP475)

The Blessed One named Kosika,
Meditator, Trance-Loving One,
Buddha, Seclusion-Lover, Sage,
lived on Cittakūṭa back then.

Plunged into the Himalayas,
attended by troops of women,
I saw him, Kosika Buddha,
like the moon on the fifteenth day.

With a hundred flaming-torches,
I waited on him at that time.
Remaining seven nights and days,
on the eighth day I departed.

With a pleased heart, having worshipped
the Self-Become, Unconquered One,
Kosika Buddha, when he rose,
I also gave one meal to him.

Through that karma for the World’s Best,
the Biped-Lord, the Bull of Men,
I was reborn in Tusitā:
that is the fruit of that one meal.

During the day and also at
night, there is always light for me;
on all sides for a hundred leagues,
I am permeated by light.

In the fifty-fifth aeon hence
I was a king who turns the wheel,
lord of the grove of rose-apples,
victorious on all four sides.

My city at that time was rich,
prosperous and well-constructed.
It measured thirty leagues in length,
and it was twenty leagues in width.

My city was named Sobhana;
it was built by Vissakamma.
It did not lack for the ten sounds,
well-accompanied by cymbals.

Nothing in that city was \[made
of\] sticks or of vines or of clay.
Everything was made out of gold,
and it was shining all the time.

Four rampart walls surrounded it;
they were constructed out of gems.
In the middle, a palmyra
pond was made by Vissakamma.

There were ten thousand ponds as well,
covered with pink and blue lotus,
covered with white lotuses too,
all exuding varied perfumes.

In the ninety-four aeons since
I carried those torches for him,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
the fruit of carrying torches.

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 Ukkāsatika Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Ukkāsatika Thera is finished.

Translated by Jonathan S. Walters.

Whitman College, 2017

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