491. {494.} Kiṁsukapupphiya (THA-AP496)

Seeing a pulas tree in bloom,
stretching out hands pressed together,
recalling Siddhattha Buddha,
I offered pūjā in the sky.

Due to that karma done very well,
with intention and firm resolve,
discarding my human body,
I went to Tāvatiṁsa then.

In the thirty-one aeons since
I did that good karma back then,
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 Kiṁsukapupphiya Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Kiṁsukapupphiya Thera is finished.

Translated by Jonathan S. Walters.

Whitman College, 2017

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