507. {510.} Nāḷikeradāyaka (THA-AP512)

In the city, Bandhumatī,
I worked in a hermitage then.
I saw the Spotless One, Buddha,
who was traveling through the sky.

Having taken a coconut,
I gave it to the Best Buddha.
Standing in the sky, the Calm One,
the Great Famed One accepted it.

With a mind that was very clear,
having given Buddha that fruit,
productive of delight for me,
bringing happiness in this world,
I then came to possess great joy
and vast, ultimate happiness.
A gem was truly produced for
me, being reborn here and there.

In the ninety-one aeons since
I gave the Buddha fruit back then,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
that is the fruit of giving fruit.

The divine eye is purified;
I’m skilled in meditative states.
Special knowledges perfected:
that is the fruit of giving fruit.

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 Nāḷikeradāyaka Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Nāḷikeradāyaka Thera is finished.

The Summary:

Kaṇikār’,and Ekapatta,
Kāsumārī, thus Āvaṭa,
Pāra and Mātuluṅga too,
Ajela, also Amora,
Tāla and thus Nāḷikera:
the verses that are counted here
number just one hundred verses,
avoiding any less or more.

The Kaṇikāra Chapter, the Fifty-First

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.