514. {517.} Kuṭajapupphiya (THA-AP519)

In the Himalayan region,
there’s a mountain named Cāvala.
The Buddha named Sudassana
was living on the mountainside.

Taking Himalayan flowers,
I traveled through the sky back then.
I saw the Buddha, Stainless One,
the Flood-Crosser, the Undefiled.

Taking a winter-cherry bloom,
I placed it on his head just then.
I offered it to the Buddha,
the Self-Become One, the Great Sage.

In the thirty-one aeons since
I offered 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 Kuṭajapupphiya Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Kuṭajapupphiya Thera is finished.

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.