518. {521.} Tiṇamuṭhidāyaka (THA-AP523)

In the Himalayan region,
there’s a mountain named Lambaka.
The Sambuddha, Upatissa,
walked back and forth in open air.

I was a deer-hunter back then,
within a grove in the forest.
Having seen that God among Gods,
I then gave a handful of grass.

Giving it to the Buddha to
sit on, I pleased my own heart there.
Saluting the Sambuddha, I
then departed, facing the north.

Not long after, a king of beasts
injured me where I had traveled.
Being brought down by that lion,
I passed away right on the spot.

Near when I did that karma for
the Best Buddha, the Undefiled,
quick like an arrow just released,
I went to the world of the gods.

My lovely sacrificial post
created by good karma there
was mil-kaṇḍa cent-bheṇḍu large
made out of gold, covered in flags.

Radiating its brilliant light,
like the risen hundred-rayed sun,
it’s crowded with divine maidens.
I greatly enjoyed myself there.

Falling from the world of the gods,
incited by my wholesome roots,
coming back to the human state,
I attained my arahantship.

In the ninety-four aeons since
I gave him a place to sit down,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
the fruit of a handful of grass.

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 Tiṇamuṭṭhidāyaka Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Tiṇamuṭṭhidāyaka Thera is finished.

Translated by Jonathan S. Walters.

Whitman College, 2017

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