520. {523.} Saraṇāgamaniya (THA-AP525)

We boarded a boat at that time,
monk and I, an ajīvaka.
When the boat was broken to bits,
that Buddhist monk gave me refuge.

In the thirty-one aeons since
he gave refuge to me back then,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
the fruit of going for refuge.

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 Saraṇāgamaniya Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Saraṇāgamaniya Thera is finished.

Translated by Jonathan S. Walters.

Whitman College, 2017

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