51. Vidhūpanadāyaka (THA-AP53)

I dedicated a fan to
Padumuttara the Buddha,
the World’s Best One, the Neutral One,
the Such-Like Lord of all Bipeds.

Bringing pleasure to my own heart,
pressing both my hands together,
having worshipped the Sambuddha,
I departed facing the north.

Picking up the fan I gave him
the Teacher, the World’s Chief Leader;
standing in the monks’ Assembly
then spoke these verses about me:

“Because of this gift of a fan
and the resolve in his own heart,
for one hundred thousand aeons
he won’t go to a place of grief.

Resolved, with strenuous effort,
attentive to the heart’s virtue,
he will attain arahantship
when he’s only seven years old.

In sixty thousand aeons hence
he will be sixteen different kings
who’ll all be named Vijamāna,
wheel-turning monarchs with great strength.”

The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
I have done what the Buddha taught!

Thus indeed Venerable Vidhūpanadāyaka Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Vidhūpanadāyaka 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.