52. Sataraṁsika (THA-AP54)

Ascending a rock outcropping,
the Ultimate Man sat down there.
I, a brahmin mantra-master
in the region of that mountain,

having pressed my hands together
kindly praised him, the World-Leader,
the God of Gods, the Bull of Men,
the Great Hero who had arrived:

“This is the Buddha, Great Hero,
the Preacher of the Best Teaching,
like a blazing column of fire,
Honored by the monks’ Assembly.

Imperturbable as the sea,
hard to cross as is the ocean,
fearless as the king of the beasts,
the Eyeful One preaches Dhamma.”

Discerning what I was thinking,
the Buddha named for the lotus,
standing in the monks’ Assembly,
the Teacher spoke these verses then:

“This one who’s pressed hands together
and has praised me, the Best Buddha,
for thirty thousand aeons hence
he will exercise divine rule.

In one hundred thousand aeons
the one named for Angirasa,
the Sambuddha, with Blinders Off,
will come into existence then.

Worthy heir to that one’s Dhamma,
Dhamma’s legitimate offspring,
the one known as Sataraṁsi
will become an arahant then.”

Being only seven years old,
I went forth into homelessness.
I am known as Sataraṁsi;
my light purifies the whole world.

On a stage or beneath a tree
meditator, trance-lover,
I am bearing my last body
in the Supreme Buddha’s teaching.

Sixty thousand aeons ago
there were four men known as Roma.
They were wheel-turners with great strength
possessors of the seven gems.

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

Thus indeed Venerable Sataraṁsiya Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Sataraṁsika 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.

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Prepared for SuttaCentral by Ayya Vimala.