4. Anuruddha (THA-AP6)

I caught a glimpse of the World-Chief,
the Blessed One named Sumedha,
the World’s Best One, the Bull of Men,
while he was dwelling in solitude.

So I approached that Sambuddha,
Sumedha, the Chief of the World,
and holding up hands pressed together
I said to him, the Best Buddha:

“With your permission, Great Hero
o World’s Best One, O Bull of Men,
I shall light a lamp for you while
you meditate beneath that tree.”

That Wise One signaled his assent
the Self-Existent, Best Debater.
I then contrived a mechanism
by piercing through some tree trunks there.

I set afire a thousand wicks
for the Buddha, the World’s Kinsman.
For a week I kept them all lit
and then those lamps were extinguished.

Due to the pleasure in my heart
and that intention and resolve,
discarding my human body
I’m born in a divine mansion.

There was a pillar, well-proportioned
for me born in that divine state.
It blazed forth on every side then:
that is the fruit of giving lamps.

On every side for a whole league
I myself shined forth at that time.
I surpassed all the other gods:
that is the fruit of giving lamps.

For thirty aeons, king of gods
I exercised divine rule then.
No one at all neglected me:
that is the fruit of giving lamps.

And also eight and twenty times
I was a wheel-turning monarch.
Both day and night I could then see
an entire league surrounding me.

With knowledge of one thousand worlds,
I see in the dispensation.
The “divine eye” is now attained:
that is the fruit of giving lamps.

That Sambuddha named Sumedha
lived thirty thousand aeons hence.
To him a lamp was given by me
with a mind that was very clear.

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 Anuruddha Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Anuruddha 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

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