68. Ambadāyaka (THA-AP70)

Anomadassi, Blessed One,
while sitting on a mountain did
spread this endless world with loving-
kindness, the One Without Desires.

I was a monkey at that time
in the supreme Himalayas.
Having seen Anoma, Boundless,
my heart was pleased in the Buddha.

In the Himalayan region
mango trees were bearing fruit then.
Therefore, taking a mango fruit
I gave it, with a honey-comb.

Anomadassi, the Great Sage,
Buddha prophesied this to me:
“because of both this honey-gift
and too this gift of mango fruit,

you’ll delight in the world of gods
for fifty-seven aeons hence.
You will transmigrate in a mix
for all the remaining aeons.

Having cast off evil karma
and with mature intelligence,
departing from this place of grief
you will destroy your defilements.”

I’ve been tamed by the Sage So Great
by means of the superb taming.
I’ve attained the unshaking state
beyond all conquest and defeat.

Seventy-seven aeons hence
there were fourteen different kings then
who were all named Ambaṭṭhaja
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 Ambadāyaka Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Ambadāyaka 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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