12. Salalapupphikā (THI-AP12)

On Candabhāgā River’s bank,
I was a kinnarī back then.
And then I saw the God of Gods,
Bull of Men, walking back and forth.

Plucking a salala flower,
I gave it to the Best Buddha.
And then the Great Hero did sniff
the salala with divine scent.

Accepting it the Sambuddha,
Vipassi, Leader of the World,
Great Hero then sniffed it again
for me while I was watching him.

Pressing my hands together then,
I worshipped the Best of Bipeds.
Bringing pleasure to my own heart,
I then ascended the mountain.

In the ninety-one aeons since
I gave him that flower back then,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
that’s the fruit of Buddha-pūjā.

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 Bhikkhunī Salalapupphikā spoke these verses.

The legend of Salalapupphikā Therī 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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