[44. Sannidhāpaka1]

Building a hut in the forest,
I dwelt upon a mountain [then],
I was happy to get, or not,
in glory as in dishonor.2 (1) [1184]

Padumuttara, World-Knower,
Sacrificial Recipient,
with a hundred thousand masters3
came into my presence [back then]. (2) [1185]

Laying out a mat made of grass
for the one named for the lotus,
the Great Hero, who had arrived,
[and] I gave [it] to [him,] the Teacher. (3) [1186]

Happy, and with a happy heart,
with a mind that was very clear,
I provided [both] food4 and drink
to him, the Upright [Sambuddha]. (4) [1187]

In the hundred thousand aeons
since I gave [him] that gift back then,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
that’s the fruit of castor oil fruit.5 (5) [1188]

In the forty-first aeon hence
I was known as Arindama,6
a wheel-turning king with great strength,
possessor of the seven gems. (6) [1189]7

The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
[I have] done what the Buddha taught! (7) [1190]

Thus indeed Venerable Sannidhāpaka8 Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Sannidhāpaka9 Thera is finished.


  1. “Putter-Down;” BJTS, cty read Sanniṭṭhāpaka, “Readier” “Preparer”

  2. yasena ayasena ccha, lit., “with glory as with dishonor”

  3. lit “with a hundred thousand who had the power to subdue others (vasī),” namely arahants

  4. āmaṇḍaṃ, which PSI defines as “a kind of plant, Palma Christi,” Sinhala eraṇḍu. The latter (also ēraṇḍu, Pāli eraṇḍa) = datti, croton, i.e., (see Cone, s.v.) the castor oil plant (Ricinus communis, the seeds of which are used to make an oil). BJTS gloss on this verse gives kaekiri, which is something like a cucumber (genera Cucumis), which I suspect is wrong, but the main point is clear, that the hermit gave the Buddha something to eat, presumably whatever fruit he himself was used to eating.

  5. see previous note; some kind of food, BJTS gloss is käkiri

  6. “Enemy-Tamer”

  7. text misreads as [1789]

  8. BJTS reads Sanniṭṭhāpaka

  9. BJTS reads Sanniṭṭhāpaka