[67. Vatthadāyaka1]
I was born as a bird back then,
with good [strong] wings,2 a harpy-king.
I saw the Stainless Buddha go
on Gandhamādana [Mountain]. (1) [1393]
Shedding my harpy appearance,
I got dressed in human clothing.
One piece of cloth I gave to the
Lord of Bipeds, the Neutral One. (2) [1394]
Having taken that piece of cloth,
the Buddha, the World’s Top Leader,
the Teacher, standing in the sky
spoke these verses [about me then]: (3) [1395]
“Because of the gift of this cloth
and the resolve in [his own] heart,
abandoning the harpy womb
he’ll delight in the world of gods.” (4) [1396]
But Atthadassi, Blessed One,
the World’s Best One, the Bull of Men,
after praising the gift of cloth
[then] departed facing the north. (5) [1397]
When I’m reborn in existence
attainments of cloth befall me;
there’s a canopy in the sky:
that is the fruit of giving cloth. (6) [1398]
Seven men [named] Aruṇaka
were wheel-turners with great power.
In the thirty-fourth aeon [hence]
they were the lords over people. (7) [1399]
The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
[I have] done what the Buddha taught! (8) [1400]
Thus indeed Venerable Vatthadāyaka Thera spoke these verses.
The legend of Vatthadāyaka Thera is finished.