[124. Gandhodakiya1]
Sitting in [my] superb palace,
I saw the Victor, Vipassi,
splendid like an arjuna tree,2
the Omniscient One, Undefiled. (1) [1800]
As the World-Leader went across3
the area near the palace,
his aura spread out [everywhere]
as though [that light came from] the sun.4 (2) [1801]
Taking up [some] perfumed water
I sprinkled the Best Buddha [then],
[and] with that pleasure in [my] heart,
I passed away [right] on the spot. (3) [1802]
In the ninety-one aeons since
I sprinkled that perfumed water,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
that’s the fruit of Buddha-pūjā. (4) [1803]
In the thirty-first aeon hence
the Kṣatriyan named Sugandha,5
was a wheel-turner with great strength,
possessor of the seven gems. (5) [1804]
The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
[I have] done what the Buddha taught! (6) [1805]
Thus indeed Venerable Gandhodakiya Thera spoke these verses.
The legend of Gandhodakiya Thera is finished.
“Perfumed Water-er”↩
kakudha (a.k.a. ajjuṇa, Sinhala kumbuk gasa, kubuk, Terminalia arjuna) is an impressively large, shade-giving tree that thrives on the edges of tanks and lakes.↩
lit., “went”↩
reading tassa yathā sataraṃsito with BJTS for PTS sataraṃsimhi nibbute (“[as though” when the sun went out”).↩
“Good Scent”↩