[155. Mandāravapūjaka1]
Having been the son of a god,
I worshipped2 Sikhi, the Leader
with mandārava blossoms [which]
I offered to the Buddha [then]. (1) [2017]
That divine garland covered the
Thus-Gone-One for an entire week.
All the people assembled [there,]
venerating the Thus-Gone-One. (2) [2018]
In the thirty-one aeons since
I did that flower-pūjā [then],
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
that’s the fruit of Buddha-pūjā. (3) [2019]
And in the tenth aeon ago
I was the king, Jutindara,3
a wheel-turner with great power,
possessor of the seven gems. (4) [2020]
The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
[I have] done what the Buddha taught! (5) [2021]
Thus indeed Venerable Mandāravapūjaka Thera spoke these verses.
The legend of Mandāravapūjaka Thera is finished.
“Mandārava-Flower Offerer.” Mandārava (skt. mandāra) is the coral tree, Erhythrina fulgens (RD Erythmia Indica), also one of the five celestial trees whose flowers fall from the world of the gods. In this context the reference seems to be to the divine, rather than the earthly mandārava, so I leave the term untranslated, rather than give “Coral Tree-Flower Offerer”↩
lit., “did pūjā for”.↩
“Effulgent One”↩