[178. Maṇipūjaka1]

A small Himalayan river
flowed smoothly [then] along [its] bank.2
Back then the Self-Become-One3 dwelt
in a field close to that [river]. (1) [2137]

With a pleased heart [and] happy mind,
I gave to the Buddha [right then]
a couch [made by] taking gemstones,
superb, delightful, [and] diverse. (2) [2138]

In the ninety-four aeons since
I offered those gemstones [to him],
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
that’s the fruit of Buddha-pūjā. (3) [2139]

And in the twelfth aeon ago
there were eight [different] kings [back then],
[all] were known as Sataraŋsi,4
wheel-turning monarchs with great strength. (4) [2140]

The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
[I have] done what the Buddha taught! (5) [2141]

Thus indeed Venerable Maṇipūjaka Thera spoke these Verses.

The legend of Maṇipūjaka Thera is finished.

  1. “Gem-Worshipper”.↩

  2. I follow the cty in this reading of the somewhat cryptic first two feet.↩

  3. The BJTS Sinhala gloss takes this to be Padumuttara, but the reference to ninety-four aeons in v. [2139] would suggest instead that it was Siddhattha.↩

  4. “Hundred-Rayed” or “Sun”↩