[182. Bandhujīvaka1]
The Sambuddha named Siddhattha,
Self-Become, praised by good people,2
having entered concentration,3
sat down upon a mountain [then]. (1) [2157]
Searching in a natural lake
for a superb lotus flower,
I saw bandhujīvaka blooms
in the nearby vicinity. (2) [2158]
Picking [them] up with both [my] hands,
I [then] approached the Sage So Great.
Happy, with pleasure in [my] heart,
I offered [them] to Siddhattha. (3) [2159]
In the ninety-four aeons since
I offered [those] flower[s] [to him],
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
that’s the fruit of flower-pūjā. (4) [2160]
In the fourteenth aeon ago,
there was one ruler of people
whose name was Samuddakappa,4
a wheel-turning king with great power. (5) [2161]
The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
[I have] done what the Buddha taught! (6) [2162]
Thus indeed Venerable Bandhujīvaka Thera spoke these verses.
The legend of Bandhujīvaka Thera is finished.
the name of a flower, Sinhala banduvada, Latin pentapetes phoenicea aka midday flower, noon flower, scarlet pentapetes, scarlet mallow, copper cups, scarlet phoenecian, any of which could appropriately translate the protagonist’s name↩
I follow BJTS Sinhala gloss in taking sabhi as satpuruṣayen↩
samādhiṃ so samāpanno↩
“Ocean-Aeon”.↩