[215. Raŋsisaññaka1]

[I saw] the superb Tiger-Bull,
Well-Born-One, on a mountainside,
like the rising hundred-rayed [sun],
like the sun [when its] rays are cool.2 (1) [2339]

The majesty of the Buddha
was shining on the mountainside.
[My] heart pleased in the rays; for an
aeon I sported in heaven. (2) [2340]

In [all] the subsequent3 aeons,
goodness4 was completed by me
because of that mental pleasure,
and remembering the Buddha. (3) [2341]

In the thirty thousand aeons
since I obtained that perception,5
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
the fruit of Buddha-perception. (4) [2342]

In the fifty-seventh aeon
there was one lord of the people,
known by the name of Sujāta,6
a wheel-turning king with great strength. (5) [2343]

The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
[I have] done what the Buddha taught! (6) [2344]

Thus indeed Venerable Raŋsisaññaka Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Raŋsisaññaka Thera is finished.


  1. “Ray-Perceiver”

  2. vītaraṃsi/vītaraṃsa. RD says the metaphor is much attested, but unclear. I take it to refer to sunny days that are not oppressively hot, whether due to light cover, the time of day, or the time of year.

  3. lit., remaining, additional

  4. kusalaŋ

  5. lit., “since I obtained that perception at that time.” I have omitted the tadā to keep the meter.

  6. “Well-Born”