[217. Tālavaṇṭadāyaka1]

I gave a palmyra2-frond fan
to Tissa, Kinsman of the Sun,
to quench [him] in the summer heat,
[and] soothe the burning [of the sun]. (1) [2349]

I am quenching the fire of lust,
[and] the fire of hatred as well;
I am quenching delusion’s fire:
that’s the fruit of [giving] a fan. (2) [2350]

My defilements are [all] burnt up,
every existence is canceled.
I [now] possess my last body
in the Buddha’s3 dispensation. (3) [2351]

In the ninety-two aeons since
I did that [good] karma back then,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
that’s the fruit of Buddha-pūjā. (4) [2352]

In the sixty-third aeon hence
there was [one] named Mahārāma,4
a wheel-turning king with great strength,
possessor of the seven gems. (5) [2353]

The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
[I have] done what the Buddha taught! (6) [2354]

Thus indeed Venerable Tālavaṇṭadāyaka Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Tālavaṇṭadāyaka Thera is finished.


  1. “Palmyra-frond Fan Donor”

  2. The palmyra (tāla, Sinh. tal) tree or fan palm is Borassus flabelliformis

  3. lit., “Great Perfected Buddha’s”

  4. “Big Pleasure Garden” or “Big Monastic Residence”