[242. Nāgakesariya1]

Gathering both ends of a bow,2
I entered into the forest.
I saw a small lake gathered3 [there],
very clean4 and full of flowers.5 (1) [2465]

Plucking [one] with both of my hands
and saluting on my forehead,6
I [then] offered [it] to Tissa,
the Buddha, Kinsman of the World. (2) [2466]

In the ninety-two aeons since
I did pūjā [with] that flower,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
that’s the fruit of Buddha-pūjā. (3) [2467]

In the seventy-seventh aeon,
[I was] named Pamokkharaṇa,7
a wheel-turning king with great strength,
possessor of the seven gems. (4) [2468]

The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
[I have] done what the Buddha taught! (5) [2469]

Thus indeed Venerable Nāgakesariya Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Nāgakesariya Thera is finished.

  1. “Ironwood Lake-er” (?); nāga = elephant, cobra, ironwood tree + kesara = small lake↩

  2. lit., “Having made a bow not two-fold.” The meaning seems to be, “having strung a bow”. The cty. explains that he did this “for the sake of killing deer, etc.”↩

  3. PTS reads osaraŋ, BJTS and cty read osaṭaṃ; both terms mean “gathered” but it is not clear to me in what sense that term is used; the implication could be that many flowers were gathered together in that lake, or perhaps that many streams were gathered together to form it.↩

  4. sabbamaṭaŋ. BJTS reads satapattaṃ, “a lotus”.↩

  5. supupphitaŋ, lit., “well in bloom.” BJTS reads samuṭṭhitaṃ, “risen up,” and the gloss understands him to have seen a lotus flower which had risen up to the surface of the water in the small lake. Cty does not comment on the fourth foot. I have followed PTS here.↩

  6. lit., “doing añjali on my head.” He holds the flower in his hands, pressed together on his forehead in salutation/as a form of worship.↩

  7. “Released Lust” = pamokkha + raṇa↩