[282. Phaladāyaka1]

Rising up from meditation,2
[the Buddha]3 approached me for alms.
Same as the cosmic mountain,4 he
was like the bearer of the earth.5 (1) [2627]

Myrobalan6 [and] gooseberry,7
mango,8 rose-apple,9 bahera,10
jujube,11 markingnut,12 bel,13
and the fruits of phārusaka14 —
all of that was given by me,
with a mind that was very clear,
to Siddhattha [Buddha], Great Sage,
the Pitier of Every World.15 (2-3) [2628-2629]

In the ninety-four aeons since
I gave that fruit [to him] back then,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
that is the fruit of giving fruit. (4) [2630]

In the fifty-seventh aeon
hence [lived] a ruler,16 Ekajjha,17
a wheel-turning king with great strength,
possessor of the seven gems. (5) [2631]

The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
[I have] done what the Buddha taught! (6) [2632]

Thus indeed Venerable Phaladāyaka Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Phaladāyaka Thera is finished.

  1. “Fruit-Donor”. cf. #87, #127, #140, #305 (more? xxx)↩

  2. lit., “from samādhi”↩

  3. Suddhattha Buddha, as becomes clear in v. 3, and is confirmed by the dating of ninety-four aeons ago in v. 4.↩

  4. Sineru, Mt. Meru↩

  5. this extends the prior simile: “being the same as Mt. Meru” implies that he “upholds the earth,” a quality of the cosmic mountain.↩

  6. Sinh. araḷu, myrobalan, black- or chebulic myrobalan; Terminalia chebula. The list of fruits in this verse closely parallels that in TherAp #1, v. 33 [BJTS 168] above, but there the focus is on their flowers, not their fruits.↩

  7. Sinh. nelli, emblic myrobalan, Indian gooseberry, a.k.a. Malacca tree, or amla; Phyllanthus emblica↩

  8. amba, Magnifera indica↩

  9. Sinh. damba, jambu, Syzygium samarangense↩

  10. vibhīṭaka, Sinh. buḷu, Terminalia bellirica (sic bellerica), beleric myrobalan or bastard myrobalan. Together with myroblan proper (araḷu) and Indian gooseberry (nelli), bahera is one of the three myroblans upon which many Ayurvedic and Sinhala medicines are based; the dried nuts are typically pounded into powder which is then used in oils and other decoctions. Here, on the contrary, the reference is likely to the fresh fruit of these trees, which is also used in medicines and eaten (especially gooseberry).↩

  11. kola, Sinh. debara phala, Ziziphus Mauritania, Zyzyphus Jujuba, Indian jujube or Chinese apple.↩

  12. bhallī, badulla = semecarpus anacardium, Sinh. badulu↩

  13. billaŋ = Aegle marmelos, Sinh. beli geḍiya, bael, bel, Bengal quince; bilva or vilva tree; also billā, beluvā↩

  14. Sinh. boraḷu damanu, a species of Eugenia.↩

  15. sabbalokānukampito↩

  16. kṣatriyan↩

  17. “Together” (taking it fr. ekajjhaṃ)↩