[369. {372.}1 Pāṭalipupphiya2]
The Blessed One named Vipassi,
the Self-Become One, Chief Person,
the Sun, the Victor, entered then,
surrounded by [all] his students. (1) [3225]
Three [fresh] pāṭali3 flowers were
placed [there] in my lap [at that time].
Wishing to bathe my head I went
to the river[side] bathing place.4 (2) [3226]
Going out from Bandhumatī,
I saw the Leader of the World,
bright like a blue water lily,5
blazing up like a fire-altar,
excellent as a tiger bull,
like a lion of good breeding,
traveling in front of the monks,
honored by the monks’ Assembly. (3-4) [3227-3228]
Pleased in him, the Well-Gone [Buddha],
Cleansing the Stain of Defilement,6
taking [those] three flowers I
did pūjā to the Best Buddha. (5) [3229]
In the ninety-one aeons since
I did pūjā [with] that flower,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
that’s the fruit of Buddha-pūjā. (6) [3230]
The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
[I have] done what the Buddha taught! (7) [3231]
Thus indeed Venerable Pāṭalipupphiya Thera spoke these verses.
The legend of Pāṭalipupphiya Thera is finished.
Apadāna numbers provided in {fancy brackets} correspond to the BJTS edition, which contains more individual poems than does the PTS edition dictating the main numbering of this translation.↩
“Trumpet-Flower-er.”↩
Pāṭali is Sinh. paḷol, Bignonia suaveolens, sterospermum suaveolens (Bignon.), trumpet-flower tree, the Bodhi Tree of Vipassi Buddha. Cf. #71, #78, #96, #248, #255.↩
nadītittha, the “ford” (Sinh. toṭupola, maṅkaḍa) fashioned for easy descent into the water to bathe.↩
indīvara, Cassia fistula↩
kilesamaladhovana↩