[512. {515.}1 Nāgapupphiya2]
I gave an ironwood3 flower
to the Gold-Colored Sambuddha,
Sacrificial Recipient,
who had entered onto the road. (1) [5479]
In the ninety-one aeons since
I gave [him] that flower back then,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
that is the fruit of giving fruit. (2) [5480]
My defilements are [now] burnt up;
all [new] existence is destroyed.
Like elephants with broken chains,
I am living without constraint. (3) [5481]
Being in Best Buddha’s presence
was a very good thing for me.
The three knowledges are attained;
[I have] done what the Buddha taught! (4) [5482]
The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
[I have] done what the Buddha taught! (5) [5483]
Thus indeed Venerable Nāgapupphiya Thera spoke these verses.
The legend of Nāgapupphiya 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.↩
“Ironwood Flower-er” For a different apadāna ascribed to a monk of the same name, see #158, above.↩
nāga = Sinhala nā, ironwood, Mesua Ferrea Linn, Bodhi tree of Mangala, Sumana, Revata, Sobhita buddhas; national tree of Sri Lanka. It has brilliant, fragrant white flowers containing four petals each, as well as a red fruit eaten by birds.↩