[44. Sannidhāpaka[1]]

Building a hut in the forest,
I dwelt upon a mountain [then],
I was happy to get, or not,
in glory as in dishonor.[2] (1) [1184]

Padumuttara, World-Knower,
Sacrificial Recipient,
with a hundred thousand masters[3]
came into my presence [back then]. (2) [1185]

Laying out a mat made of grass
for the one named for the lotus,
the Great Hero, who had arrived,
[and] I gave [it] to [him,] the Teacher. (3) [1186]

Happy, and with a happy heart,
with a mind that was very clear,
I provided [both] food[4] and drink
to him, the Upright [Sambuddha]. (4) [1187]

In the hundred thousand aeons
since I gave [him] that gift back then,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
that’s the fruit of castor oil fruit.[5] (5) [1188]

In the forty-first aeon hence
I was known as Arindama,[6]
a wheel-turning king with great strength,
possessor of the seven gems. (6) [1189][7]

The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
[I have] done what the Buddha taught! (7) [1190]

Thus indeed Venerable Sannidhāpaka[8] Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Sannidhāpaka[9] Thera is finished.


  1. “Putter-Down;” BJTS, cty read Sanniṭṭhāpaka, “Readier” “Preparer” ↩︎

  2. yasena ayasena ccha, lit., "with glory as with dishonor” ↩︎

  3. lit “with a hundred thousand who had the power to subdue others (vasī),” namely arahants ↩︎

  4. āmaṇḍaṃ, which PSI defines as “a kind of plant, Palma Christi,” Sinhala eraṇḍu. The latter (also ēraṇḍu, Pāli eraṇḍa) = datti, croton, i.e., (see Cone, s.v.) the castor oil plant (Ricinus communis, the seeds of which are used to make an oil). BJTS gloss on this verse gives kaekiri, which is something like a cucumber (genera Cucumis), which I suspect is wrong, but the main point is clear, that the hermit gave the Buddha something to eat, presumably whatever fruit he himself was used to eating. ↩︎

  5. see previous note; some kind of food, BJTS gloss is käkiri ↩︎

  6. “Enemy-Tamer” ↩︎

  7. text misreads as [1789] ↩︎

  8. BJTS reads Sanniṭṭhāpaka ↩︎

  9. BJTS reads Sanniṭṭhāpaka ↩︎