[513. {516.}[1] Ajjunapupphiya[2]]
On CChandabhāgā River’s bank,
I was a kinnara[3] back then.
I saw the Buddha, Stainless One,
the Self-Become, Unconquered One. (1) [5484]
Happy, with pleasure in [my] heart,
awe-struck,[4] with hands pressed together,
taking an arjuna[5] flower,
I worshipped[6] the Self-Become One. (2) [5485]
Due to that karma done very well,
with intention and [firm] resolve,
leaving my kinnara body,
I went to Tāvatiṃsa [then]. (3) [5486]
Thirty-four times the lord of gods,
I exercised divine rule [there].
And ten times a wheel-turning king,
I exercised overlordship.[7] (4) [5487]
[There was also] much local rule,
innumerable by counting.
[Like] a seed sown[8] in a good field
is mine in the Self-Become One. (5) [5488]
Wholesome [karma] exists for me;
I went forth into homelessness.
Today I’m worthy of homage
in the Buddha’s[9] dispensation. (6) [5489]
My defilements are [now] burnt up;
all [new] existence is destroyed.
Like elephants with broken chains,
I am living without constraint. (7) [5490]
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! (8) [5491]
The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
[I have] done what the Buddha taught! (9) [5492]
Thus indeed Venerable Ajjunapupphiya Thera spoke these verses.
The legend of Ajjunapupphiya 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. ↩︎
“Arjuna Flower-er” ↩︎
reading BJTS for the correct spelling for kiṇṇara (PTS). The kinnara (Sinh. kandura) has a human head and a horse’s body; “centaur”. ↩︎
vedajāto ↩︎
ajjuna (a.k.a. kakudha, Sinhala kumbuk gasa, kubuk, Terminalia arjuna) is an impressively large, shade-giving tree that thrives on the edges of tanks and lakes. ↩︎
lit., “did pūjā” ↩︎
mahārajjam, lit., “great sovereignty” or “maharajah-ship” ↩︎
reading vapitaṃ with BJTS for PTS va phītaŋ (“like opulent”) ↩︎
lit., “in the Śākyas’ Son’s” ↩︎