Tha Ap 116Ekāsaniya

– Therāpadāna

– The Legends of the Theras

114. Ekāsaniya

Walt 1707 Back then I was the king of gods,

known by the name of Varuṇa.

I attended the Sambuddha,

as his vehicle of power. Verse 1

Walt 1708 When Atthadassi, the Best Man,

Lord of the World, reached nirvana,

supplying all the turiyas ,

I went to the best Bodhi tree . Verse 2

Walt 1709 As though facing the Sambuddha

I attended on the best Bodhi,

with music and with dances too,

well-accompanied by cymbals. Verse 3

Walt 1710 After having served that Bodhi

tree growing up from the earth there ,

having eaten, with my legs crossed,

I passed away right on the spot. Verse 4

Walt 1711 Delighting in my own karma,

pleased in that superb Bodhi tree ,

due to that pleasure in my heart,

I have achieved nirvana now . Verse 5

Walt 1712 And sixty thousand instruments

are attending me all the time

as I move on from birth to birth

among humans and also gods. Verse 6

Walt 1713 The three fires are blown out in me;

all new existence is destroyed.

I am bearing my last body

in the Buddha’s dispensation. Verse 7

Walt 1714 In the five hundredth aeon hence

there were thirty-four kṣatriyans

all of whom were named Subahū,

possessors of the seven gems. Verse 8

Walt 1715 The four analytical modes,

and these eight deliverances,

six special knowledges mastered,

I have done what the Buddha taught! Verse 9

Thus indeed Venerable Ekāsaniya Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Ekāsaniya Thera is finished.

Translated by Jonathan S. Walters .

Whitman College, 2017

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