Tha Ap 22Sumaṅgala

– Therāpadāna

– The Legends of the Theras

20. Sumaṅgala

Walt 796 Wishing to make a sacrifice

I had a meal prepared back then

and stood in a large mālaka

venerating the brahmins there . Verse 1

Walt 797 And then I saw the Sambuddha,

Piyadassi, Greatly Famed One,

who was the Tamer of All Worlds,

the Self-Become, the Neutral One. Verse 2

Walt 798 Standing before his followers

that Blessed One, really shining,

was blazing forth just like the sun

when entering its chariot. Verse 3

Walt 799 Pressing my hands together then

and bringing my own heart pleasure,

I invited him with my mind:

“Let the Great Sage come to me now .” Verse 4

Walt 800 Discerning what I was thinking,

he who was Peerless in the World,

Teacher, with a thousand arahants

came right up to my doorway then . Verse 5

Walt 801 “Praise to you, O Well-Bred Person!

Praise to you, Ultimate Person!

Ascending into my palace

please sit upon the lion-throne.” Verse 6

Walt 802 The Tame One, with Tamed Retinue,

Crossed Over, the Best Ferryman

ascending into my palace

sat down upon that seat superb. Verse 7

Walt 803 Foodstuffs which had been presented

that still remained in my own house

I then gifted to the Buddha

feeling well- pleased by my own hands. Verse 8

Walt 804 With a pleased heart and happy mind,

joyful, with hands pressed together,

I worshipped the Best of Buddhas:

“O! The Buddha’s great eminence! Verse 9

Walt 805 Many arahants are among these

nobles being served and eating.

That is your majestic power;

I too go for refuge in you.” Verse 10

Walt 806 Piyadassi the Blessed One

the World’s Best One, the Bull of Men,

sat down in the monks’ Assembly

and uttered these verses aloud : Verse 11

Walt 807 Of he who fed the Assembly

which is upright and attentive

and the Sambuddha, Thus-Gone-One,

all of you listen to my words: Verse 12

Walt 808 Twenty-seven times a god-king

he will exercise divine rule.

With pleasure in his own karma

he’ll delight in the world of gods. Verse 13

Walt 809 And also eighteen times he’ll be

a king who turns the wheel of law .

He will reside upon the earth

and have five hundred earthly reigns.” Verse 14

Walt 810 Plunged into the woods, the forest,

a tiger-frequented jungle,

having put forth great exertion

I destroyed all the defilements. Verse 15

Walt 811 In the eighteen hundred aeons

since I gave him that gift back then,

I’ve come to know no bad rebirth;

that is the fruit of giving food. Verse 16

Walt 812 The four analytical modes,

and these eight deliverances,

six special knowledges mastered,

I have done what the Buddha taught! Verse 17

Thus indeed Venerable Sumaṅgala Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Sumaṅgala Thera is finished.

The Summary:

Sīhāsani and Ekatthambhi,

Nanda and Culla-Panthaka,

Pilinda and also Rāhula,

Vangata, Raṭṭhapālaka,

Sopāka and also Maṅgala,

ten are in the second chapter

and a hundred and thirty-seven

verses are related here.

The Sīhāsani Chapter, the Second.

Translated by Jonathan S. Walters .

Whitman College, 2017

Legends of the Buddhist Saints (Apadāna) is released under the Attribution, Non-Commercial, Share Alike license.

This is the first-ever complete translation of Apadāna into a Western language.

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