Tha Ap 231Sukatāveḷiya

– Therāpadāna

– The Legends of the Theras

229. Sukatāveḷiya

Walt 2415 Back then I was named Asita,

and I was a garland-maker.

Picking up a flower-garland,

I went to give it to the king. Verse 1

Walt 2416 Not having yet met with the king,

I saw the Leader, Sikhi.

Happy, and with a happy heart,

I offered it to the Buddha. Verse 2

Walt 2417 In the thirty-one aeons since

I did pūjā with that flower,

I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:

that’s the fruit of Buddha- pūjā . Verse 3

Walt 2418 In the twenty-fifth aeon hence

I was a king who had great strength,

known by the name of Dvebhāra,

a wheel-turning king with great strength. Verse 4

Walt 2419 The four analytical modes,

and these eight deliverances,

six special knowledges mastered,

I have done what the Buddha taught! Verse 5

Thus indeed Venerable Sukatāveḷiya Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Sukatāveḷiya Thera is finished.

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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