Tha Ap 238Vaṇṇakāraka

– Therāpadāna

– The Legends of the Theras

236. Vaṇṇakāraka

Walt 2446 In Aruṇavatī city

I was a dyer at that time.

With various colors I dyed

the cloth items on the stupa. Verse 1

Walt 2447 In the thirty-one aeons since

I dyed with colors at that time,

I’ve come to know no bad rebirth;

that’s the fruit of giving colors. Verse 2

Walt 2448 In the twenty-third aeon hence

I was one named Candupama,

a wheel-turning king with great strength,

possessor of the seven gems. Verse 3

Walt 2449 The four analytical modes,

and these eight deliverances,

six special knowledges mastered,

I have done what the Buddha taught! Verse 4

Thus indeed Venerable Vaṇṇakāraka Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Vaṇṇakāraka 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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