Tha Ap 26Pañcasīlasamādāniya

– Therāpadāna

– The Legends of the Theras

24. Pañcasīlasamādāniya

Walt 948 In the city, Candavatī,

I was a servant-man back then.

Bound in the service of others

I could not renounce the world yet : Verse 1

Walt 949 “Being shrouded in great blindness

I’m being scorched by the three fires.

By what strategy might I then

be set free from this samsara ? Verse 2

Walt 950 I lack the things to be given;

I am a miserable servant.

Why then don’t I guard and fulfill

the five basic moral precepts? Verse 3

Walt 951 Nisabha is a follower

of the Sage, Anomadassi.

Having approached him I’ll adopt

the five moral training precepts.” Verse 4

Walt 952 In those days the normal lifespan

was full one hundred thousand years.

For all that time I did protect

the five moral precepts fully. Verse 5

Walt 953 When the time for my death arrived

the gods all then consoled me thus :

“Happy one, you will be served by

this one-thousand-horse chariot.” Verse 6

Walt 954 In my heart, as I breathed my last,

I recalled those five moral rules.

Through that karma which was done well

I went on to Tāvatiṁsa. Verse 7

Walt 955 Thirty times as the king of gods

I exercised divine rule there .

Anointed by celestial nymphs

I enjoyed much divine pleasure. Verse 8

Walt 956 Fully five hundred times I ruled

as a monarch who turns the wheel,

and I did have much local rule

innumerable by counting. Verse 9

Walt 957 Falling down from the world of gods,

incited by my wholesome roots,

I was born in a rich family

with a big house in Vesāli. Verse 10

Walt 958 When the rainy season started,

the Victor’s dispensation shined.

My mother and my father too

took on the five moral precepts. Verse 11

Walt 959 And I, hearing that word “moral”

recalled my past morality.

I sat down on a single seat

and attained my arahantship. Verse 12

Walt 960 Though I was only five years old

I attained my arahantship.

Knowing virtue the Eyeful One,

the Buddha then ordained me there . Verse 13

Walt 961 Having perfectly protected

those five basic moral precepts,

for aeons beyond measure I

went to no place of suffering. Verse 14

Walt 962 That I experienced great fame

due to those five moral precepts.

Talking for ten million aeons

I still could tell but part of it. Verse 15

Walt 963 Guarding the five moral precepts

I received the three good results:

I had long life, abundant food

and developed piercing wisdom. Verse 16

Walt 964 My outstanding human action

is now proclaimed to everyone.

Transmigrating from birth to birth

I obtain those three good results . Verse 17

Walt 965 If a pupil of the Victor

should thus delight throughout his lives

in the limitless moral rules,

what might his result then be like? Verse 18

Walt 966 The five precepts were practiced well

by me, a wise servant-man then .

Due to that moral discipline

today I’m freed from every bond. Verse 19

Walt 967 I guarded the five moral rules

uncountable aeons ago.

I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:

that’s the fruit of the five precepts. Verse 20

Walt 968 The four analytical modes,

and these eight deliverances,

six special knowledges mastered,

I have done what the Buddha taught! Verse 21

Thus indeed Venerable Pañcasīlasamādāniya Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Pañcasīlasamādāniya 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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