Tha Ap 341Dhammasavaniya

– Therāpadāna

– The Legends of the Theras

336. {339.} Dhammasavaniya

Walt 3042 The Victor, Padumuttara,

was the Master of Everything.

While preaching the Four Noble Truths,

he ferried many folks across. Verse 1

Walt 3043 A matted-haired ascetic then,

I practiced fierce austerities.

Throwing off my clothes made of bark,

I traveled in the sky back then. Verse 2

Walt 3044 Then I was unable to fly

over him , the Best of Buddhas.

Like a bird hitting a mountain,

I did not get to journey on. Verse 3

Walt 3045 My movement had not formerly

been obstructed in such a way;

as though rising up from water,

I easily flew through the sky. Verse 4

Walt 3046 “A lofty human being must

be sitting underneath me now .

It’s good for me to search for him;

I might obtain something worthwhile.” Verse 5

Walt 3047 Then descending from the sky, I

heard the sound of the Teacher,

who was preaching impermanence;

I learned that lesson at that time. Verse 6

Walt 3048 Learning to see impermanence

I went back to my hermitage.

Dwelling there the rest of my life,

I passed away right on the spot. Verse 7

Walt 3049 In my subsequent existence,

I recalled hearing that Teaching.

Due to that karma done very well,

I went to Tāvatiṁsa then . Verse 8

Walt 3050 For thirty thousand aeons I

delighted in the world of gods.

And I exercised divine rule,

one more than fifty different times. Verse 9

Walt 3051 And seventy-one different times

I was a wheel-turning monarch.

There was also much local rule,

innumerable by counting. Verse 10

Walt 3052 Then seated in my father’s house,

a monk with senses well- controlled,

illustrating the truth in verse,

spoke of things as impermanent. Verse 11

Walt 3053 Remembering that perception,

transmigrating from birth to birth,

I still did not perceive the end,

nirvana, everlasting state. Verse 12

Walt 3054 “In flux indeed is all that is;

things come to be and then decay.

They arise and then they dissolve;

their cessation is happiness.” Verse 13

Walt 3055 After hearing him say that verse,

I recalled my past perception.

Seated in a single sitting,

I achieved the arahant-state. Verse 14

Walt 3056 Being only seven years old,

I attained my arahantship.

Recognizing my virtue the

Buddha, Eyeful One ordained me. Verse 15

Walt 3057 Even though I was a mere boy,

I finished what needs to be done.

Today what do I need to do

in the Śākyan’s dispensation? Verse 16

Walt 3058 In the hundred thousand aeons

since I did that good karma then,

I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:

the fruit in hearing the Teaching. Verse 17

Walt 3059 The four analytical modes,

and these eight deliverances,

six special knowledges mastered,

I have done what the Buddha taught! Verse 18

Thus indeed Venerable Dhammasavaniya Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Dhammasavaniya Thera is finished.

Translated by Jonathan S. Walters .

Whitman College, 2017

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