Tha Ap 420Yāgudāyaka

– Therāpadāna

– The Legends of the Theras

415. {418.} Yāgudāyaka

Walt 4416 Taking someone unknown to me,

I went to a village back then.

Seeing a very full river,

I approached a monastery. Verse 1

Walt 4417 Forest-dwellers, punctilious,

meditators, clad in coarse robes,

wise, lovers of seclusion, were

living in that monastery. Verse 2

Walt 4418 Their destinies had been cut off,

well-liberated, neutral ones;

they did not go begging for alms

if the river obstructed them . Verse 3

Walt 4419 Happy, with pleasure in my heart,

awe-struck, with hands pressed together,

taking some rice-grain that I had,

I made a gruel-donation then . Verse 4

Walt 4420 Giving gruel to those monks five times,

feeling well- pleased by my own hands,

satisfied with my own karma,

I went to Tāvatiṁsa then. Verse 5

Walt 4421 A mansion made of gems was born

for me in the group of thirty.

I joyed with a group of women

in that superb mansion of mine . Verse 6

Walt 4422 Thirty-three times the lord of gods,

I exercised divine rule there .

Thirty times a wheel-turning king,

I exercised overlordship. Verse 7

Walt 4423 There was also much local rule,

innumerable by counting.

In the world of gods or humans,

I always enjoyed great fame. Verse 8

Walt 4424 When my last rebirth was attained,

I went forth into homelessness.

As soon as my hair was cut off,

I realized complete success. Verse 9

Walt 4425 Due to decay, due to old age,

contemplating this corpse of mine ,

before the training rules were taught,

I attained my arahantship. Verse 10

Walt 4426 Well-given was my superb gift;

my trade was very well-applied.

Because of that very gruel-gift,

I’ve attained the unshaking state. Verse 11

Walt 4427 I have no experience of

sorrow and wailing and illness,

nor distress that torments the mind:

that is the fruit of giving gruel. Verse 12

Walt 4428 O! that gruel was very well spent!

Giving the monks’ Assembly gruel,

in the unsurpassed merit-field,

I enjoy these five good results: Verse 13

Walt 4429 I don’t get ill, I’m beautiful,

the Teaching quickly is observed,

I receive lots of food and drink,

and my long lifespan is the fifth. Verse 14

Walt 4430 Whoever struck by awe would give

gruel to the Assembly of monks,

that wise person would also get

these five most welcome benefits. Verse 15

What should be done has all been done;

I have put an end to rebirths.

All defilements are exhausted;

now there will be no more rebirth. Verse 16

I am wandering from village

to village, city to city,

extolling him , the Sambuddha,

and Buddha’s virtuous Teaching. Verse 17

Walt 4431 In the thirty thousand aeons

since I gave that gift at that time,

I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:

that is the fruit of giving gruel. Verse 18

Walt 4432 My defilements are now burnt up;

all new existence is destroyed.

Like elephants with broken chains,

I am living without constraint. Verse 19

Walt 4433 Being in Best Buddha’s presence

was a very good thing for me.

The three knowledges are attained;

I have done what the Buddha taught! Verse 20

Walt 4434 The four analytical modes,

and these eight deliverances,

six special knowledges mastered,

I have done what the Buddha taught! Verse 21

Thus indeed Venerable Yāgudāyaka Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Yāgudāyaka 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.

For more information, visit apadanatranslation.org