Tha Ap 491Dhammarucī

– Therāpadāna

– The Legends of the Theras

486. {489.} Dhammarucī

Walt 5193 When Dipaṅkara was Buddha,

the Victor said of Sumedha:

“Aeons beyond measure from now,

this one will become a Buddha. Verse 1

Walt 5194 The one named Māyā’s going to be

the birth-mother of this person ;

Suddhodhana the father’s name;

this one will be named Gotama. Verse 2

Walt 5195 Being one bent on exertion,

having practiced austerities,

the Sambuddha will awaken

Great Famed, at the Bodhi tree’s roots. Verse 3

Walt 5196 Upatissa and Kolita

will be the two chief followers;

the one whose name is Ānanda

will attend upon this Victor. Verse 4

Walt 5197 Khemā and Uppalavaṇṇā

will be chief female followers;

Citta and Ālavaka will

be the chief pious laymen. Verse 5

Walt 5198 Khujjuttarā, Nandamātā

will be chief pious laywomen;

the Bodhi tree of this Hero

is known as the Aśvattha tree.” Verse 6

Walt 5199 After having heard those words of

the Great Sage, the Unequaled One,

overjoyed, both gods and men, are

praising him , hands pressed together. Verse 7

Walt 5200-5201 At that time I was a young man,

well-educated, named Megha.

Having heard that best prophesy

for Sumedha, then a great sage,

cultivating confidence in

Sumedha, font of compassion,

when that hero renounced the world,

I renounced right along with him . Verse 8-9

Walt 5202 Restrained in the monastic rules,

and also in the five senses,

he lived pure, mindful, a hero,

doer of what the Victor taught. Verse 10

Walt 5203 While I was living in that way,

I strayed away from the good road,

urged into bad behavior by

a certain evil friend of mine . Verse 11

Walt 5204 Having been controlled by reason,

I fell from the dispensation;

afterward, by that bad friend, the

murder of my mother was schemed. Verse 12

Walt 5205 I did no-interval karma,

and I killed with an evil mind;

I fell from there right into hell,

born in a very cruel place . Verse 13

Walt 5206 Being gone to that woeful state,

I long transmigrated in pain,

not seeing the Hero again,

Sumedha, the Bull among Men. Verse 14

Walt 5207 In this aeon, in the ocean,

I was a timiṅgala fish.

Having seen a ship in the sea,

I approached it looking for food. Verse 15

Walt 5208 Seeing me, the traders, afraid,

remembered the Best of Buddhas;

I heard a huge sound shouted out,

“Gotama!” they cried in terror . Verse 16

Walt 5209 Recalling the past perception,

I passed away right on the spot.

I was reborn in Śrāvasti,

a brahmin in a high-ranked clan. Verse 17

Walt 5210 My name was Dhammarucī then ,

a loather of every evil.

Having seen the Lamp of the World,

being only seven years old, Verse 18

Walt 5211 I went to great Jetavana,

and went forth into homelessness.

I approach the Buddha three times

every night, also every day. Verse 19

Walt 5212 Seeing me , seeing me, the Sage

called me “long time Dhammarucī.”

After that I told the Buddha

how my past karma had progressed: Verse 20

Walt 5213 Very long, marked with hundreds of good deeds,

conditions then gradually purified.

Today I am looking closely indeed,

I am seeing your body without compare. Verse 21

Walt 5214 Very long, darkness is destroyed by it.

Through guarding purity, the stream has been cleansed.

Very long, now purified without fault,

is the eye made out of knowledge, O Great Sage. Verse 22

Walt 5215 A long time, now come together with you;

not destroyed, again the interval was long;

today, again come together with you,

O Gotama, deeds do not just disappear. Verse 23

Walt 5216 My defilements are now burnt up;

all new existence is destroyed.

Like elephants with broken chains,

I am living without constraint. Verse 24

Walt 5217 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 25

Walt 5218 The four analytical modes,

and these eight deliverances,

six special knowledges mastered,

I have done what the Buddha taught! Verse 26

Thus indeed Venerable Dhammarucī Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Dhammarucī Thera is finished.

Translated by Jonathan S. Walters .

Whitman College, 2017

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