Tha Ap 551Vanavaccha

– Therāpadāna

– The Legends of the Theras

546. {549.} Vanavaccha

Walt 6273 In this present lucky aeon

Brahmā’s Kinsman, Greatly Famed One,

known by the name of Kassapa,

Best Debater, Buddha, arose. Verse 1

Walt 6274 Then I, after having gone forth

in the Buddha’s dispensation,

wandering in the holy life

as long as I lived, fell from there. Verse 2

Walt 6275 Due to that karma done very well,

with intention and firm resolve,

discarding my human body,

I went to Tāvatiṁsa then . Verse 3

Walt 6276-6277 Fallen from there, in a forest,

I was then born as a pigeon.

A Buddhist monk was living there,

always delighting in trances,

loving-hearted, compassionate,

with a face always greatly pleased,

even-minded, a great hero,

learned in the four boundless states . Verse 4-5

Walt 6278 In not a long time I trusted

that follower of the Buddha,

whose thoughts were without obstructions,

friendly toward all living beings. Verse 6

Walt 6279 Then whenever I approached him,

every day he preached the Dhamma ,

and gave a little of his food

to me, seated before his feet. Verse 7

Walt 6280 After living like that back then,

with great love for the Victor’s son,

having died I went to heaven,

like home after being abroad. Verse 8

Walt 6281 Fallen from heaven I’m reborn

as human due to good karma.

Throwing away life in the house,

I then went forth repeatedly. Verse 9

Walt 6282 As monk, ascetic or brahmin,

I was thus one who had gone forth,

becoming a forest-dweller

in various hundreds of lives . Verse 10

Walt 6283 And now in my final rebirth,

a brahmin named Vacchagotta

in lovely Kapilavastu,

I set forth along with my wife. Verse 11

Walt 6284 My mother’s pregnancy craving

when she was close to giving birth,

resolved her to live in the woods,

when I had come out of her womb. Verse 12

Walt 6285 My mother then gave birth to me

within a beautiful forest.

As I departed from her womb,

they swaddled me in saffron cloth . Verse 13

Walt 6286 After that Prince Siddhartha was

born, Banner of the Śākyan Clan.

I became his beloved friend,

held in confidence and honored. Verse 14

Walt 6287 When Beings’ Hardwood departed,

renouncing all of his vast fame,

after having gone forth as well,

I went to the Himalayas. Verse 15

Walt 6288 Seeing respected Kassapa,

preacher of rigor, in the woods,

hearing the Victor’d arisen,

I approached the Coachman of Men. Verse 16

Walt 6289 He then preached the Dhamma to me,

with all of the meanings explained.

Then, going forth under Buddha,

I went to the forest again. Verse 17

Walt 6290 Zealously living there I then

learned the six special knowledges.

O! I have obtained a good gain,

being pitied by my good friend. Verse 18

Walt 6291 My defilements are now burnt up;

all new existence is destroyed.

Like elephants with broken chains,

I am living without constraint. Verse 19

Walt 6292 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 6293 The four analytical modes,

and these eight deliverances,

six special knowledges mastered,

I have done what the Buddha taught! Verse 21

Thus indeed Venerable Vanavaccha Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Vanavaccha Thera is finished.

Translated by Jonathan S. Walters .

Whitman College, 2017

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