Tha Ap 555Gayā-Kassapa

– Therāpadāna

– The Legends of the Theras

553. Gayā-Kassapa

Walt 6365 I was dressed in deer-leather then ,

wearing a heavy shoulder-yoke.

Carrying a khāri load, I

brought jujubes to the ashram.

Walt 6366 The Blessed One in that era

was alone with nobody else.

He then approached my hermitage,

shining brightly all of the time.

Walt 6367 Bringing pleasure to my own heart,

worshipping the Compliant One,

taking them with both of my hands

I gave the Buddha jujubes.

Walt 6368 In the thirty-one aeons since

I gave that fruit to him back then,

I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:

the fruit of giving jujubes.

Walt 6369 My defilements are now burnt up;

all new existence is destroyed.

Like elephants with broken chains,

I am living without constraint.

Walt 6370 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!

Walt 6371 The four analytical modes,

and these eight deliverances,

six special knowledges mastered,

I have done what the Buddha taught!

Thus indeed Venerable Gayā-Kassapa Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Gayā-Kassapa Thera, the third.

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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