Tha Ap 60Dhajadāyaka

– Therāpadāna

– The Legends of the Theras

58. Dhajadāyaka

Walt 1314 Happy, and with a happy heart

I hoisted up a flag back then

at the stupendous Bodhi Tree

of Padumuttara Buddha. Verse 1

Walt 1315 Having picked up the fallen leaves

I threw them all away outside.

As though facing the Sambuddha,

the Fully Free One, Undefiled,

I worshipped the superb Bodhi,

clean inside and clean outside too . Verse 2

Walt 1316 Padumuttara, World-Knower,

Sacrificial Recipient,

standing in the monks’ Assembly

the Teacher spoke these verses then : Verse 3

Walt 1317-1318a-b “Because of both this service and

this donation of a flag here,

for one hundred thousand aeons

he will go to no bad rebirth.

Among the gods he will enjoy

abundant divine happiness. Verse 4

Walt 1318c-f And various hundreds of times,

he’ll be king of a country.

He will be a wheel-turning king;

his name will then be Uggata. Verse 5

Walt 1319 Having enjoyed this happiness,

incited by his wholesome roots,

he will delight in the Teaching

of Gotama the Blessed One.” Verse 6

Walt 1320 I am one bent on exertion,

calmed, devoid of grounds for rebirth;

I am bearing my last body

in the Supreme Buddha’s teaching. Verse 7

Walt 1321 Fifty-one thousand aeons hence

I was known as King Uggata.

Fifty thousand aeons ago

I was the king known as Megha. Verse 8

Walt 1322 The four analytical modes,

and these eight deliverances,

six special knowledges mastered,

I have done what the Buddha taught! Verse 9

Thus indeed Venerable Dhajadāyaka Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Dhajadāyaka 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.

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