Tha Ap 61Paduma

– Therāpadāna

– The Legends of the Theras

59. Paduma

Walt 1323 He was declaring the Four Truths

while turning the best Dhamma -wheel,

raining the rain of deathlessness,

liberating many people. Verse 1

Walt 1324 Taking a lotus with a flag,

standing half a kosa away ,

happy, I raised it in the air

for the Sage Padumuttara. Verse 2

Walt 1325 There was a strange occurrence then:

the lotus approached the Buddha .

Discerning what I was thinking

the Best Debater then took it . Verse 3

Walt 1326 Having taken with his fine hand

that superb water-born lotus,

standing in the monks’ Assembly

the Teacher spoke these verses then : Verse 4

Walt 1327 “I shall relate details of him

who just tossed this lotus flower

to the Omniscient Arahant;

all of you listen to my words: Verse 5

Walt 1328 Thirty aeons as king of gods

he will exercise divine rule.

With seven hundred earthly reigns

he will reside upon the earth. Verse 6

Walt 1329 Taking a bowl of lotuses there,

he’ll be a king who turns the wheel.

A rain of flowers from the sky

will rain on him all of the time. Verse 7

Walt 1330 In one hundred thousand aeons,

arising in Okkāka’s clan,

the one whose name is Gotama

will be the Teacher in the world. Verse 8

Walt 1331 Worthy heir to that one’s Dhamma ,

Dhamma ’s legitimate offspring,

knowing well all the defilements

he’ll reach nirvana, undefiled.” Verse 9

Walt 1332 Coming forth from my mother’s womb,

both comprehending and mindful,

when I was only five years old

I attained my arahantship. Verse 10

Walt 1333 The four analytical modes,

and these eight deliverances,

six special knowledges mastered,

I have done what the Buddha taught! Verse 11

Thus indeed Venerable Paduma Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Paduma 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