Tha Ap 65Paccāgamanīya

– Therāpadāna

– The Legends of the Theras

63. Paccāgamanīya

Walt 1361 I was a ruddy goose back then

along the Indus River’s bank,

subsisting only on white moss,

and well-restrained in terms of sins. Verse 1

Walt 1362 I saw the Buddha, Stainless One,

traveling across the sky there .

Taking a sal blossom with my beak

I honored Buddha Vipassi. Verse 2

Walt 1363 He with faith in the Thus-Gone-One,

unshaking and well-established,

through feeling pleasure in his heart

will not go on to bad rebirth. Verse 3

Walt 1364 Being in Best Buddha’s presence

was a very good thing for me.

Good seeds have been planted by me

when I was a bird way back then . Verse 4

Walt 1365 In the ninety-one aeons since

I presented him that flower,

I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:

that’s the fruit of Buddha- pūjā . Verse 5

Walt 1366 There were eight men who had one name

which was Sucarudassana.

They were wheel-turners with great strength

full seventeen aeons ago. Verse 6

Walt 1367 The four analytical modes,

and these eight deliverances,

six special knowledges mastered,

I have done what the Buddha taught! Verse 7

Thus indeed Venerable Paccāgamanīya Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Paccāgamanīya 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.

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