Tha Ap 81Ṭhitañjaliya

– Therāpadāna

– The Legends of the Theras

79. Ṭhitañjaliya

Walt 1464 In the past, in a forest grove,

I was a man who hunted deer.

There I saw Sambuddha Tissa

bearing the marks of a Great Man. Verse 1

Walt 1465 Pressing hands together for him,

sitting down in that neighborhood

on a leaf-mat that was placed there ,

I then set off facing the east. Verse 2

Walt 1466 Just then a fallen lightening bolt

landed on the top of my head.

Again, as I lay there dying,

I pressed both my hands together. Verse 3

Walt 1467 In the ninety-two aeons since

I pressed my hands together then ,

I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:

that’s the fruit of pressing my hands. Verse 4

Walt 1468 Four and fifty aeons ago

the monarch named Migaketu

was a wheel-turner with great strength,

possessor of the seven gems. Verse 5

Walt 1469 The four analytical modes,

and these eight deliverances,

six special knowledges mastered,

I have done what the Buddha taught! Verse 6

Thus indeed Venerable Ṭhitañjaliya Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Ṭhitañjaliya 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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