159. Punnāgapupphiya

Tha-ap 161

A still Tibetan mountain lake beneath snowy peaks.

Walt 2038 Plunging into a forest grove,
I lived there as a hunter then.
Seeing a laurel tree in bloom,
I called to mind the Best Buddha. Verse 1

Walt 2039 Having plucked a flower from it,
well-perfumed and scented with scents,
having made a stupa of sand,
I offered it to the Buddha. Verse 2

Walt 2040 In the ninety-two aeons since
I did that flower-pūjā then,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
that’s the fruit of Buddha-pūjā. Verse 3

Walt 2041 In the ninety-first aeon thence
lived a ruler, Tamonuda,
a wheel-turning king with great strength,
possessor of the seven gems. Verse 4

Walt 2042 The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
I have done what the Buddha taught! Verse 5

Thus indeed Venerable Punnāgapupphiya Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Punnāgapupphiya Thera is finished.

Connections

Collection & context

TherāpadānaThe collection containing this text
The Pāli canonCanonical collection in which this edition is preserved
Theravāda traditionsTransmission and study context
The early Buddhist communityHistorical and traditional setting

About this edition

Translation by Jonathan S. Walters · SuttaCentral · CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 US

Noncommercial reuse with attribution and the same license. Original publication and digitization credits are preserved below.

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

Prepared for SuttaCentral by Ayya Vimala.

Published source. Translation wording and order are preserved; source headings and notes are retained, with navigation and formatting adapted for this reader.

The opening image is AI-generated nature artwork for Buddhist Atlas, an evocative companion rather than a historical depiction.