Skip to reading
← Therāpadāna

183. Koṭumbariya

Tha-ap 185

A single sharp thorn rises from a weathered twig against a soft woodland background.

Walt 2163-2164Happy, and with a happy heart,
I approached the Best among Men,
shining like a dinner-plate tree,
sitting down amidst the mountains,
like the ocean without measure,
extending as far as the earth,
worshipped by the gods’ assembly,
of the best race of bulls of men. Verse 1-2

Walt 2165 I once offered to the Buddha
Sikhi, the Kinsman of the World,
a piece of cloth which I had filled
with seven flowers I had plucked. Verse 3

Walt 2166 In the thirty-one aeons since
I did pūjā with that flower,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
that’s the fruit of Buddha-pūjā. Verse 4

Walt 2167 In the twentieth aeon hence
I was a greatly powerful
wheel-turning monarch with great strength,
known by the name Mahāṇela. Verse 5

Walt 2168 The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
I have done what the Buddha taught! Verse 6

Thus indeed Venerable Koṭumbariya Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Koṭumbariya Thera is finished.

Connections

Collection & context

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.