207. Salaḷamāliya

Tha-ap 209

Delicate frost crystals line a dry grass stem in quiet morning light.

Walt 2299 I saw Siddhattha, the Trainer,
seated on a mountainside then,
shining like a dinner-plate tree,
surveying every direction. Verse 1

Walt 2300 Gathering both ends of a bow,
then I joined it with an arrow.
Cutting a flower with its stalk,
I offered it to the Buddha. Verse 2

Walt 2301 In the ninety-four aeons since
I did pūjā with that flower,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
that’s the fruit of Buddha-pūjā. Verse 3

Walt 2302 In the fifty-first aeon hence
there was one named Jutindhara,
a wheel-turning king with great strength,
possessor of the seven gems. Verse 4

Walt 2303 The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
I have done what the Buddha taught! Verse 5

Thus indeed Venerable Salaḷamāliya Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Salaḷamāliya 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.