215. Raṁsisaññaka

Tha-ap 217

A broad elephant footprint holds rainwater in soft woodland earth.

Walt 2339 I saw the superb Tiger-Bull,
Well-Born-One, on a mountainside,
like the rising hundred-rayed sun,
like the sun when its rays are cool. Verse 1

Walt 2340 The majesty of the Buddha
was shining on the mountainside.
My heart pleased in the rays; for an
aeon I sported in heaven. Verse 2

Walt 2341 In all the subsequent aeons,
goodness was completed by me
because of that mental pleasure,
and remembering the Buddha. Verse 3

Walt 2342 In the thirty thousand aeons
since I obtained that perception,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
the fruit of Buddha-perception. Verse 4

Walt 2343 In the fifty-seventh aeon
there was one lord of the people,
known by the name of Sujāta,
a wheel-turning king with great strength. Verse 5

Walt 2344 The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
I have done what the Buddha taught! Verse 6

Thus indeed Venerable Raṁsisaññaka Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Raṁsisaññaka 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.