227. Vaṭaṁsakiya

Tha-ap 229

Young and mature beech trees growing together on a mossy forest floor.

Walt 2406-2407I saw the Leader of the World
being led into a garden.
Picking up a wreath for the head
made of gold, superbly fashioned,
and quickly rising up from there,
mounted on an elephant’s back,
I gave it to the Buddha then,
to Sikhi, Kinsman of the World. Verse 1-2

Walt 2408 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 3

Walt 2409 In the twenty-seventh aeon
hence lived one lord of the people
who was named Mahāpatāpa
a wheel-turning king with great strength. Verse 4

Walt 2410 The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
I have done what the Buddha taught! Verse 5

Thus indeed Venerable Vaṭaṁsakiya Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Vaṭaṁsakiya 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.