264. Araṇadīpiya

Tha-ap 266

Rain nourishes small fern shoots growing from dark woodland soil.

Walt 2553 I, being reborn as a god,
coming down to the earth back then,
made a donation of five lamps,
feeling well-pleased by my own hands. Verse 1

Walt 2554 In the ninety-four aeons since
I donated that lamp back then,
I’ve come to no know bad rebirth:
that’s the fruit of lamp-donations. Verse 2

Walt 2555 In the fifty-fifth aeon hence
there lived one ruler of the earth,
who was named Samantacakkhu,
a wheel-turning king with great strength. Verse 3

Walt 2556 The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
I have done what the Buddha taught! Verse 4

Thus indeed Venerable Araṇadīpiya Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Araṇadīpiya 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.