292. Pupphadhāraka

Tha-ap 294

Young plants growing beneath a broad old tree.

Walt 2676 I was a bark-clothed ascetic,
wearing deer-leather outer robes.
I had five special knowledges;
a person who could stroke the moon. Verse 1

Walt 2677 Seeing Vipassi, the World’s Torch,
come to the same place as me,
I bore the floral canopy
over the head of the Teacher. Verse 2

Walt 2678 In the ninety-one aeons since
I bore that floral canopy,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
that’s the fruit of bearing flowers. Verse 3

Walt 2679 In the eighty-seventh aeon
hence, there was one lord of the earth
by name Samantadharaṇa,
a wheel-turning king with great strength. Verse 4

Walt 2680 The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
I have done what the Buddha taught! Verse 5

Thus indeed Venerable Pupphadhāraka Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Pupphadhāraka 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.