Skip to reading
← Therāpadāna

334. {337.} Tiṇakuṭidāyaka

Tha-ap 339

Three Himalayan summits above a wide Tibetan valley.

Walt 3005 In the city, Bandumatī,
I was one who worked for others.
Though bound in service to others,
I looked not for another’s rice. Verse 1

Walt 3006 Gone off alone and sitting down,
I thought it out in this way:
“The Buddha’s risen in the world
and I’ve provided no service. Verse 2

Walt 3007 It is time to clean up my life;
the moment is prepared for me.
Suffering is a taste of hell
for creatures devoid of merit. Verse 3

Walt 3008 Having thought it out in this way,
I approached the labor foreman.
After begging him for some work,
I entered into the forest. Verse 4

Walt 3009 Having gathered at that time some
grass and sticks and also some vines,
and having put three poles in place,
I constructed a grass hut there. Verse 5

Walt 3010 After I dedicated that
hut for the Assembly of monks,
I came back on that very day
and approached the labor foreman. Verse 6

Walt 3011 Due to that karma done very well,
I then went to Tāvatiṁsa.
My mansion there, very well made,
was created by a grass hut. Verse 7

Walt 3012 The mansion that appeared for me,
a mil-kaṇḍa cent-bheṇḍu large,
made of gold, covered in flags,
contained a hundred thousand doors. Verse 8

Walt 3013 In whichever womb I’m reborn,
whether it’s human or divine,
recognizing what I’m thinking,
a palace comes to be for me. Verse 9

Walt 3014 I do not experience fear,
get stupefied, horripilate;
I do not know those things in me:
that’s the fruit of grass-hut-giving. Verse 10

Walt 3015 Lions and tigers and leopards,
bears and wolves, kara bānā bears—
all of them stay away from me:
that’s the fruit of grass-hut-giving. Verse 11

Walt 3016Vipers and ghosts, cobras as well,
kumbhaṇḍa, rakkhasa-demons;
they too are all avoiding me:
that’s the fruit of grass-hut-giving. Verse 12

Walt 3017 I do not remember seeing
my dreams when they are of evil.
Mindfulness arises for me:
that’s the fruit of grass-hut-giving. Verse 13

Walt 3018 Just because of that grass-hut-gift,
I have experienced success.
I have witnessed the Teaching of
Gotama Buddha, Blessed One. Verse 14

Walt 3019 In the ninety-one aeons since
I did that good karma back then,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
that’s the fruit of grass-hut-giving. Verse 15

Walt 3020 The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
I have done what the Buddha taught! Verse 16

Thus indeed Venerable Tiṇakuṭidāyaka Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Tiṇakuṭidāyaka Thera is finished.

Connections

Collection & context

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.