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← Therāpadāna

440. {443.} Billaphaliya

Tha-ap 445

Broad pipal roots spread across dark earth in soft dawn light.

Walt 4731 On Candabhāgā River’s bank,
my well-constructed hermitage
was served by varied types of trees,
and strewn with bel trees full of fruit. Verse 1

Walt 4732-4733 Seeing a fragrant bel tree, I,
remembering the Best Buddha,
having filled up a khāri load,
thrilled, mind stirred up with emotion,
having approached Kakusandha,
with a mind that was very clear,
I gave that bel fruit I had brought
to him, the Hero, Merit-Field. Verse 2-3

Walt 4734 Within the present aeon, since
I gave that fruit to him back then,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
that is the fruit of giving fruit. Verse 4

Walt 4735 My defilements are now burnt up;
all new existence is destroyed.
Like elephants with broken chains,
I am living without constraint. Verse 5

Walt 4736 Being in Best Buddha’s presence
was a very good thing for me.
The three knowledges are attained;
I have done what the Buddha taught! Verse 6

Walt 4737 The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
I have done what the Buddha taught! Verse 7

Thus indeed Venerable Billaphaliya Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Billaphaliya Thera is finished.

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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.