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492. {495.} Upaḍḍhadussadāyaka

Tha-ap 497

Countless gentle wavelets across a pale sea and misty horizon.

Walt 5279 Named Sujāta, the follower
of Padumuttara Buddha,
searching for a robe made of rags,
is always going through the trash. Verse 1

Walt 5280 In the city, Haṁsavatī,
I was the hireling of others.
Having given him half a cloth,
I saluted him with my head. Verse 2

Walt 5281 Due to that karma done very well,
with intention and firm resolve,
discarding my human body,
I went to Tāvatiṁsa then. Verse 3

Walt 5282 Thirty-three times the lord of gods,
I exercised divine rule there.
Seventy-seven times I was
a king who turns the wheel of law. Verse 4

Walt 5283 There was also much local rule,
innumerable by counting.
Because of giving half a cloth,
I rejoice with nothing to fear. Verse 5

Walt 5284 And today if I am wishing,
in the woods or on a mountain,
I am covered in khoma-cloth:
that is the fruit of half a cloth. Verse 6

Walt 5285 In the hundred thousand aeons
since I gave that donation then,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
that is the fruit of half a cloth. Verse 7

Walt 5286 My defilements are now burnt up;
all new existence is destroyed.
Like elephants with broken chains,
I am living without constraint. Verse 8

Walt 5287 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 9

Walt 5288 The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
I have done what the Buddha taught! Verse 10

Thus indeed Venerable Upaḍḍhadussadāyaka Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Upaḍḍhadussadāyaka Thera is finished.

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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.