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493. {496.} Ghatamaṇḍadāyaka

Tha-ap 498

Clear spring water flowing across ascending natural limestone terraces.

Walt 5289 Seeing the Blessed One, Well-Thought,
the World’s Best One, the Bull of Men,
entered into the great forest,
tormented by internal pain,
bringing pleasure to my own heart,
I presented cream from some ghee. Verse 1

Walt 5290 From doing and heaping that up,
the river named Bhāgīrathī,
and even the four great oceans
are supplying ghee-cream to me. Verse 2

Walt 5291 And even this whole awful earth,
beyond measure, beyond counting,
discerning what I am thinking,
turns into honey and sugar. Verse 3

Walt 5292 These trees on all four continents,
foot-drinkers growing in the earth,
discerning what I am thinking,
turn into wishing-trees for me. Verse 4

Walt 5293 Fifty times the lord of the gods,
I exercised divine rule there.
And fifty-one times I was then
a king who turns the wheel of law.
And I enjoyed much local rule,
innumerable by counting. Verse 5

Walt 5294 In the ninety-four aeons since
I gave him that gift at that time,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
that’s the fruit of the cream from ghee. Verse 6

Walt 5295 My defilements are now burnt up;
all new existence is destroyed.
Like elephants with broken chains,
I am living without constraint. Verse 7

Walt 5296 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 8

Walt 5297 The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
I have done what the Buddha taught! Verse 9

Thus indeed Venerable Ghatamaṇḍadāyaka Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Ghatamaṇḍadāyaka 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.