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58. Dhajadāyaka

Tha-ap 60

Delicate frost crystals line a dry grass stem in quiet morning light.

Walt 1314 Happy, and with a happy heart
I hoisted up a flag back then
at the stupendous Bodhi Tree
of Padumuttara Buddha. Verse 1

Walt 1315Having picked up the fallen leaves
I threw them all away outside.
As though facing the Sambuddha,
the Fully Free One, Undefiled,
I worshipped the superb Bodhi,
clean inside and clean outside too. Verse 2

Walt 1316 Padumuttara, World-Knower,
Sacrificial Recipient,
standing in the monks’ Assembly
the Teacher spoke these verses then: Verse 3

Walt 1317-1318a-b“Because of both this service and
this donation of a flag here,
for one hundred thousand aeons
he will go to no bad rebirth.
Among the gods he will enjoy
abundant divine happiness. Verse 4

Walt 1318c-f And various hundreds of times,
he’ll be king of a country.
He will be a wheel-turning king;
his name will then be Uggata. Verse 5

Walt 1319 Having enjoyed this happiness,
incited by his wholesome roots,
he will delight in the Teaching
of Gotama the Blessed One.” Verse 6

Walt 1320 I am one bent on exertion,
calmed, devoid of grounds for rebirth;
I am bearing my last body
in the Supreme Buddha’s teaching. Verse 7

Walt 1321 Fifty-one thousand aeons hence
I was known as King Uggata.
Fifty thousand aeons ago
I was the king known as Megha. Verse 8

Walt 1322 The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
I have done what the Buddha taught! Verse 9

Thus indeed Venerable Dhajadāyaka Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Dhajadāyaka 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.