73. Saññaka

Tha-ap 75

A small clear pool surrounded by green duckweed.

Walt 1431 I saw the Teacher’s ragged robe
stuck up in the top of a tree.
Pressing my hands together then
I worshipped that robe made of rags. Verse 1

Walt 1432 In the ninety-two aeons since
I did that good karma back then,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
the fruit of perceiving Buddha. Verse 2

Walt 1433 In the fourth aeon after that
the Kṣhatriyan Dumasāra
was a wheel-turner with great strength,
victorious on all four sides. Verse 3

Walt 1434 The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
I have done what the Buddha taught! Verse 4

Thus indeed Venerable Saññaka Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Saññaka Thera is finished.

Connections

Collection & context

TherāpadānaThe collection containing this text
The Pāli canonCanonical collection in which this edition is preserved
Theravāda traditionsTransmission and study context
The early Buddhist communityHistorical and traditional setting

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.