Ekapadumiya Chapter, the Thirty-Fifth

[338. {341.}[1] Ekapadumiya[2]]

The Victor Padumuttara
was the Master of Everything.[3]
Explaining[4] all existences,[5]
he ferried many folks across. (1) [3074]

At that time I was a swan-king;
I was distinguished among birds.
Plunged into a natural lake,
I am sporting the sports of swans. (2) [3075]

Padumuttara, World-Knower,
Sacrificial Recipient,
the Victor would fly,[6] all the time,
over that natural lake [there]. (3) [3076]

I having seen the God of Gods,
the Self-Become One, World-Leader,
gathered lotuses with my beak —
lovely, with a hundred petals —
[and] having broken off the stems,
tossing them into the sky, I
did pūjā to the Best Buddha,
pleased by[7] the Leader of the World. (4-5) [3077-3078]

Padumuttara, World-Knower,
Sacrificial Recipient,
the Teacher, standing in the sky,
gave me this expression of thanks:[8] (6) [3079]

“Due to this single lotus [gift],
with intention and [firm] resolve,
for one hundred thousand aeons
you won’t fall into[9] suffering.”[10] (7) [3080]

Having said this the Sambuddha
whose name was Ultimate Lotus,[11]
after detailing my karma,
went according to his wishes. (8) [3081]

In the hundred thousand aeons
since I did that [good] karma then,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
that’s the fruit of Buddha-pūjā. (9) [3082]

The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
[I have] done what the Buddha taught! (10) [3083]

Thus indeed Venerable Ekapadumiya Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Ekapadumiya Thera is finished.

  1. Apadāna numbers provided in {fancy brackets} correspond to the BJTS edition, which contains more individual poems than does the PTS edition dictating the main numbering of this translation. ↩︎

  2. “One-Lotus-er” ↩︎

  3. lit., “master of all things (dhamma)” (or “Master of All Teachings”) ↩︎

  4. vibhāvento, could also be “understanding” or “annihilating” ↩︎

  5. bhavābhave, lit., “all sorts of existence,” “this and that type of existence” ↩︎

  6. lit., “came” or “approached” ↩︎

  7. lit., “in” ↩︎

  8. lit., “made this expression of thanks for me” ↩︎

  9. lit., “go” ↩︎

  10. vinipātaŋ, lit., “a state of suffering” or “ruination” ↩︎

  11. jalajuttama, the literal meaning of Padumuttara ↩︎

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