[449. {452.}[1] Morahatthiya[2]]

Collecting [some] peacock feathers,
I [then] approached the World-Leader.
Happy, with pleasure in [my] heart,
I gave [him those] peacock feathers. (1) [4805]

Through those[3] peacock feathers, [given]
with intention and [firm] resolve,
the three fires[4] are blown out in me;
I’m receiving huge happiness. (2) [4806]

O! the Buddha! O! the Teaching!
O! our Teacher’s [great] achievement!
Having given peacock feathers,
I’m receiving huge happiness. (3) [4807]

The three fires[5] are blown out in me;
all [new] existence is destroyed;
all the defilements are exhausted,
I am [now] living, undefiled. (4) [4808]

In the thirty-one aeons since
I gave [him] that donation then,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
that’s the fruit of peacock feathers. (5) [4809]

My defilements are [now] burnt up;
all [new] existence is destroyed.
Like elephants with broken chains,
I am living without constraint. (6) [4810]

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! (7) [4811]

The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
[I have] done what the Buddha taught! (8) [4812]

Thus indeed Venerable Morahatthiya Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Morahatthiya 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. “Peacock Feather-er” ↩︎

  3. lit., “these” ↩︎

  4. The cty here explains these as the fires of rāga (lust), dosa (anger) and moha (ignorance, folly) ↩︎

  5. The cty here explains these as the fires of rāga (lust), dosa (anger) and moha (ignorance, folly) ↩︎