Now listen to the legends of the Theras:

Close to the Himalayan range,
on the mountain called Lambaka,
my ashram is very well made,
a well-constructed hall of leaves.

There’s a river, with gentle banks,
well-fixed, delightful to the mind,
and strewn about with bright white sand,
not very far from my ashram.

Free of gravel and free of slopes,
excellent, without bad odors,
the river flows right past that place,
making my ashram beautiful.

Crocodiles and leviathans,
alligators and tortoises;
the river flows right past that place,
making my ashram beautiful.

Sheatfish, pāvusa, valaja,
reed-fish, red-fish and maggura
are flowing with the current there,
making my ashram beautiful.

Trees that blossom and trees that fruit
stand on both banks of that river,
overhanging it from both sides,
making my ashram beautiful.

Mango, sal and coral-bean tree,
trumpet-flower, Chinese chaste tree,
trees in flower with heavenly scents
are perfuming my ashram then.

Sandal, salalā, cheesewood too
ironwood, laurel and screw-pine
trees in flower with heavenly scents
are perfuming my ashram then.

Hiptage vines and ashoka trees,
bhaginimāla flowering,
sage-leaf alangium, and red
bimbijāl bloom in my ashram.

Ketaka, kandali flowers,
kebuka, and Arab jasmine
are exuding heavenly scents
making my ashram beautiful.

Dinner-plate tree and kaṇika
silver greywood, many black trees
are exuding heavenly scents,
making my ashram beautiful.

Laurel and mountain laurel trees,
and ebony, all blossoming,
are exuding heavenly scents
making my ashram beautiful.

Golden shower, winter cherry,
kadam and Spanish cherry trees
are exuding heavenly scents
making my ashram beautiful.

Ālaka and isimugga,
banana, also citron trees
matured on the sweet-smelling water
are bearing forth their flowers there.

Some pink lotuses are blooming,
others are producing pollen,
some pink lotuses are budding,
always flowering in the tank.

Pink lotuses germinate there;
the lotus roots are being cleansed.
Singhāṭi leaves are strew about,
making that tank so beautiful.

Nayita shrubs, ambagandhi,
uttuli, bandhujīvaka
all in bloom then in the tank there
are exuding heavenly scents.

Sheatfish, also pāvusa fish,
valaja, reed-fish and red-fish
and saṅkula and maggura
are living in that tank there then.

Crocodiles and alligators,
tantiggāha and rakkhasa,
ogaha and also pythons
are living in that tank there then.

Pigeons and ravi-swans as well,
ruddy geese and nadīcaras,
cuckoos, parrots, and mynah birds too
are living on that lake there then.

In the forest wild jungle fowl,
golden crabs, lake-swallows too,
lapwings and Ceylon lorikeets,
are living on that lake there then.

Swans and curlews and peacocks too,
cuckoos and jungle fowl as well,
small monkeys as well as pheasants
are living on that lake there then.

Owls and poṭṭhasīsas too,
numerous hawks, also osprey,
and also mahākāḷa birds
are living on that lake there then.

Spotted deer and also wild boar,
and numerous wolves and jackals,
rohicca-deer, suggapotas
are living on that lake there then.

Lions and tigers and leopards,
bears and wolves, kara bānā bears,
and thrice-rutting mātaṅgas too
are living on that lake there then.

Centaurs and monkeys are there too
and folks who work in the forest,
servant-boys as well as hunters,
are living on that lake there then.

Wild mangosteen, Chirauli-nut,
Mahuwa, kāsumāriya
are bearing never-ending fruit
not very far from my ashram.

Margosa, salalā, yellow
cheesewoods with such excellent fruit
are constantly bearing those fruits
not very far from my ashram.

Myrobalan and gooseberry,
mango, rose-apple, bahera,
jujube, markingnut, bel—
they constantly are bearing fruit.

Bindweed, also titan arum,
bilāni, takkaḷāni bulbs
jīvaka and sahaka plants
are abundant in my ashram.

That well-created tank is there
not very far from the ashram,
with clear water, cool for drinking,
well-fixed, delightful to the mind.

Covered with pink and blue lotus,
combined with white lotus flowers
and covered again with mandālaka
it exudes a heavenly scent.

At that time I was then living
in that well-made, lovely ashram
in the woods blooming and fruiting
and thus endowed with everything.

I was ascetic Saruci
of noble-conduct, vow-taker,
a meditator, trance-lover,
strong in the five special knowledges.

Four and twenty thousand students
were waiting upon me back then.
They all were from the Brahmin caste,
of noble birth and glorious.

They’d reached perfection in my teachings
of grammar and vocabulary,
of synonyms and metrics too,
and reading signs, and history.

They were skilled as interpreters
of events and omens and signs
on the earth and ground, in the sky;
my students were very well-trained.

Satisfied they were, and prudent;
ate little food, had no desires.
Happy if receiving or not,
they always gathered around me.

Meditators, trance-lovers,
wise, attentive, with peaceful minds,
with wishes for only nothing,
they always gathered around me.

Masters of special knowledges,
delighting in their brahmin ways,
able to fly through the sky, most wise,
they always gathered around me.

They kept the six sense-doors well-closed,
were lust-free, with guarded sense-organs,
most wise, and not tied down at home:
no one came close to my students.

At night they always passed the time
meditating seated cross-legged
or walking back and forth in place;
no one came close to my students.

Not aroused in what’s arousing,
nor defiled in what’s defiling;
not fooling self in foolish things:
no one came close to my students.

They spent all their time studying
all the miraculous powers.
They could set the earth to quaking
with haughtiness none could approach.

When those students were playing sports
they sported in the altered states,
brought rose-apples from distant trees;
no one came close to my students.

Some would travel to Goyāna,
others to Pubbavideha,
and some to Utturukuru:
no one came close to my students.

They’d send their requisites ahead
and then they’d proceed after them;
the sky was totally covered
by twenty-four thousand students.

Some ate cooked food and some ate raw,
some ground with teeth, others with mortars.
Some ate food that they ground on stone,
some only fruits that had fallen.

Some bathed getting into water,
others loved the pure evening rain
while others bathed sprinkling water:
no one came close to my students.

With nails and armpit hair grown long,
muck in their teeth, heads soiled with dirt
and perfumed only with precepts:
no one came close to my students.

Those famed matted-haired ascetics
would assemble in the morning,
saying what they’d received, and not,
then set off flying through the air.

A mighty din would issue forth
from them as they were taking off.
The gods would be most delighted
by that sound of their deer-hide robes.

Traveling in all directions
those sages, flying through the sky
would go to any place they wished
by means of their own vast power.

They could set the earth to quaking;
all of them were sky-travelers.
Famed ascetics, hard to conquer,
they were steady like the ocean.

Some walked back and forth meditating
some sages did so while seated,
some of them lived on fallen-fruits;
no one came close to my students.

They dwelt always in states of love
and were kindly to all creatures.
None of them raised his own self up
and they felt hatred toward no one.

Fearless like the king of lions,
mighty like an elephant king,
hard to approach like a tiger
they would come into my presence.

Sorcerers and their deities,
cobra-gods, music-nymphs, demons,
fairies, titans and garuḷas
are living on that lake.

Those dread-locked requisite-bearers
dressed in superb deer-leather clothes,
all those sages, sky-travelers,
are living on that lake there then.

As is always appropriate
they respected one another.
From twenty-four thousand students
not the sound of a sneeze is heard.

One foot placed after the other
making little sound, self-controlled,
all of them, after they’d come close
are worshipping me with their heads.

Thus surrounded by those students
peaceful, doing austerities,
I then dwelt in that ashram there
meditator, trance-lover.

My ashram was always perfumed
by those sages’ morality
and the scents of both blooming flowers
and the different fruits that grew there.

By night and day I never know
displeasure, nor does it come to me.
Giving my students instruction,
I am constantly filled with joy.

The blossoming of many flowers
and ripening of many fruits
are exuding heavenly scents
making my ashram beautiful.

Arising from meditation
I’m zealous and intelligent.
Taking ascetics’ requisites
I proceeded into the woods.

I was well-trained to read the signs
surrounding births and portents too.
At that time I’d fully mastered
all the mantras in existence.

Anomadassi, Blessed One,
the World’s Best, the Bull Among Men,
the Buddha, seeking solitude
entered the Himalayas then.

Going into Himalaya
the Supreme, Compassionate Sage,
getting into lotus posture
sat down, the Ultimate Person.

Then I saw that Sambuddha there,
shining light, a mental delight,
bright like a blue water lily,
blazing up like a fire-altar.

I saw the Leader of the World
like a regal sal tree in bloom;
blazing forth like a tree of lamps;
lightening flaring in a cloud-bank.

“This nāga is the Great Hero,
the Sage who ended suffering;”
after coming to see this one
all suffering was cast away.

After seeing that God of Gods
adorned with the auspicious marks
I thought, “is he Buddha or not?
Surely I’m seeing One with Eyes.”

One thousand wheel-marks are seen
on his unsurpassed lovely foot.
I, having seen those marks of his,
concluded he’s the Thus-Gone-One.

I brought in a broom for sweeping
and having done the sweeping then
I gathered eight blooming flowers
for pūjā to that Best Buddha.

After pūjā to that Buddha,
the Flood-Crosser, Undefiled One,
placing deer-hide on one shoulder
I worshipped the Chief of the World.

“The knowledge by which the Buddha
dwells without any defilements—
that knowledge I shall now proclaim;
all of you listen to my words!

May you lift this world up rightly
Self-Become One, Boundless Increase!
Coming into the sight of you
they cross the rushing stream of doubt.

You’re the Teacher for those who breathe,
the Banner, the Flag and the Pole;
you are the Goal, the Solid Ground,
the Island, the Best of Bipeds.

It’s possible to measure the
ocean’s water by the gallon
but not ever could one measure
your knowledge, O Omniscient One.

It’s possible to lift the earth
onto a comparable sphere
but not ever could one measure
your knowledge, O Omniscient One.

It’s possible to measure all
space with a rope or by the inch
but not ever could one measure
your knowledge, O Omniscient One.

One might exhaust the entire earth
and all the water in the sea
but similes that might arise
won’t befit the Buddha’s knowledge.

Whatever goes on in the minds
of this world’s creatures, with its gods,
O Eyeful One all those things too
are sunk in your knowledge-water.

The knowledge by which you attained
supreme complete Awakening:
with that knowledge, Omniscient One,
you crush rivals and heretics.”

Having praised with these nine verses,
the ascetic named Suruci
spreading out his deer-leather robe
sat down right there upon the earth.

“They say the king of mountains rose
to that height after being sunk
in the great ocean for as long
as eighty-four thousand aeons.

And Meru, having thus arisen,
being so long and so spread out,
bit by bit gets broken into
two million lakhs of small pebbles.

If one should investigate it,
counting the numbers of lakhs there,
still he could not ever measure
your knowledge, O Omniscient One.

Whichever water is encircled
by water holes however small
the beings who live in water
would all find themselves submerged there.

In just that way, O Great Hero,
these ordinary heretics
who jump into dogmas’ grasp
get deluded by what they touch.

These heretics pulled underwater
by your knowledge which is pure and
which is seen without obstruction
never move beyond your knowledge.”

At that time he, the Blessed One,
Anomadassi, Greatly Famed,
arising from his meditation,
surveyed the whole world, that Victor.

Nisabha was a follower
of that Sage Anomadassi.
He was surrounded by a lakh
of peaceful-minded ones like him

who’d destroyed defilements, were pure,
and had the six special knowledges.
Discerning the Buddha’s wishes
he then approached that World-Leader.

Standing up in the air right there
they circumambulated him
and praising with ten fingers pressed
came down to the Buddha’s presence.

Anomadassi, Blessed One,
the World’s Best One, the Bull of Men,
sitting in the monks’ Assembly
right then made manifest a smile.

Varuṇa was the attendant
on the Omniscient One, Great Sage.
Putting his robe on one shoulder
he then queried the World-Leader:

“O Blessed One, what is the cause
of the Teacher’s breaking a smile?
It never is without a cause
that the Buddhas begin to smile.”

Anomadassi, Blessed One,
the World’s Best One, the Bull of Men,
seated in the monks’ Assembly
then spoke these verses in reply:

“This one who honors me with flowers
and also extols my knowledge,
I shall relate details of him;
all of you listen to my words.”

Knowing that Buddha would speak, the
gods all came together there then.
Wishing to hear the great Teaching
they then approached the Sambuddha.

Lesser gods in ten world-systems
who possessed enormous powers
wishing to hear the great Teaching
also approached the Sambuddha.

He said, “The army, with four parts—
tusker, soldier, chariot, horse—
will ceaselessly wait on this one;
that’s the fruit of Buddha-pūjā.

Sixty thousand instruments and
well-decorated kettle-drums
will always pay respects to him;
that’s the fruit of Buddha-pūjā.

Women numbering sixteen thousand,
decked out in all the ornaments,
with varied clothes and jewelry
and wearing earrings made of gems

with long eyelashes, lovely smiles
and slim waists, pleasant to look at,
will ceaselessly wait on this one:
that’s the fruit of Buddha-pūjā.

He’ll delight in the world of gods
for one hundred thousand aeons.
A thousand times he’s going to be
the wheel-turning king of a country.

A thousand times the king of gods,
he will exercise divine rule,
and he will have much local rule
innumerable by counting.

When he attains his final birth
he will go to the human state.
He will be borne out of the womb
of the brahmin woman Sāri.

Thenceforth this man will be known by
the name of his maternal clan:
his name will be Sāriputta;
he will have sharp intelligence.

Giving up eight hundred million
he will renounce, with nothing left,
and searching for the path to peace
this great man’s going to wander far.

Aeons beyond measure from now,
arising in Okkāka’s clan,
the one whose name is Gotama
will be the Teacher in the world.

Worthy heir to that one’s Dhamma,
Dhamma’s legitimate offspring,
with the name of Sāriputta
he’ll be the foremost follower.

This river, the Bhāgīrathī,
is fed by the Himalayas,
rushes into the mighty sea,
then satisfies the great ocean.

Just so this man, Sāriputta,
wise one among the Sāketas
attaining wisdom’s perfection
will satisfy all living beings.

Going from the Himalayas
to the sea, the mighty ocean,
whatever sand lies in between
cannot be fathomed by counting.

Without remainder he’ll be able
to fathom that by counting thus;
but there will be no upper limit
to Sāriputta’s own wisdom.

Counting by hundreds of thousands
one would exhaust the Ganges’s sands;
but there will be no upper limit
to Sāriputta’s own wisdom.

The waves upon the mighty ocean
cannot be fathomed by counting;
that too he’ll do! Sāriputta’s
wisdom will have no upper limit.

Satisfying the Sambuddha
Gotama, Bull of the Śākyas,
he’ll attain wisdom’s perfection
and be the foremost follower.

Perfectly he’s going to follow
the Dhamma-wheel which will be turned
by the Śākyas’ Son, Neutral One,
a Dhamma-shower raining forth.

Understanding all of that well,
Gotama, Bull of the Śākyas,
seated in the monks’ Assembly
will place him in the foremost place.”

O see the deed I did so well
for Teacher Anomadassi.
Having done what he required
in every place I did excel.

Karma done immeasurable
aeons hence showed me its fruit here:
well-liberated, arrow-quick,
I have destroyed my defilements.

Searching for the unconditioned
and unshaking state, nirvana,
sussing out all the heretics
I circled through existences.

Just as a man, plagued with disease
would investigate all the jungles
searching for medicinal herbs
to be released from his illness,

searching for the unconditioned
state of deathlessness, nirvana,
without a break, five hundred times
I went forth into sagely life.

Bearing a weight of matted hair
I wore a deer-leather garment;
perfecting special knowledges
I went to the world of Brahma.

There’s nothing outside the wisdom
laid down in the dispensation.
Whatever being’s intelligent
will discern the dispensation.

Then I thought, “this is the method
for that me, desiring the goal.”
Searching for the unconditioned
I wandered the difficult fords.

Just as a man, wanting its pith,
who chops and splits a banana tree
would not thereby attain that pith
but would be devoid of that pith,

so too the world’s heretics
with their varied views and big crowds
lack that which is unconditioned
like the banana tree lacks pith.

When I reached my last existence
I was a kinsman of Brahma.
Throwing away a whole billion
I went forth into homelessness.

The First Recitation Portion.

There was a learned mantra-knower
who had mastered the three Vedas,
a brahmin known as Sañjaya.
I dwelt in his vicinity.

O Great Hero, your follower,
the brahmin known as Assaji,
hard to approach, with mighty powers
always went about for alms there.

I saw that one who was so wise,
a sage well used to quietude,
a peaceful-hearted elephant,
just like a lotus flower in bloom.

Having seen him I realized
“this man will be a worthy one,
well-tamed, whose mind is purified,
a bull, most excellent, a hero.

Pleasing in his mode of conduct,
beautiful and well-self-controlled,
tamed in the ultimate taming,
a seer of deathlessness he’ll be.

Why then do I not question him
the happy one, about the goal?
Questioned by me he will reply!”
Then I am asking him questions.

I proceeded to follow him
as he wandered about for alms;
I was honored with permission
to ask about the deathless state.

Approaching him along the road
I questioned him in this way then:
“Of which clan are you, O wise one?
Whose pupil are you, happy one?

Like a lion which is not frightened
he, questioned by me, answered thus:
“A Buddha’s risen in the world;
I am his student, a follower.”

“It would be excellent, wise one,
o famous one, O Buddha’s son,
if you’d please declare to me, sir,
the sort of Teaching Buddha teaches.”

Questioned by me he then declared
the entire deep and subtle state
in which all suffering’s destroyed
and craving’s arrow is removed.

“The Thus-Gone-One did speak about
the basic causes of all things
and the ceasing of those causes;
that is what the Great Monk declares.”

When my question had been answered
I had attained the first path-fruit.
Having heard the dispensation,
I was free of stain and blemish.

After hearing the sage’s speech,
having seen the superb Teaching,
well-immersed in that Great Teaching
I uttered these verses aloud:

“Even if this Teaching goes only this far
you all should discern its grief-free state
as not seen in the past
performing many sacrifices.

While seeking Dhamma formerly
I wandered the difficult fords.
That meaning’s now obtained by me;
there is no time for neglecting.”

Greatly pleased by monk Assaji,
attaining to that tranquil state,
looking for my co-renouncer
I returned to the ashram then.

On seeing me from far away
my companion, who was well-trained,
who’d learned meditative postures,
astonished, spoke these words to me:

“O sage your face and eyes are pleased
and you display a sagely mien.
How have you come to deathlessness,
everlasting state, nirvana?”

You come, conforming to what’s good,
it is as though you’ve been made calm.
And you’ve approached me, O brahmin,
tamed in the ultimate taming.”

“I have attained the deathless state
where craving’s arrow is destroyed.
You too ought to attain to that;
let’s go to the Teacher’s presence.”

My companion, who was well-trained,
assented saying “Excellent!”
Taking his hand into my hand
we went to the Teacher’s presence.

“We both of us will now go forth
in your presence, O Śākyas’ Son.
Having arrived at your teaching
we will live without defilements.”

Kolita’s top in magic powers;
I’m the one foremost in wisdom.
The two of us, living as one,
beautify the dispensation.

While my thought was still incomplete
I wandered the difficult fords.
Coming to your philosophy
my thought is now fully mature.

Having been planted in the earth,
trees blossom forth in their season.
They exude their heavenly scents
and delight all living beings.

In just this way, O Great Hero,
O Greatly Famed One, Śākyas’ Son,
being planted in your teaching
I want to bear flowers in season.

I seek the liberation-flower,
freedom from this circling rebirth.
Finding that liberation-flower
I’ll delight all living beings.

Through this entire Buddha-field
except for the Great Sage himself,
in wisdom there is no rival
for me, your son, O Eyeful One.

Well-instructed are your students;
the retinue is so well-trained.
Tamed in the ultimate taming
they always gather around you.

Meditators, trance-lovers,
wise, attentive, with minds at peace,
sages who have a sagely mien,
they always gather around you.

Wanting little, clever and wise,
eating little, with no desires,
happy if receiving or not,
they always gather around you.

Forest dwellers with wants removed,
meditators in shabby robes
who delight in being alone,
they always gather around you.

Attainers of the eight path-fruits
and those who are still aspiring,
searching for the ultimate goal
they always gather around you.

Stainless enterers of the stream
and some who are once-returners;
non-returners and arahants too,
they always gather around you.

Skilled in retaining mindfulness,
fond of wisdom’s parts as focus,
your followers all, and numerous,
they always gather around you.

Skilled in all the superpowers,
fond of calming-meditation,
undertaking fit exertion
they always gather around you.

Perfecting the three knowledges,
special knowledges, superpowers,
attaining wisdom’s perfection
they always gather around you.

Such indeed are they, Great Hero,
your students, who are so well-trained,
hard to approach, with mighty powers,
they always gather around you.

Surrounded by all those students
ascetics who have been taught well,
like a lion which is not frightened
you shine just like the king of stars.

Having been planted in the earth,
hardwood trees grow up strong and tall.
They attain their full abundance
and in season display their fruit.

O Śākyas’ Son, O Great Famed One,
you’re analogous to the earth;
being fixed in your great teaching,
they like the trees grow deathless fruit.

The Indus, and the Sarasvatī
are rivers, like the Candabhāgā,
the Ganges and the Yamuna
the Sarabhu and the Mahī too.

When those rivers finish flowing
the great ocean accepts them all.
Abandoning their former names,
they’re all known as “the great ocean”.

Likewise these people, of four castes,
who’ve gone forth into your presence,
abandoning their former names
are all known as “the Buddha’s sons”.

Just as the moon which is unblemished
going across the space in the sky
casting its light upon the world
outshines the entire mass of stars,

so likewise you, O Great Hero,
surrounded by the gods and men,
going across the Buddha-field
are shining brightly all the time.

Waves which first arise from the depths
go no further than the seashore;
when they do come onto the shore,
they are crushed to bits and scattered.

Just so the world’s heretics
with their varied views and big crowds
wishing to possess the Teaching
never go further than the Sage.

If they try attaining to that
through debating, O Eyeful One,
having come into your presence
they get thoroughly crushed by you.

Just as many white lotuses
and mandālaka blooms, water-born,
do get besmeared by the water
and also by the mud and clay,

so too indeed many creatures
who’re born and grow up in the world
are pained by their lust and anger
like the white lotus in the mud.

Just as a pink lotus, water-born,
growing up in the water’s midst
is not besmeared by the water
but rather that lotus is clean,

so too are you, O Great Hero,
though born within the world, Great Sage.
You are not besmeared by the world,
like the pink lotus by water.

Likewise, many lotus flowers
blossom in the month of April
but do not last beyond that month;
that is the time for blossoming.

So too are you, O Śākyas’ Son
blooming in your liberation.
The dispensation’s not surpassed
like the water-born lotuses.

The king of sal trees all in bloom
exudes a heavenly perfume.
Surrounded by other sal trees
the king of sal trees is lovely.

So too are you, O Great Hero,
blooming with a Buddha’s wisdom.
Circled by the monks’ Assembly,
like the sal-king you are lovely.

Just as the Himalayan stone’s
medicine for living beings
and the lair of the lesser gods,
and nāgas and asurās too,

so too are you, O Great Hero,
medicine for living beings;
you’ve mastered the three knowledges,
special knowledges, great powers.

They are admonished, Great Hero,
by you, but with great compassion.
Delighting in love of Dhamma
they dwell in your dispensation.

Likewise a lion, king of beasts,
going about how he wishes,
surveying the four directions
then growls three times his mighty roar.

All the beasts are very frightened
because of that lion’s growling.
Thus just one beast, of noble birth
always frightens all of the rest.

Because of your growl, Great Hero,
the earth herself begins to quake.
Those fit for wisdom realize it,
scaring the partisans of Death.

The heretics are all afraid
of your voice, O Sage so Great.
That flock of crows is in a fluster
like the beasts with the lion-king.

Those with followers in the world
are known by the title “teachers”.
They teach to their community
doctrines passed down by tradition.

Not so do you, O Great Hero
preach your Teaching to living beings.
Understanding the truths yourself
you preach all of Awakening.

Grasping desires and deep fantasies,
strengths and weaknesses of senses,
discerning who’s able, who’s not,
you thunder forth like a great cloud.

Right to the universe’s edge,
seated groups of followers are
thinking through their varied doctrines,
trying to resolve all their doubts.

Reading the minds of everyone,
skilled in analogies, O Sage,
discoursing on single questions
you resolve living beings’ doubts.

In this world the earth is filled with
people like those I’ve referred to.
All of them, hands reverently pressed,
should sing the World-Leader’s praises.

Singing praises for an entire aeon,
speaking of diverse qualities
they never could be fully measured;
the Thus-Gone-One has no measure.

Thus singing the Victor’s praises
with all the power that they have,
speaking for ten million aeons
this and that would remain unsaid.

If any being, god or man,
even if he’s very well-trained
tries to draw the full ocean’s water
he would certainly come to grief.

Now fixed in your dispensation,
O Śākyas’ Son, O Great Famed One
having reached Wisdom’s Perfection
I’m living without defilements.

Defeating rival heretics
I further the dispensation.
Today I’m the Dhamma’s general
in the Buddha’s dispensation.

Karma done immeasurable
aeons hence showed me its fruit here:
well-liberated, arrow-quick,
I have destroyed my defilements.

Whatever man who on his head
would carry a load, every day,
he’d be oppressed due to that load,
and that burden would be heavy.

I transmigrated through lifetimes
being burnt up by the three fires,
weighed down by the burden of being
as though I were lifting mountains.

My burden now has been laid down
and I’ve destroyed re-becoming.
I’ve done all things that should be done
in the Buddha’s dispensation.

Through this entire Buddha-field,
except the Śākyan Bull himself,
I’m supreme in terms of wisdom;
there is no one to rival me.

So well-trained in meditation
excelling in the superpowers,
today my only desire is to
create a thousand magically.

Of me who dwelt there by and by
the Great Sage was the great Teacher.
He told me the dispensation;
cessation happened lying down.

My divine eye is purified
and I’m skilled in concentration.
Proper exertion is applied;
I love wisdom’s parts as focus.

Everything is done by me
which followers ought to attain.
Except the Leader of the World
there is no one to rival me.

Skilled in the attainments and discipline,
through altered states I got liberated fast.
Fond of wisdom’s parts as focus
I’ve excelled in the followers’ virtues.

Attaining the followers’ virtues
I’m honored by the Best of Men.
My mind is always filled with faith
in fellow religious students.

Like a snake whose poison’s destroyed,
like a bull whose horns are broken,
freed of my pride and arrogance
I approach with great reverence.

If my wisdom were a beautiful girl
she’d hook up with the rulers of earth.
This is the fruit of my having praised the
knowledge of Anomadassi Buddha.

I help keep rolling perfectly
the Dhamma-wheel which was turned
by the Śākyas’ Son, Neutral One:
that’s the fruit of praising knowledge.

May I not ever, anywhere,
meet one whose thoughts are less than pure,
who’s lazy or lacks energy,
is unlearned or immoral.

Let only one who is learned,
wise, well-fixed in moral precepts
and settled into mental calm
come face-to-face in front of me.

I’m saying this to you, O monks,
gathered together begging here:
always be happy, with slight wants,
meditators, trance-lovers.

That one whom I saw first of all
was free of lust and stainless too.
He’s my teacher, he’s the hero,
the follower named Assaji.

It’s on account of him that I
today am Dhamma’s general.
In every place, having excelled,
I’m living without defilements.

I bow my head in reverence
to whatever region he’s in,
that one who was my own teacher,
the follower named Assaji.

Having called to mind my karma,
Gotama, Bull of the Śākyas,
seated in the monks’ Assembly
placed me in the foremost place then.

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

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!

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

Thus indeed Venerable Sāriputta Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Sāriputta Thera is finished.