The Victor, Padumuttara,
was the Master of Everything.
Plunged into the Himalayas,
the Leader of the World sat down.

I did not see the Sambuddha,
I also did not hear his sound.
Searching for food for me to eat,
I was wandering in the woods.

There I did see the Sambuddha,
Bearing the Thirty-two Great Marks.
Seeing the Buddha made me think,
“what sort of being might this be?”

Examining his body’s marks,
I recalled my studies of lore,
the good words which I once had heard,
from elderly men of wisdom:

“According to that word of theirs,
this person will be a Buddha;
well then I ought to honor him;
it will purify my station.”

Quickly coming to my ashram,
I grabbed some buffalo ghee, and
taking a pot to carry it,
I approached him, the Bull of Men.

Taking a three-legged stool, I
stood it up in an open space.
Lighting a lamp placed on that stool,
I worshipped the Buddha eight times.

Seven nights and days the Buddha,
sat there, the Ultimate Person.
Then at the end of the last night,
Buddha stood up, the World-Leader.

Happy, with pleasure in my heart,
for seven nights and days I lit
that lamp for the seated Buddha,
feeling well-pleased by my own hands.

All the good scents of the forests
on Gandhamādana Mountain,
by means of Buddha’s majesty
then went up to him, the Victor.

All of the trees were then in bloom.
By means of Buddha’s majesty
all of the floral scents produced,
assembled into one right then.

Throughout the Himalayas, both
the snake-gods and the garuḷas,
desiring to hear the Teaching,
came into the Buddha’s presence.

The monk whose name was Devala
was the Buddha’s chief attendant.
With one hundred thousand masters,
he also approached the Buddha.

Padumuttara, World-Knower,
Sacrificial Recipient,
seated in the monks’ Assembly,
then spoke these verses about me:

“He who has lit a lamp for me,
feeling well-pleased by his own hands,
I shall relate details of him;
all of you listen to my words:

For sixty thousand aeons he
will delight in the world of gods.
A thousand times he’ll be a king,
a king who turns the wheel of law.

Thirty-six times lord of the gods,
he will exercise divine rule.
Seven hundred times on the earth,
he’ll rule an extensive kingdom,
and he will have much local rule,
innumerable by counting.

Because of this lamp-offering,
he will develop “divine eye.”
This one is always going to see
eight kosas in all directions.

Fallen from the world of the gods,
when this person has been reborn,
whether by day or else by night,
a lamp will be carried for him.

When this person’s being reborn,
a possessor of good karma,
he will illuminate the world
throughout the city where he is.

In whichever womb he’s reborn,
whether it’s human or divine,
because of his lamp-offering,
due to the fruit of those eight lamps,
people will not surpass this one:
that is the fruit of giving lamps.

In one hundred thousand aeons,
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,
knowing well all the defilements,
he’ll reach nirvana, undefiled.

Having pleased him, the Sambuddha,
Gotama, Bull of the Śākyas,
he’ll be the Teacher’s follower,
and his name will be Ajita.”

For sixty thousand aeons I
delighted in the world of gods.
In that place too my hundred lamps
are burning brightly all the time.

In the gods’ world or that of men,
my own effulgence is diffused.
Remembering the Best Buddha,
I generate enormous mirth.

Falling from Tusitā heaven,
I came out of a mother’s womb.
While that person was being born,
there was always a lot of light.

Having departed from the house,
I went forth into homelessness.
Having gone up to Bāvarī,
I agreed to be his student.

Living in the Himalayas,
I heard about the World-Leader.
Searching for ultimate meaning,
I approached the Buddha, the Guide.

The Tame One, Buddha, He who Tames,
the Flood-Crosser, Beyond Rebirth,
the Buddha spoke of nirvana,
liberation from all dis-ease.

His coming to me succeeded;
I entertained him, the Great Sage.
Attaining the three knowledges,
I have done what the Buddha taught!

In the hundred thousand aeons
since I gave him that lamp back then,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
that’s the fruit of giving lamps.

My defilements are now burnt up;
all new existence is destroyed.
All defilements are exhausted;
now there will be no more rebirth.

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 Ajita Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Ajita Thera is finished.

The Summary:

Pilindavaccha and Sela,
Sabbakitti, Madundada,
Kūṭāgārī and Bakkula,
Giri, Salaḷasavhaya,
Sabbada and Ajita too:
the verses here are counted at
one hundred and five verses and
twenty more beyond that number.

The Pilindavaccha Chapter, the Fortieth.

Then there is the Summary of Chapters:

Paduma and Ārakkhada,
Ummā and Gandhodakena,
Ekapadama, Saddasaññi,
Mandāraṃ, Bodhiavandaka,
Avaṇṭa and Pilindi too.
And these verses are counted too,
seventy-four verses beyond
eleven hundred verses here.

The Ten Chapters called Paduma.

The Fourth Hundred is finished.