In the Himalayan region,
there’s a mountain named Lambaka.
I was dwelling at its center,
a brahmin master of mantras.At that time five thousand students
were constantly surrounding me.
They all rose earlier than I,
and were likewise skilled in mantras.“Teacher, you should know the fact that
Buddha has been born in the world,
bearing thirty-two great marks and
eighty lesser marks upon him.
The aura of the Best Victor,
fathom-wide, shines just like the sun.”After hearing his students’ words,
the brahmin master of mantras,
setting out from his own ashram,
then asked directions, that brahmin:
“In which region is he living,
the Great Hero, the World-Leader?I will worship that direction
and the Victor, Without Rival.
And happy, with a happy heart,
I will worship the Thus-Gone-One.Come now, you students, let us go;
let us see him, the Thus-Gone-One.
Having worshipped the Teacher’s feet,
we will hear his dispensation.”One day after I had set out,
I contracted a bad illness.
I laid down beneath a sal tree,
in great pain due to that illness.Assembling all the students then
I asked them questions in this way:
“of what sort is the virtue of
the World’s Lord, the Supreme Buddha?”Then questioned by me they explained
the Best Buddha most thoroughly,
as well as they could see him then
and showed him to me face-to-face.After hearing the students’ words,
I brought my own heart pleasure then.
Having built a floral stupa
I passed away right on the spot.They, after burning my body,
came into the Buddha’s presence.
Pressing hands together for him,
they all worshipped the Teacher then.Having made a floral stupa
for the Well-Gone-One, the Great Sage,
for one hundred thousand aeons,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth.In the forty-thousandth aeon
there were sixteen Kṣatriyan men.
All were known as Aggisamā,
wheel-turning kings with great power.In the twenty-thousandth aeon,
thirty-eight rulers of the earth
were kings who turned the wheel of law,
and all were named Ghatāsana.The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
I have done what the Buddha taught!
Thus indeed Venerable Pupphathūpiya Thera spoke these verses.
The legend of Pupphathūpiya Thera is finished.