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tha-ap.18 Thera Apadana

Rāhula

I gifted a mirrored surface
in the seven-story palace
of Blessed Padumuttara
the World’s Best One, the Neutral One.

The Biped-Lord, the Bull of Men,
the Great Sage then surrounded by
a thousand arahants undefiled
proceeded to his perfumed hut.

Standing in the monks’ Assembly,
and lighting up that perfumed hut,
the God of Gods, the Bull of Men,
the Teacher, spoke these verses then:

“I shall relate details of him
who would cause this palace to shine
with a mirror well spread out here;
all of you listen to my words:

Things made of gold, things of silver,
things made of lapis lazuli;
whatever things he wishes for
will arise in the sky for him.

Sixty-four times the king of gods
he will exercise divine rule;
a thousand times he’s going to be
a wheel-turner, without a break.

In the twenty-first aeon hence
the Kṣatriyan named Vimala
victorious on all four sides
will be a wheel-turning monarch.

His city, called Reṇuvatī,
will be well-fashioned out of tile.
Each side three hundred leagues in length
will be joined rectangularly.

His palace named Sudassana
constructed by Vissakamma
will be furnished with gabled cells
studded with seven kinds of gems.

Filled with divine musicians,
and never lacking the ten sounds;
it will be like Sudassana,
the city where the gods reside.

Even when its radiance dims,
as though the sun were rising then
it will be made to shine brightly
eight leagues in every direction.

In one hundred thousand aeons,
arising in Okkāka’s clan,
the one whose name is Gotama
will be the Teacher in the world.

Falling from Tusitā heaven,
incited by his wholesome roots,
he’ll be the legitimate son
of Gotama the Blessed One.

If he should remain in the house
then he would be a wheel-turner.
For that reason an arahant can’t
obtain pleasure within the house.

Being well-trained he will renounce
after going forth from the house.
He will be known as Rāhula
and he will become an arahant.”

“As a blue jay protects its eggs
and as an ox protects its tail,
so too, Great Sage, I being wise
and moral did protect virtue.

Understanding his Teaching, I
lived loving his dispensation.
Knowing well all the defilements,
without defilements I now live.

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

Thus indeed Venerable Rāhula Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Venerable Rāhula Thera is finished.

- Translator: Jonathan S. Walters

- Editor: Ayya Vimala