My wife had passed away, my son
had gone to the cemetery;
on a single pyre I had burned
my mother, father, and brothers.I was consumed due to that grief,
I had become haggard and pale
and I was mentally deranged,
greatly pained because of that grief.Wounded by the arrow of grief,
I went up to the forest’s edge.
Eating only wild fruits I found,
I dwelt at the foot of a tree.The Sambuddha named Sumedha,
the Victor, Ender of Dis-ease,
with a desire to lift me up,
did come into my presence then.Having heard the sound of the feet
of Sumedha, the Sage So Great,
I having lifted up my head
did gaze upon him, the Great Sage.When he, the Great Hero, approached,
then joy did get produced for me.
Having seen him, the World-Leader,
my mind at last was put at ease.Having recovered consciousness,
I gave him a handful of leaves.
The Blessed One then sat down there,
out of compassion, Eyeful One.Sitting down there, the Blessed One,
Sumedha, Leader of the World,
Buddha preached to me the Teaching
that removes the arrows of grief:“Uninvited they’ve come from there;
not taking leave they’ve gone from here.
As they have come, so they have gone;
what good is wailing about that?Just as, when rain is raining down,
people traveling on the road,
taking their goods, are going to
a place where the rain’s not falling,and when the rain has ceased to fall,
they carry on as they had planned;
thus your mother and father too:
what good is wailing about that?We’re all visiting strangers, guests,
wavering, driven on, shaken.
Thus your mother and father too:
what good is wailing about that?Just as a serpent slithers on,
abandoning its worn-out skin,
thus your mother and father too:
their bodies are abandoned here.”Understanding the Buddha’s words,
I removed the arrow of grief.
Generating happiness, I
worshipped the Best of the Buddhas.Worshipping the Great Elephant,
I offered Sumedha, Leader
of the World, a stalk of flowers
endowed with a heavenly scent.Having worshipped the Sambuddha,
pressing my hands upon my head,
calling to mind his chief virtues,
I praised the Leader of the World:“Great Hero, you’re the One Who’s Crossed,
Omniscient One, the World-Leader.
You are lifting up all creatures
with your knowledge, O Sage So Great.You cut off all perplexity
and also doubt, O Sage So Great.
You’re imparting the path to me
through your knowledge, O Eyeful One.Arahants with the goal attained,
six-knowledge-holders, powerful,
wise ones who travel in the sky,
are surrounding you all the time.Your followers are bearing fruit,
those attained and those being trained;
your followers are blossoming
like lotus flowers at sunrise.As the ocean is unperturbed,
unequaled, difficult to cross,
thus too are you, O Eyeful One,
Endowed with Knowledge, Infinite.”Having worshipped the World’s Victor,
the Eyeful One, he of Great Fame,
praising each of the directions,
crouched over I went off from there.Falling from the world of the gods,
transmigrating from birth to birth,
I came out of my mother’s womb,
attentive and remembering.Having departed from the house,
I went forth into homelessness.
Zealous, also intelligent,
I pastured in meditation.Having put forth great exertion,
having gladdened the Sage So Great,
I thereafter am wandering,
like the moon freed from a cloud-bank.I’m now intent on seclusion,
calmed, devoid of grounds for rebirth;
knowing well all the defilements,
I am now living, undefiled.In the thirty thousand aeons
since I worshipped the Buddha then,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
that’s the fruit of Buddha-pūjā.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 Girimānanda Thera spoke these verses.
The legend of Girimānanda Thera is finished.