Atthadassi, the Blessed One,
the Self-Become One, World-Leader,
the Thus-Gone-One then came up to
the banks of river Vinatā.A water-dwelling tortoise then,
I had come out from the water.
I went up to the World-Leader,
the Buddha; he desired to cross.“Let the Buddha climb onto me,
O Atthadassi, O Great Sage;
I will carry you across; you
are the Ender of Suffering.”Discerning what I was thinking,
Atthadassi, the Greatly Famed,
after climbing onto my back,
stood there, the Leader of the World.As far back as I remember,
ever since I reached discretion,
I have not had such happiness
as when his soles then touched my back.After crossing, the Sambuddha,
Atthadassi, the Greatly Famed,
remaining on the river bank,
spoke these verses about me then:“Just as I ferry folks across
the stream of doubt which is the mind,
this turtle king, full of merit,
ferries me across the river.Through this Buddha-ferrying and
practice of loving-heartedness,
for eighteen hundred aeons he
will delight in the world of gods.Coming back here from the gods’ world,
incited by his wholesome roots,
sitting down on a single seat,
he’ll cross over the stream of doubt.As with a seed which is planted,
in a field which is bountiful:
when it rains, with proper support,
fruit pleases the cultivator;
so too within this Buddha-field,
preached by the Sammāsambuddha:
when it rains, with proper support,
the fruit will be pleasing to me.”I am one bent on exertion,
calmed, devoid of grounds for rebirth,
knowing well all the defilements,
I am now living, undefiled.In the eighteen hundred aeons
since I did that karma back then,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
that is the fruit of ferrying.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 Taraṇiya Thera spoke these verses.
The legend of Taraṇiya Thera is finished.