buddha daily wisdom image

tha-ap.529 Thera Apadana

Girinelapūjaka

I was formerly a hunter,
wandering in the woods back then.
I saw the Buddha, Stainless One,
who was Master of Everything.

Happy, with pleasure in my heart,
I offered a girinil bloom
for the Compassionate One, the
Delighter, Friend of All Beings.

In the thirty-one aeons since
I offered him that flower 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.
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 Girinelapūjaka Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Girinelapūjaka Thera is finished.

- Translator: Jonathan S. Walters

- Editor: Ayya Vimala