# Thera-apadāna

**URL:** <https://classicaltheravada.org/t/thera-apadana/1356>\
**Category:** Textual Scholarship\
**Created:** [August 6, 2024, 2:56pm UTC](https://classicaltheravada.org/t/thera-apadana/1356 "2024-08-06T14:56:29Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![HappinessSeeker](https://classicaltheravada.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/h/67e7ee/32.png) [@HappinessSeeker](https://classicaltheravada.org/u/HappinessSeeker)\
**Post date:** [August 6, 2024, 2:56pm UTC](https://classicaltheravada.org/t/thera-apadana/1356/1 "2024-08-06T14:56:29Z")

</div>

I found some really interesting texts in the Thera-apadana. These are some of my favorites.

[Nimittasaññaka](https://suttacentral.net/tha-ap327/en/walters?lang=en&reference=none&highlight=false)

> On Candabhāgā River’s bank,  
> I dwelt in a hermitage then.  
> I saw a golden-colored deer,  
> which was wandering through the woods.  
> Having pleased my heart in that deer,  
> I recalled the World’s Best Buddha.  
> With that same pleasure in my heart,  
> I recalled the other Buddhas:  
> “Those Buddhas who have passed away,  
> Thus-Gone-Ones, while they were living,  
> in this very same way shined forth,  
> like golden deer-kings for the heart.”  
> In the ninety-four aeons since  
> I obtained that perception then,  
> I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:  
> the fruit of perceiving Buddhas.  
> In the twenty-seventh aeon  
> hence there was one lord of the earth,  
> who was named Araññasatta,  
> a wheel-turning king with great strength.  
> The four analytical modes,  
> and these eight deliverances,  
> six special knowledges mastered,  
> I have done what the Buddha taught!

[Saṇṭhita](https://suttacentral.net/tha-ap218/en/walters?lang=en&reference=none&highlight=false)

> I obtained perception of the  
> Mindful One, seeing a Buddha  
> gone beneath an Aśvattha tree,  
> full-grown and brightly shining green.  
> In the thirty-one aeons since  
> I obtained that perception then,  
> I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:  
> the fruit of perceiving Buddha.  
> In the thirtieth aeon hence  
> lived the monarch named Dhanittha,  
> a wheel-turning king with great strength,  
> possessor of the seven gems.  
> The four analytical modes,  
> and these eight deliverances,  
> six special knowledges mastered,  
> I have done what the Buddha taught!

[Saññaka](https://suttacentral.net/tha-ap75/en/walters?lang=en&reference=none&highlight=false)

> I saw the Teacher’s ragged robe  
> stuck up in the top of a tree.  
> Pressing my hands together then  
> I worshipped that robe made of rags.
> 
> In the ninety-two aeons since  
> I did that good karma back then,  
> I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:  
> the fruit of perceiving Buddha.
> 
> In the fourth aeon after that  
> the Kṣhatriyan Dumasāra  
> was a wheel-turner with great strength,  
> victorious on all four sides.
> 
> The four analytical modes,  
> and these eight deliverances,  
> six special knowledges mastered,  
> I have done what the Buddha taught!
> 
> Thus indeed Venerable Saññaka Thera spoke these verses.

[Sattāhapabbajita](https://suttacentral.net/tha-ap290/en/walters?lang=en&reference=none&highlight=false)

> Honored and revered were the monks  
> of Vipassi, the Blessed One.  
> Calamity’d befallen me;  
> there was a family rift at home.
> 
> Entering renunciation  
> in order to allay my grief,  
> I spent a week there blissfully,  
> desiring the Teacher’s teaching.
> 
> In the ninety-one aeons since  
> I went forth a renouncer then,  
> I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:  
> the fruit of renunciation.
> 
> In the sixty-seventh aeon  
> hence, there were seven lords of earth  
> who were all called Sunikkhama,  
> wheel-turning monarchs with great strength.
> 
> The four analytical modes,  
> and these eight deliverances,  
> six special knowledges mastered,  
> I have done what the Buddha taught!
> 
> Thus indeed Venerable Sattāhapabbajita Thera spoke these verses.

[Parappasādaka](https://suttacentral.net/tha-ap66/en/walters?lang=en&reference=none&highlight=false)

> “Who is not pleased after seeing  
> the Bull, the Best One, the Hero,  
> the Sage So Great, Victorious One,  
> the Golden-Colored Sambuddha?
> 
> Who is not pleased after seeing  
> the Buddha’s meditative states,  
> boundless as the Himalayas,  
> as hard to cross as the ocean?
> 
> Who is not pleased after seeing  
> the Buddha’s moral discipline,  
> as boundless as the earth itself,  
> diverse wreath of forest-flowers?
> 
> Who is not pleased after seeing  
> the knowledge Buddha possesses,  
> unagitated like the sky,  
> as unfathomable as space?”
> 
> Having extolled the Best Buddha,  
> Siddhattha, the Unconquered One,  
> with these four verses when I was  
> the brahmin whose name was Yena,
> 
> I was reborn in no ill-state  
> for four and ninety aeons thence;  
> I enjoyed no small quantity  
> of happiness in good rebirths.
> 
> In the ninety-four aeons since  
> I praised the Leader of the World,  
> I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:  
> that is the fruit of praising him.
> 
> In the fourteenth aeon ago  
> there were four men named Uggata,  
> wheel-turning kings with great power,  
> possessors of the seven gems.
> 
> The four analytical modes,  
> and these eight deliverances,  
> six special knowledges mastered,  
> I have done what the Buddha taught!
> 
> Thus indeed Venerable Parappasādaka Thera spoke these verses.

[Ñāṇathavika](https://suttacentral.net/tha-ap436/en/walters?lang=en&reference=none&highlight=false)

> I saw the Ultimate Biped,  
> shining like a dinner-plate tree,  
> blazing forth like a tree of lamps,  
> glittering as though made of gold.
> 
> Putting aside my water-pot,  
> my robes of bark and my ewer,  
> placing deer-hide on one shoulder,  
> I then praised him, the Best Buddha:
> 
> “Great Sage, shedding the knowledge-light,  
> which dispels confusion-darkness  
> produced by the delusion-web,  
> you’re the One who has Crossed Over.
> 
> O Unexcelled One, you lift up  
> this world in its entirety;  
> there is not in its whole extent  
> a simile for your knowledge.
> 
> Due to that knowledge, the Buddha  
> is known as “the Omniscient One.”  
> Great Hero, I’m worshipping him,  
> the Unobstructed, All-Knower.”
> 
> In the hundred thousand aeons  
> since I praised the Best of Buddhas,  
> I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:  
> that’s the fruit of praising knowledge.
> 
> 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 Ñāṇathavika Thera spoke these verses.

[Sayampaṭibhāṇiya](https://suttacentral.net/tha-ap471/en/walters?lang=en&reference=none&highlight=false)

> “Who is not pleased after seeing  
> the God of Gods, the Bull of Men,  
> shining like a dinner-plate tree,  
> when he’s going along the road?
> 
> Who is not pleased after seeing  
> him shining the light of knowledge,  
> driving away all the darkness,  
> ferrying many folks across?
> 
> Who is not pleased after seeing  
> the Leader of the World going  
> with one hundred thousand masters,  
> and lifting up many beings?
> 
> Who is not pleased after seeing  
> him beat the drum of the Teaching,  
> sounding the roar of a lion,  
> crushing groups of ford-worshippers?
> 
> Who is not pleased after seeing  
> all the gods including Brahmā  
> come all the way from Brahmā’s world,  
> asking Buddha subtle questions?
> 
> Who is not pleased after seeing  
> the world with its gods imploring,  
> both hands pressed together for him,  
> enjoying merit due to that?
> 
> Who is not pleased after seeing  
> all the people come together,  
> attending on the Eyeful One?  
> Invited, he does not waver.
> 
> Who is not pleased after seeing  
> numerous drums bellowing, and  
> rutting elephants trumpeting,  
> when he’s entering the city?
> 
> Who is not pleased after seeing  
> the All-Bright One always shining,  
> and raised spots becoming level,  
> when he is going on the road?
> 
> Who is not pleased after seeing  
> him instructing every being,  
> being heard throughout the cosmos,  
> when the Blessed One is speaking?”
> 
> In the hundred thousand aeons  
> since I praised the Buddha like that,  
> I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:  
> that is the fruit of praising him.
> 
> 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 Sayampaṭibhāṇiya Thera spoke these verses.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![HappinessSeeker](https://classicaltheravada.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/h/67e7ee/32.png) [@HappinessSeeker](https://classicaltheravada.org/u/HappinessSeeker)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2024, 2:33am UTC](https://classicaltheravada.org/t/thera-apadana/1356/2 "2024-08-24T02:33:20Z")

</div>

I found another interesting verse.

> I saw the Golden Sambuddha,  
> Bearing the Thirty-two Great Marks  
> Honored by the monks’ Assembly,  
> who was leaving the forest then.
> 
> Overjoyed I then arranged for  
> milk-rice served in a bowl of bronze.  
> Wishing to offer sacrifice  
> I presented this offering.
> 
> The Buddha living at that time,  
> the World’s Best One, the Bull of Men,  
> had well-ascended a walkway  
> in the wind’s path up in the sky.
> 
> And having seen that miracle,  
> marvel making hair stand on end,  
> placing down that bowl made of bronze,  
> I worshipped Vipassi right then.
> 
> “You are the God, Omniscient One,  
> over the gods as well as men.  
> Having taken pity on me,  
> please accept this food, O Great Sage.”
> 
> Discerning what I was thinking,  
> the Teacher, Great Sage in the World,  
> the Blessed One, Omniscient One,  
> the World-Leader, accepted it.
> 
> In the ninety-one aeons since  
> I gave him that alms-food back then,  
> I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:  
> that is the fruit of some milk-rice.
> 
> In the forty-first aeon hence  
> **I was a ruler named Buddha,**  
> a wheel-turner with great power,  
> possessor of the seven gems.
> 
> The four analytical modes,  
> and these eight deliverances,  
> six special knowledges mastered,  
> I have done what the Buddha taught!
> 
> Thus indeed Venerable Pāyāsadāyaka Thera spoke these verses.

[https://suttacentral.net/tha-ap125/en/walters?lang=en&reference=none&highlight=false](https://suttacentral.net/tha-ap125/en/walters?lang=en&reference=none&highlight=false)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![HappinessSeeker](https://classicaltheravada.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/h/67e7ee/32.png) [@HappinessSeeker](https://classicaltheravada.org/u/HappinessSeeker)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2024, 2:45am UTC](https://classicaltheravada.org/t/thera-apadana/1356/3 "2024-08-24T02:45:32Z")

</div>

I also found more interesting verses

> In a dream I saw the Buddha,  
> the World’s Leader, Siddhattha,  
> like the rising hundred-rayed sun,  
> bright but cool like a rayless sun,  
> the World’s Best, the Bull among Men,  
> who’d gone into the forest then.  
> Bringing pleasure to my heart there,  
> I approached the Well-Gone Buddha.
> 
> In the ninety-four aeons since  
> I obtained that perception then,  
> I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:  
> the fruit of perceiving Buddhas.
> 
> The four analytical modes,  
> and these eight deliverances,  
> six special knowledges mastered,  
> I have done what the Buddha taught!
> 
> Thus indeed Venerable Buddhasaññaka Thera spoke these verses.

[https://suttacentral.net/tha-ap311/en/walters?lang=en&reference=none&highlight=false](https://suttacentral.net/tha-ap311/en/walters?lang=en&reference=none&highlight=false)

> In reading marks and history,  
> with glosses and ritual law,  
> I was learned, mantra-knowing,  
> a master of the three Vedas.
> 
> Many students came to me then,  
> resembling a river stream.  
> I am teaching mantras to them,  
> night and day, I am not lazy.
> 
> The Sambuddha named Siddhattha  
> arose in the world at that time.  
> Having driven out the darkness,  
> he displayed the light of knowledge.
> 
> A certain one of my students  
> conversed with my other students;  
> having heard the fact he discussed,  
> they then announced the fact to me:
> 
> “A Buddha’s risen in the world,  
> an Omniscient One, World-Leader.  
> The people are turning to him;  
> we’re not going to get anything.”
> 
> “Buddhas are Born Spontaneously,  
> those Eyeful Ones, Greatly Famed Ones.  
> Why then don’t I also go see  
> the Best Buddha, the World-Leader?”
> 
> Having taken my deer-leather,  
> my robes of bark, and water-pot,  
> departing from my hermitage,  
> I advised my students like this:
> 
> “Like a glomerous fig tree bloom,  
> and like the rabbit in the moon,  
> and like the mother’s milk of crows,  
> a World-Leader’s hard to obtain.
> 
> A Buddha’s risen in the world!  
> Even human birth’s hard to get,  
> and hearing’s very hard to get,  
> when both of them occur at once.
> 
> A Buddha’s risen in the world!  
> We’ll get to see him in our lives.  
> Come, we will now all go into  
> the Sammāsambuddha’s presence.”
> 
> They all were holding water-pots,  
> and dressed in rough bark and deer-hide.  
> They, bearing weights of matted hair,  
> then departed from the forest.
> 
> Looking but a plough’s length ahead,  
> searching for ultimate meaning,  
> coming like baby elephants,  
> they were without fear, like lions.
> 
> Free of cares and unwavering,  
> clever and living peacefully,  
> wandering about for gleaning,  
> they approached the Best of Buddhas.
> 
> When a league and a half was left  
> to go, illness arose in me.  
> Remembering the Best Buddha,  
> I passed away right on the spot.
> 
> In the ninety-four aeons since  
> I obtained that perception then,  
> I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:  
> the fruit of perceiving Buddhas.
> 
> 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 Buddhasaññaka Thera spoke these verses.

[https://suttacentral.net/tha-ap484/en/walters?lang=en&reference=none&highlight=false](https://suttacentral.net/tha-ap484/en/walters?lang=en&reference=none&highlight=false)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![HappinessSeeker](https://classicaltheravada.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/h/67e7ee/32.png) [@HappinessSeeker](https://classicaltheravada.org/u/HappinessSeeker)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2024, 2:42pm UTC](https://classicaltheravada.org/t/thera-apadana/1356/4 "2024-09-06T14:42:12Z")

</div>

I really like the Subhūtittheraapadāna. It clearly shows the benefits of practicing Buddhanusati.

[Subhūtittheraapadāna](https://suttacentral.net/tha-ap23/en/walters?lang=en&reference=none&highlight=false)

> Close to the Himalayan range  
> on the mountain called Nisabha  
> my ashram is very well made,  
> a well-constructed hall of leaves.
> 
> Famed ascetic with matted hair,  
> Kosiya was my name back then.  
> Solitary, with no second,  
> I did live on Nisabha then.
> 
> At that time I was not eating  
> fruits and roots and freshly-picked leaves.  
> I was always subsisting on  
> the stuff that fell into my bowl.
> 
> I disturbed no mode of living,  
> giving up my own life itself.  
> My own heart was satisfied as  
> I rejected all harmful ways.
> 
> Whenever there arose in me  
> a mind heated up by passion,  
> reflecting on it by myself,  
> remaining calm I would tame it:
> 
> “You’re aroused in what’s arousing,  
> you are defiled in what defiles,  
> you fool yourself in foolish things  
> so you should leave the forest now.
> 
> This is the habitation of  
> the pure and stainless ascetics.  
> Do not sully that purity;  
> you ought to leave the forest now.
> 
> Having become a homeless one,  
> you always get what is fitting.  
> Don’t you transgress against them both;  
> you ought to leave the forest now.
> 
> The wood left from a funeral pyre  
> is not made use of anywhere:  
> in the village or the jungle  
> it’s not approved as firewood.
> 
> You are just like that firebrand,  
> neither layman nor yet wise man.  
> Today you’ve departed from both  
> so you should leave the forest now.
> 
> What then would that produce for you?  
> To what does this give birth for you?  
> Giving up my practice of faith  
> results in so much idleness.
> 
> The wise are going to despise you  
> as a householder dislikes dirt.  
> Sages, having rooted you out  
> will always cast blame upon you.
> 
> The wise ones will speak out against  
> you leaving the dispensation.  
> You’ll receive no co-residence;  
> what are you going to live on then?
> 
> A strong elephant will approach  
> an elephant who’s thrice-rutting,  
> a tusker sixty years of age  
> and drive him away from the herd.
> 
> Living in exile from the herd  
> he’s not happy nor is he pleased.  
> Suffering with his mind depressed,  
> full of remorse, he will tremble.
> 
> Just like that the cruel ascetics  
> are surely going to throw you out.  
> Being exiled by them you won’t  
> feel happiness or pleasure then.
> 
> If by day or by night you are  
> pierced through with the arrow of grief,  
> then you will burn with pain just like  
> the tusker exiled from the herd.
> 
> Just as a pretty iron tool  
> is not taken out anywhere,  
> so you, without moral restraint,  
> won’t be invited anywhere.
> 
> Even if you’re dwelling at home  
> what are you going to live on there?  
> You do not have a heap of wealth  
> from your mother and your father.
> 
> Having done hard work by oneself  
> much sweat flows out of the body.  
> Thus earning a living at home,  
> you won’t think it so excellent.”
> 
> In that way I carried on there  
> whenever my mind was defiled.  
> Making varied Dhamma-speeches  
> I warded off my evil heart.
> 
> While I was living in this way  
> dwelling so very thoughtfully  
> fully thirty thousand years passed  
> in my forest hermitage there.
> 
> Seeing my love of thoughtfulness  
> in seeking for the supreme goal,  
> Padumuttara the Buddha  
> then came to the place where I was.
> 
> The Bright Hue of Wild Mangosteen,  
> Incomparable, Unmeasurable,  
> the Buddha, Unrivaled in Form,  
> walked back and forth across the sky.
> 
> Like a regal sal tree in bloom,  
> like lightening inside of a cloud,  
> the Buddha, Peerless in Knowledge,  
> walked back and forth across the sky.
> 
> Not frightened, like the king of beasts;  
> prideful like an elephant-king;  
> playful as a tiger-king he  
> walked back and forth across the sky.
> 
> Shining like a coin made of gold  
> or even like glowing embers,  
> like a wish-fulfilling gem he  
> walked back and forth across the sky.
> 
> Like Mount Kailās in purity,  
> like the moon on the fifteenth day,  
> like the blazing midday sun he  
> walked back and forth across the sky.
> 
> Seeing him walk across the sky  
> at that time I thought in this way:  
> “Is this creature some sort of god?  
> If not, is this one just a man?
> 
> I’ve never heard of nor have seen  
> a man as great as this one seems.  
> Surely he knows secret mantras;  
> I think this must be the Teacher.”
> 
> Having thought about it like that  
> I brought pleasure to my own heart.  
> And I then gathered together  
> various flowers and perfumes.
> 
> Spreading out a seat of flowers  
> I then spoke these words to Buddha,  
> Good-Hearted One, the Mind’s Delight,  
> the Charioteer of Men, the Top:  
> “O Hero, I’ve spread out this seat  
> which is a fitting one for you.  
> Bringing laughter to my own heart  
> please sit on this seat of flowers.”
> 
> The Blessed One did sit down there  
> unfrightened like a lion-king,  
> and the Buddha remained a week  
> on that excellent floral seat.
> 
> Worshipping him I stood right there  
> for all those seven nights and days.  
> Rising up from meditation  
> the Teacher, Best One in the World,
> 
> declaring my karmic result  
> then did speak these words to me there:  
> **“Practice Buddha-recollection,**  
> **\> it’s the supreme meditation.**  
> **\> Cultivating this mindfulness**  
> **\> will be fulfilling mentally.**  
> **\> For thirty thousand aeons you**  
> **\> will delight in the world of gods.**  
> **\> Eighty times as the king of gods**  
> **\> you will exercise divine rule.**  
> **\> A thousand times you’re going to be**  
> **\> wheel-turning king of a country.**  
> **\> And you will have much local rule**  
> **\> innumerable by counting.**  
> **\> You’ll experience all of that:**  
> **\> fruit of Buddha-recollection.**  
> **\> Transmigrating from birth to birth**  
> **\> you will receive many riches.**  
> **\> In wealth never deficiency:**  
> **\> fruit of Buddha-recollection.**  
> In one hundred thousand aeons,  
> arising in Okkāka’s clan,  
> the one whose name is Gotama  
> will be the Teacher in the world.  
> Discarding eight hundred million  
> and many slaves and workers too,  
> you’ll renounce in the great Teaching  
> of Gotama the Blessed One.  
> Satisfying the Sambuddha,  
> Gotama, the Bull of Śākyas,  
> you will be known as Subhūti,  
> a follower of the Teacher.  
> Seated in the monks’ assembly  
> he’ll fix you in two foremost spots:  
> in the group of gift-receivers,  
> and also of forest-dwellers.”  
> Having said this, the Sambuddha  
> who was named for the lotus flower,  
> the Hero flew into the sky  
> just like a swan-king in the air.  
> Thus instructed by the World-Chief  
> and having praised the Thus-Gone-One,  
> satisfied I always practiced  
> supreme Buddha-recollection.  
> Due to that karma done very well  
> with intention and firm resolve,  
> discarding my human body  
> I went to Tāvatiṁsa then.  
> Eighty times as the king of gods  
> I did exercise divine rule,  
> and too a thousand times I was  
> a wheel-turning monarch then.  
> And I did have much local rule  
> innumerable by counting.  
> I experienced supreme success:  
> fruit of Buddha-recollection.  
> Transmigrating from birth to birth  
> I did receive many riches.  
> In wealth never deficiency:  
> fruit of Buddha-recollection.  
> In the hundred thousand aeons  
> since I performed that good karma,  
> I’ve come to know no bad rebirth;  
> fruit of Buddha-recollection.  
> The four analytical modes,  
> and these eight deliverances,  
> six special knowledges mastered,  
> I have done what the Buddha taught!  
> Thus indeed Venerable Subhūti Thera spoke these verses.