159. Punnāgapupphiya

Plunging into a forest grove,
I lived there as a hunter then.
Seeing a laurel tree in bloom,
I called to mind the Best Buddha.

Having plucked a flower from it,
well-perfumed and scented with scents,
having made a stupa of sand,
I offered it to the Buddha.

In the ninety-two aeons since
I did that flower-pūjā then,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
that’s the fruit of Buddha-pūjā.

In the ninety-first aeon thence
lived a ruler, Tamonuda,
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!

Thus indeed Venerable Punnāgapupphiya Thera spoke these verses.