217. Tālavaṇṭadāyaka

I gave a palmyra-frond fan
to Tissa, Kinsman of the Sun,
to quench him in the summer heat,
and soothe the burning of the sun.

I am quenching the fire of lust,
and the fire of hatred as well;
I am quenching delusion’s fire:
that’s the fruit of giving a fan.

My defilements are all burnt up,
every existence is canceled.
I now possess my last body
in the Buddha’s dispensation.

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

In the sixty-third aeon hence
there was one named Mahārāma,
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 Tālavaṇṭadāyaka Thera spoke these verses.