236. Vaṇṇakāraka

In Aruṇavatī city
I was a dyer at that time.
With various colors I dyed
the cloth items on the stupa.

In the thirty-one aeons since
I dyed with colors at that time,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth;
that’s the fruit of giving colors.

In the twenty-third aeon hence
I was one named Candupama,
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 Vaṇṇakāraka Thera spoke these verses.