SN 7.1

Dhanañjānīsutta

Evaṁ me sutaṁ— ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā rājagahe viharati veḷuvane kalandakanivāpe. Tena kho pana samayena aññatarassa bhāradvājagottassa brāhmaṇassa dhanañjānī nāma brāhmaṇī abhippasannā hoti buddhe ca dhamme ca saṅghe ca. Atha kho dhanañjānī brāhmaṇī bhāradvājagottassa brāhmaṇassa bhattaṁ upasaṁharantī upakkhalitvā tikkhattuṁ udānaṁ udānesi:

With Dhanañjānī

So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying near Rājagaha in the Bamboo Grove, the squirrels’ feeding ground. Now at that time the wife of a certain brahmin of the Bhāradvāja clan, a brahmin lady named Dhanañjānī, was devoted to the Buddha, the teaching, and the Saṅgha. Once, while she was bringing her husband his meal, she tripped and expressed this heartfelt sentiment three times:

“Namo tassa bhagavato arahato sammāsambuddhassa.

“Homage to him, the blessed one, the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha!

Namo tassa bhagavato arahato sammāsambuddhassa.

Homage to him, the blessed one, the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha!

Namo tassa bhagavato arahato sammāsambuddhassā”ti.

Homage to him, the blessed one, the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha!”

Evaṁ vutte, bhāradvājagotto brāhmaṇo dhanañjāniṁ brāhmaṇiṁ etadavoca: “evamevaṁ panāyaṁ vasalī yasmiṁ vā tasmiṁ vā tassa muṇḍakassa samaṇassa vaṇṇaṁ bhāsati. Idāni tyāhaṁ, vasali, tassa satthuno vādaṁ āropessāmī”ti. “Na khvāhaṁ taṁ, brāhmaṇa, passāmi sadevake loke samārake sabrahmake sassamaṇabrāhmaṇiyā pajāya sadevamanussāya, yo tassa bhagavato vādaṁ āropeyya arahato sammāsambuddhassa. Api ca tvaṁ, brāhmaṇa, gaccha, gantvā vijānissasī”ti.

When she said this, the brahmin said to Dhanañjānī: “That’d be right. For the slightest thing this lowlife woman praises that shaven ascetic. Right now, lowlife woman, I’m going to refute your teacher’s doctrine!” “Brahmin, I don’t see anyone in this world—with its gods, Māras, and divinities, this population with its ascetics and brahmins, its gods and humans—who can refute the doctrine of the Blessed One, the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha. But anyway, you should go. When you’ve gone you’ll understand.”

Atha kho bhāradvājagotto brāhmaṇo kupito anattamano yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā bhagavatā saddhiṁ sammodi. Sammodanīyaṁ kathaṁ sāraṇīyaṁ vītisāretvā ekamantaṁ nisīdi. Ekamantaṁ nisinno kho bhāradvājagotto brāhmaṇo bhagavantaṁ gāthāya ajjhabhāsi:

Then the brahmin of the Bhāradvāja clan, angry and upset, went to the Buddha and exchanged greetings with him. When the greetings and polite conversation were over, he sat down to one side, and addressed the Buddha in verse:

“Kiṁsu chetvā sukhaṁ seti, kiṁsu chetvā na socati; Kissassu ekadhammassa, vadhaṁ rocesi gotamā”ti.

“When what is slain do you sleep at ease? When what is slain is there no sorrow? What is the one thing whose killing you approve?”

“Kodhaṁ chetvā sukhaṁ seti, kodhaṁ chetvā na socati; Kodhassa visamūlassa, madhuraggassa brāhmaṇa; Vadhaṁ ariyā pasaṁsanti, tañhi chetvā na socatī”ti.

“When anger’s slain you sleep at ease. When anger’s slain there is no sorrow. Anger has a poisonous root and a sweet tip, O brahmin. The noble ones praise its killing, for when it’s slain there is no sorrow.”

Evaṁ vutte, bhāradvājagotto brāhmaṇo bhagavantaṁ etadavoca: “abhikkantaṁ, bho gotama, abhikkantaṁ, bho gotama. Seyyathāpi, bho gotama, nikkujjitaṁ vā ukkujjeyya, paṭicchannaṁ vā vivareyya, mūḷhassa vā maggaṁ ācikkheyya, andhakāre vā telapajjotaṁ dhāreyya: ‘cakkhumanto rūpāni dakkhantī’ti; evamevaṁ bhotā gotamena anekapariyāyena dhammo pakāsito. Esāhaṁ, bhante, bhagavantaṁ gotamaṁ saraṇaṁ gacchāmi dhammañca bhikkhusaṅghañca. Labheyyāhaṁ bhoto gotamassa santike pabbajjaṁ, labheyyaṁ upasampadan”ti.

When he said this, the brahmin said to the Buddha, “Excellent, worthy Gotama! Excellent! As if he were righting the overturned, or revealing the hidden, or pointing out the path to the lost, or lighting a lamp in the dark so people with clear eyes can see what’s there, worthy Gotama has made the teaching clear in many ways. I go for refuge to the worthy Gotama, to the teaching, and to the mendicant Saṅgha. May I receive the going forth, the ordination in the worthy Gotama’s presence?”

Alattha kho bhāradvājagotto brāhmaṇo bhagavato santike pabbajjaṁ, alattha upasampadaṁ. Acirūpasampanno kho panāyasmā bhāradvājo eko vūpakaṭṭho appamatto ātāpī pahitatto viharanto nacirasseva—yassatthāya kulaputtā sammadeva agārasmā anagāriyaṁ pabbajanti tadanuttaraṁ—brahmacariyapariyosānaṁ diṭṭheva dhamme sayaṁ abhiññā sacchikatvā upasampajja vihāsi. “Khīṇā jāti, vusitaṁ brahmacariyaṁ, kataṁ karaṇīyaṁ, nāparaṁ itthattāyā”ti abbhaññāsi. Aññataro ca panāyasmā bhāradvājo arahataṁ ahosīti.

And the brahmin received the going forth, the ordination in the Buddha’s presence. Not long after his ordination, Venerable Bhāradvāja, living alone, withdrawn, diligent, keen, and resolute, soon realized the supreme culmination of the spiritual path in this very life. He lived having achieved with his own insight the goal for which gentlemen rightly go forth from the lay life to homelessness. He understood: “Rebirth is ended; the spiritual journey has been completed; what had to be done has been done; there is nothing further for this place.” And Venerable Bhāradvāja became one of the perfected.