SN 7.17

Navakammikasutta

Ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā kosalesu viharati aññatarasmiṁ vanasaṇḍe. Tena kho pana samayena navakammikabhāradvājo brāhmaṇo tasmiṁ vanasaṇḍe kammantaṁ kārāpeti. Addasā kho navakammikabhāradvājo brāhmaṇo bhagavantaṁ aññatarasmiṁ sālarukkhamūle nisinnaṁ pallaṅkaṁ ābhujitvā ujuṁ kāyaṁ paṇidhāya parimukhaṁ satiṁ upaṭṭhapetvā. Disvānassa etadahosi: “ahaṁ kho imasmiṁ vanasaṇḍe kammantaṁ kārāpento ramāmi. Ayaṁ samaṇo gotamo kiṁ kārāpento ramatī”ti? Atha kho navakammikabhāradvājo brāhmaṇo yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkami. upasaṅkamitvā bhagavantaṁ gāthāya ajjhabhāsi:

The Builder

At one time the Buddha was staying in the land of the Kosalans in a certain forest grove. Now at that time the brahmin Bhāradvāja the Builder was having some building work done in that jungle thicket. He saw the Buddha sitting down cross-legged at the root of a certain sal tree, his body set straight, and mindfulness brought to the present. Seeing this, it occurred to him, “I enjoy having this building work done here in the jungle. I wonder what the ascetic Gotama enjoys having done?” Then Bhāradvāja the Builder went up to the Buddha and addressed him in verse:

“Ke nu kammantā karīyanti, bhikkhu sālavane tava; Yadekako araññasmiṁ, ratiṁ vindati gotamo”ti.

“What kind of works are done by you, a mendicant in the sal jungle? How do you find enjoyment alone in the wilderness, Gotama?”

“Na me vanasmiṁ karaṇīyamatthi, Ucchinnamūlaṁ me vanaṁ visūkaṁ; Svāhaṁ vane nibbanatho visallo, Eko rame aratiṁ vippahāyā”ti.

“There’s nothing I need do in the jungle; my jungle’s cut at the root, it’s withered away. Free of snarls and thorns in the jungle, I enjoy solitude, having given up discontent.”

Evaṁ vutte, navakammikabhāradvājo brāhmaṇo bhagavantaṁ etadavoca: “abhikkantaṁ, bho gotama …pe… upāsakaṁ maṁ bhavaṁ gotamo dhāretu ajjatagge pāṇupetaṁ saraṇaṁ gatan”ti.

When he had spoken, the brahmin Bhāradvāja the Builder said to the Buddha, “Excellent, worthy Gotama … From this day forth, may the worthy Gotama remember me as a lay follower who has gone for refuge for life.”