SN 7.4

Bilaṅgikasutta

Ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā rājagahe viharati veḷuvane kalandakanivāpe. Assosi kho bilaṅgikabhāradvājo brāhmaṇo: “bhāradvājagotto kira brāhmaṇo samaṇassa gotamassa santike agārasmā anagāriyaṁ pabbajito”ti kupito anattamano yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā tuṇhībhūto ekamantaṁ aṭṭhāsi. Atha kho bhagavā bilaṅgikassa bhāradvājassa brāhmaṇassa cetasā cetoparivitakkamaññāya bilaṅgikaṁ bhāradvājaṁ brāhmaṇaṁ gāthāya ajjhabhāsi:

With Bhāradvāja the Bitter

At one time the Buddha was staying near Rājagaha in the Bamboo Grove, the squirrels’ feeding ground. The brahmin Bhāradvāja the Bitter heard a rumor that a brahmin of the Bhāradvāja clan had gone forth from the lay life to homelessness in the presence of the ascetic Gotama. Angry and displeased he went to the Buddha and stood silently to one side. Then the Buddha, knowing Bhāradvāja the Bitter’s train of thought, addressed him in verse:

“Yo appaduṭṭhassa narassa dussati, Suddhassa posassa anaṅgaṇassa; Tameva bālaṁ pacceti pāpaṁ, Sukhumo rajo paṭivātaṁva khitto”ti.

“Whoever wrongs a man who has done no wrong, a pure man who has not a blemish, the evil backfires on the fool, like fine dust thrown upwind.”

Evaṁ vutte, bilaṅgikabhāradvājo brāhmaṇo bhagavantaṁ etadavoca: “abhikkantaṁ, bho gotama …pe… abbhaññāsi. Aññataro ca panāyasmā bhāradvājo arahataṁ ahosīti.

When he said this, the brahmin Bhāradvāja the Bitter said to the Buddha, “Excellent, worthy Gotama! …” … And Venerable Bhāradvāja became one of the perfected.