Ud 1.10

Bāhiyasutta

Evaṁ me sutaṁ— ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā sāvatthiyaṁ viharati jetavane anāthapiṇḍikassa ārāme. Tena kho pana samayena bāhiyo dārucīriyo suppārake paṭivasati samuddatīre sakkato garukato mānito pūjito apacito lābhī cīvarapiṇḍapātasenāsanagilānapaccayabhesajjaparikkhārānaṁ. Atha kho bāhiyassa dārucīriyassa rahogatassa paṭisallīnassa evaṁ cetaso parivitakko udapādi: “ye kho keci loke arahanto vā arahattamaggaṁ vā samāpannā, ahaṁ tesaṁ aññataro”ti.

With Bāhiya

So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying near Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery. Now at that time Bāhiya of the Bark Cloth was residing by Suppāraka on the ocean shore, where he was honored, respected, revered, venerated, and esteemed. And he received robes, almsfood, lodgings, and medicines and supplies for the sick. Then as he was in private retreat this thought came to his mind, “I am one of those in the world who are perfected or on the path to perfection.”

Atha kho bāhiyassa dārucīriyassa purāṇasālohitā devatā anukampikā atthakāmā bāhiyassa dārucīriyassa cetasā cetoparivitakkamaññāya yena bāhiyo dārucīriyo tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā bāhiyaṁ dārucīriyaṁ etadavoca: “neva kho tvaṁ, bāhiya, arahā, nāpi arahattamaggaṁ vā samāpanno. Sāpi te paṭipadā natthi yāya tvaṁ arahā vā assa arahattamaggaṁ vā samāpanno”ti.

Then a deity who was a former relative of Bāhiya, having sympathy and wanting what’s best for him, approached him and said: “Bāhiya, you’re not a perfected one, nor on the path to perfection. You don’t have the practice by which you might become a perfected one or one on the path to perfection.”

“Atha ke carahi sadevake loke arahanto vā arahattamaggaṁ vā samāpannā”ti? “Atthi, bāhiya, uttaresu janapadesu sāvatthī nāma nagaraṁ. Tattha so bhagavā etarahi viharati arahaṁ sammāsambuddho. So hi, bāhiya, bhagavā arahā ceva arahattāya ca dhammaṁ desetī”ti.

“So who then are those in the world who are perfected or on the path to perfection?” “In the northern lands there is a city named Sāvatthī. There that Blessed One is now staying, the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha. He is a perfected one and teaches the Dhamma for the sake of perfection.”

Atha kho bāhiyo dārucīriyo tāya devatāya saṁvejito tāvadeva suppārakamhā pakkāmi. Sabbattha ekarattiparivāsena yena sāvatthī jetavanaṁ anāthapiṇḍikassa ārāmo tenupasaṅkami. Tena kho pana samayena sambahulā bhikkhū abbhokāse caṅkamanti. Atha kho bāhiyo dārucīriyo yena te bhikkhū tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā te bhikkhū etadavoca: “kahaṁ nu kho, bhante, etarahi bhagavā viharati arahaṁ sammāsambuddho? Dassanakāmamhā mayaṁ taṁ bhagavantaṁ arahantaṁ sammāsambuddhan”ti. “Antaragharaṁ paviṭṭho kho, bāhiya, bhagavā piṇḍāyā”ti.

Impelled by that deity, Bāhiya left Suppāraka right away. Sojourning no more than a single night in any place, he made his way to Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery in the Jeta Grove at Sāvatthī. At that time several mendicants were walking mindfully in the open air. Bāhiya approached them and said, “Sirs, where is the Blessed One at present, the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha? For I want to see him.” “He has entered an inhabited area for almsfood, Bāhiya.”

Atha kho bāhiyo dārucīriyo taramānarūpo jetavanā nikkhamitvā sāvatthiṁ pavisitvā addasa bhagavantaṁ sāvatthiyaṁ piṇḍāya carantaṁ pāsādikaṁ pasādanīyaṁ santindriyaṁ santamānasaṁ uttamadamathasamathamanuppattaṁ dantaṁ guttaṁ yatindriyaṁ nāgaṁ. Disvāna yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā bhagavato pāde sirasā nipatitvā bhagavantaṁ etadavoca: “desetu me, bhante, bhagavā dhammaṁ; desetu sugato dhammaṁ, yaṁ mamassa dīgharattaṁ hitāya sukhāyā”ti. Evaṁ vutte, bhagavā bāhiyaṁ dārucīriyaṁ etadavoca: “akālo kho tāva, bāhiya, antaragharaṁ paviṭṭhamhā piṇḍāyā”ti.

Then Bāhiya rushed out of the Jeta Grove and entered Sāvatthī, where he saw the Buddha walking for alms. He was impressive and inspiring, with peaceful faculties and heart, attained to the highest self-control and serenity, like an elephant with tamed, guarded, and controlled faculties. Bāhiya went up to the Buddha, bowed down with his head to the Buddha’s feet, and said, “Sir, let the Blessed One teach me the Dhamma! Let the Holy One teach me the Dhamma! That would be for my lasting welfare and happiness.” The Buddha said this: “It’s not the time, Bāhiya, so long as I have entered an inhabited area for almsfood.”

Dutiyampi kho bāhiyo dārucīriyo bhagavantaṁ etadavoca: “dujjānaṁ kho panetaṁ, bhante, bhagavato vā jīvitantarāyānaṁ, mayhaṁ vā jīvitantarāyānaṁ. Desetu me, bhante, bhagavā dhammaṁ; desetu sugato dhammaṁ, yaṁ mamassa dīgharattaṁ hitāya sukhāyā”ti. Dutiyampi kho bhagavā bāhiyaṁ dārucīriyaṁ etadavoca: “akālo kho tāva, bāhiya, antaragharaṁ paviṭṭhamhā piṇḍāyā”ti.

For a second time, Bāhiya said, “But you never know, sir, when life is at risk, either the Buddha’s or my own. Let the Blessed One teach me the Dhamma! Let the Holy One teach me the Dhamma! That would be for my lasting welfare and happiness.” For a second time, the Buddha said, “It’s not the time, Bāhiya, so long as I have entered an inhabited area for almsfood.”

Tatiyampi kho bāhiyo dārucīriyo bhagavantaṁ etadavoca: “dujjānaṁ kho panetaṁ, bhante, bhagavato vā jīvitantarāyānaṁ, mayhaṁ vā jīvitantarāyānaṁ. Desetu me, bhante, bhagavā dhammaṁ; desetu sugato dhammaṁ, yaṁ mamassa dīgharattaṁ hitāya sukhāyā”ti.

For a third time, Bāhiya said, “But you never know, sir, when life is at risk, either the Buddha’s or my own. Let the Blessed One teach me the Dhamma! Let the Holy One teach me the Dhamma! That would be for my lasting welfare and happiness.”

“Tasmātiha te, bāhiya, evaṁ sikkhitabbaṁ: ‘diṭṭhe diṭṭhamattaṁ bhavissati, sute sutamattaṁ bhavissati, mute mutamattaṁ bhavissati, viññāte viññātamattaṁ bhavissatī’ti. Evañhi te, bāhiya, sikkhitabbaṁ. Yato kho te, bāhiya, diṭṭhe diṭṭhamattaṁ bhavissati, sute sutamattaṁ bhavissati, mute mutamattaṁ bhavissati, viññāte viññātamattaṁ bhavissati, tato tvaṁ, bāhiya, na tena. Yato tvaṁ, bāhiya, na tena; tato tvaṁ, bāhiya, na tattha. Yato tvaṁ, bāhiya, na tattha, tato tvaṁ, bāhiya, nevidha na huraṁ na ubhayamantarena. Esevanto dukkhassā”ti.

“In that case, Bāhiya, you should train like this: ‘In the seen will be merely the seen; in the heard will be merely the heard; in the thought will be merely the thought; in the known will be merely the known.’ That’s how you should train. When you have trained in this way, you won’t be ‘by that’. When you’re not ‘by that’, you won’t be ‘in that’. When you’re not ‘in that’, you won’t be in this life or the next or between the two. Just this is the end of suffering.”

Atha kho bāhiyassa dārucīriyassa bhagavato imāya saṅkhittāya dhammadesanāya tāvadeva anupādāya āsavehi cittaṁ vimucci.

Then, due to this brief Dhamma teaching of the Buddha, Bāhiya’s mind was right away freed from defilements by not grasping.

Atha kho bhagavā bāhiyaṁ dārucīriyaṁ iminā saṅkhittena ovādena ovaditvā pakkāmi. Atha kho acirapakkantassa bhagavato bāhiyaṁ dārucīriyaṁ gāvī taruṇavacchā adhipatitvā jīvitā voropesi.

And when the Buddha had given Bāhiya this brief advice he left. But soon after the Buddha had left, a cow with a baby calf charged at Bāhiya and took his life.

Atha kho bhagavā sāvatthiyaṁ piṇḍāya caritvā pacchābhattaṁ piṇḍapātapaṭikkanto sambahulehi bhikkhūhi saddhiṁ nagaramhā nikkhamitvā addasa bāhiyaṁ dārucīriyaṁ kālaṅkataṁ; disvāna bhikkhū āmantesi: “gaṇhatha, bhikkhave, bāhiyassa dārucīriyassa sarīrakaṁ; mañcakaṁ āropetvā nīharitvā jhāpetha; thūpañcassa karotha. Sabrahmacārī vo, bhikkhave, kālaṅkato”ti.

Then the Buddha wandered for alms in Sāvatthī. After the meal, on his return from almsround, he exited the city together with several mendicants and saw that Bāhiya had passed away. He said to the monks, “Mendicants, pick up Bāhiya’s corpse. Having lifted it onto a cot and carried it, cremate it and build a monument. Mendicants, one of your spiritual companions has passed away.”

“Evaṁ, bhante”ti kho te bhikkhū bhagavato paṭissutvā bāhiyassa dārucīriyassa sarīrakaṁ mañcakaṁ āropetvā nīharitvā jhāpetvā thūpañcassa katvā yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkamiṁsu; upasaṅkamitvā bhagavantaṁ abhivādetvā ekamantaṁ nisīdiṁsu. Ekamantaṁ nisinnā kho te bhikkhū bhagavantaṁ etadavocuṁ: “daḍḍhaṁ, bhante, bāhiyassa dārucīriyassa sarīraṁ, thūpo cassa kato. Tassa kā gati, ko abhisamparāyo”ti? “Paṇḍito, bhikkhave, bāhiyo dārucīriyo paccapādi dhammassānudhammaṁ; na ca maṁ dhammādhikaraṇaṁ vihesesi. Parinibbuto, bhikkhave, bāhiyo dārucīriyo”ti.

“Yes, sir,” replied those mendicants. They did as the Buddha asked, then returned to the Buddha and said, “Sir, Bāhiya’s corpse has been cremated and a monument built for him. Where has he been reborn in his next life?” “Mendicants, Bāhiya was astute. He practiced in line with the teaching, and did not trouble me about the teachings. Bāhiya of the Bark Cloth has become fully quenched.”

Atha kho bhagavā etamatthaṁ viditvā tāyaṁ velāyaṁ imaṁ udānaṁ udānesi:

Then, understanding this matter, on that occasion the Buddha expressed this heartfelt sentiment:

“Yattha āpo ca pathavī, tejo vāyo na gādhati; Na tattha sukkā jotanti, ādicco nappakāsati; Na tattha candimā bhāti, tamo tattha na vijjati.

“Where water and earth, fire and air have no footing— there no star does shine, nor does the sun shed its light; there the moon glows not, yet no darkness is found.

Yadā ca attanāvedi, muni monena brāhmaṇo; Atha rūpā arūpā ca, sukhadukkhā pamuccatī”ti.

And when a sage, a brahmin, finds understanding through their own sagacity, then, from forms and formless, from pleasure and pain they are released.”

Ayampi udāno vutto bhagavatā iti me sutanti.

This too is a heartfelt saying that was spoken by the Blessed One: that is what I heard.