• Heartfelt Sayings 7.5 Udāna 7.5

Another Discourse with Bhaddiya the Dwarf Aparalakuṇḍakabhaddiyasutta

So I have heard. Evaṁ me sutaṁ—At one time the Buddha was staying near Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery. ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā sāvatthiyaṁ viharati jetavane anāthapiṇḍikassa ārāme. Then Venerable Bhaddiya the Dwarf, closely following several mendicants, approached the Buddha. Tena kho pana samayena āyasmā lakuṇḍakabhaddiyo sambahulānaṁ bhikkhūnaṁ piṭṭhito piṭṭhito yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkami.

The Buddha saw Venerable Bhaddiya coming off in the distance—ugly, unsightly, deformed, and despised by most of the mendicants. Addasā kho bhagavā āyasmantaṁ lakuṇḍakabhaddiyaṁ dūratova sambahulānaṁ bhikkhūnaṁ piṭṭhito piṭṭhito āgacchantaṁ dubbaṇṇaṁ duddasikaṁ okoṭimakaṁ yebhuyyena bhikkhūnaṁ paribhūtarūpaṁ. The Buddha addressed the mendicants: Disvāna bhikkhū āmantesi:

“Mendicants, do you see this monk coming—ugly, unsightly, deformed, and despised by most of the mendicants?” “Passatha no tumhe, bhikkhave, etaṁ bhikkhuṁ dūratova sambahulānaṁ bhikkhūnaṁ piṭṭhito piṭṭhito āgacchantaṁ dubbaṇṇaṁ duddasikaṁ okoṭimakaṁ yebhuyyena bhikkhūnaṁ paribhūtarūpan”ti? “Yes, sir.” “Evaṁ, bhante”ti.

“That mendicant is very mighty and powerful. It’s not easy to find an attainment that he has not already attained. “Eso, bhikkhave, bhikkhu mahiddhiko mahānubhāvo. Na ca sā samāpatti sulabharūpā yā tena bhikkhunā asamāpannapubbā. And he has realized the supreme end of the spiritual path in this very life. He lives having achieved with his own insight the goal for which gentlemen rightly go forth from the lay life to homelessness.” Yassa catthāya kulaputtā sammadeva agārasmā anagāriyaṁ pabbajanti, tadanuttaraṁ—brahmacariyapariyosānaṁ diṭṭheva dhamme sayaṁ abhiññā sacchikatvā upasampajja viharatī”ti.

Then, understanding this matter, on that occasion the Buddha expressed this heartfelt sentiment: Atha kho bhagavā etamatthaṁ viditvā tāyaṁ velāyaṁ imaṁ udānaṁ udānesi:

“With flawless wheel and white canopy, “Nelaṅgo setapacchādo, the one-spoke chariot rolls on. ekāro vattatī ratho; See it come, untroubled, Anīghaṁ passa āyantaṁ, with stream cut, unbound.” chinnasotaṁ abandhanan”ti.

Pañcamaṁ.