Udāna 7.5
Translators: sujato
Heartfelt Sayings 7.5
Aparalakuṇḍakabhaddiyasutta
Another Discourse with Bhaddiya the Dwarf
Evaṁ me sutaṁ—
So I have heard.
ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā sāvatthiyaṁ viharati jetavane anāthapiṇḍikassa ārāme.
At one time the Buddha was staying near Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery.
Tena kho pana samayena āyasmā lakuṇḍakabhaddiyo sambahulānaṁ bhikkhūnaṁ piṭṭhito piṭṭhito yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkami.
Then Venerable Bhaddiya the Dwarf, closely following several mendicants, approached the Buddha.
Addasā kho bhagavā āyasmantaṁ lakuṇḍakabhaddiyaṁ dūratova sambahulānaṁ bhikkhūnaṁ piṭṭhito piṭṭhito āgacchantaṁ dubbaṇṇaṁ duddasikaṁ okoṭimakaṁ yebhuyyena bhikkhūnaṁ paribhūtarūpaṁ.
The Buddha saw Venerable Bhaddiya coming off in the distance—ugly, unsightly, deformed, and despised by most of the mendicants.
Disvāna bhikkhū āmantesi:
The Buddha addressed the mendicants:
“Passatha no tumhe, bhikkhave, etaṁ bhikkhuṁ dūratova sambahulānaṁ bhikkhūnaṁ piṭṭhito piṭṭhito āgacchantaṁ dubbaṇṇaṁ duddasikaṁ okoṭimakaṁ yebhuyyena bhikkhūnaṁ paribhūtarūpan”ti?
“Mendicants, do you see this monk coming—ugly, unsightly, deformed, and despised by most of the mendicants?”
“Evaṁ, bhante”ti.
“Yes, sir.”
“Eso, bhikkhave, bhikkhu mahiddhiko mahānubhāvo. Na ca sā samāpatti sulabharūpā yā tena bhikkhunā asamāpannapubbā.
“That mendicant is very mighty and powerful. It’s not easy to find an attainment that he has not already attained.
Yassa catthāya kulaputtā sammadeva agārasmā anagāriyaṁ pabbajanti, tadanuttaraṁ—brahmacariyapariyosānaṁ diṭṭheva dhamme sayaṁ abhiññā sacchikatvā upasampajja viharatī”ti.
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.”
Atha kho bhagavā etamatthaṁ viditvā tāyaṁ velāyaṁ imaṁ udānaṁ udānesi:
Then, understanding this matter, on that occasion the Buddha expressed this heartfelt sentiment:
“Nelaṅgo setapacchādo,
“With flawless wheel and white canopy,
ekāro vattatī ratho;
the one-spoke chariot rolls on.
Anīghaṁ passa āyantaṁ,
See it come, untroubled,
chinnasotaṁ abandhanan”ti.
with stream cut, unbound.”
Pañcamaṁ.