Saṃyutta Nikāya
I. Sagātha Vagga
7. Brāhmana Saṃyutta
The Book of the Kindred Sayings
I. Kindred Sayings with Verses
7. The Brāhmana Suttas
Translated by Mrs. Rhys Davids
Assisted by Sūriyagoḍa Sumangala Thera
Public Domain
I: Arahants
Sutta 4
Bilaṇgika Suttaṃ
The Congey-man[1]
[4.1] THUS HAVE I HEARD:
The Exalted One was once staying near Rājagaha,
in the Bamboo Grove,
at the Squirrels' Feeding-ground.
Now the Bhāradvaja brahmin
[known as] the Congey-man
heard that the Bhāradvaja had
"left the world to enter the Order of Gotama the Recluse."
Vexed and displeased,
he sought the presence of the Exalted One,
and when there
sat at one side in silence.[2]
Then the Exalted One, discerning by his mind
the thoughts of that man's mind,
addressed him in verse: —
"Whoso doth wrong the man that's innocent: —
Him that is pure and from all errors free —
His wicked act returns upon that fool
Like fine dust that is thrown against the wind."[3]
When he had thus spoken, the Congey-man said:
"Most excellent, lord, most excellent!
Just as if a man were to set up
that which had been thrown down,
or were to reveal
that which was hidden away,
or were to point out the right road
to him who had gone astray,
or were to bring a lamp into the darkness
so that those who had eyes could see external objects
— even so, lord, has the lord Gotama
shown me his doctrine in various ways.
I even I, lord, betake myself
to the Exalted One as my refuge,
to the Norm
and to the Order.
I would leave the world under [the Rule of] Gotama;
I would take orders."
So the Bhāradvāja brahmin left the world under the Exalted One,
and was ordained.
And not long after his ordination
the venerable Bhāradvāja,
remaining alone and separate,
earnest,
ardent and strenuous,
attained [ere long] to that supreme goal of the higher life,
for the sake of which the clansmen
rightly go forth from home into the homeless;
yea, that supreme goal did he by himself,
even in this present life,
come to understand and realize.
He came to understand
that rebirth was destroyed,
that the holy life was being lived,
that his task was done,
that for life as we conceive it
there was no hereafter.
And the venerable Bhāradvāja became one of the Arahants.
[1] This was another brother. He had won large profits, says B., by running a shop for different kinds of excellently prepared 'congey ' (kañjikā). The soubriquet of Bilang-ika (bilanga being another name for such preparations on a basis of rice-broth) was given him by the Recensionists at the Third Council (Patna).
[2] Comy.: He was so angry at the seduction of his three brothers that he could not speak.
[3] The verses are given to a Deva above, I, 3, § 2.
