Arahanta Vagga — The Chapter on the Arahant

Verse 90

This verse was spoken with reference to Jīvaka the physician, who came to attend upon the Buddha's body; and so the Buddha spoke of the state of the arahant who has reached the end of the path.

He pointed to the khīṇāsava (one whose taints are destroyed) — the one who has completed the journey, that is, has reached the end of the round of rebirths (saṃsāra) and need not be born and die again. Such a one is free from sorrow, for there is nothing left to cling to that might cause grief. He is wholly liberated in all things — in the five aggregates and in all phenomena — and has abandoned every bond that binds: covetous longing for the possessions of others, ill will, clinging to rites and rituals, and the grasping that holds one's own view alone to be true. When these fetters are gone, the heart is utterly cool, without any fever.

The lesson for us is that the heat of the heart in life arises entirely from grasping and from binding ourselves to various things. The more we can lay down, the lighter and more at ease the heart becomes.

Verse 91

This verse was spoken with reference to the Elder Mahākassapa, and so the Buddha praised the virtue of a monk who is not attached to any dwelling place.

The Buddha said that the mindful ones, who exert themselves diligently, do not become attached to their lodging or to comfort. When the time comes to depart, they let go of all attachment and leave with a light heart, just as a swan leaving the muddy pool soars into the sky without any concern for the old waters. So too the one who is well trained: he binds his heart to no place or thing.

The reflection we can apply is this: attachment and clinging to the familiar often weigh down the heart and prevent progress. The one endowed with mindfulness (sati) knows how to let go at the proper time, and so travels through life unburdened and light.

Verse 92

This verse was spoken with reference to the Elder Belaṭṭhasīsa, and so the Buddha spoke of the virtue of one who does not hoard.

The Buddha spoke of one who has no hoarding, which is of two kinds: not accumulating kamma, whether wholesome or unwholesome, and not accumulating the four requisites beyond what is needed. Such a one fully understands his food before eating — that is, he reflects on it as merely a means of sustaining the body, and does not eat out of craving. Moreover, his mind inclines toward the emptiness liberation (suññata-vimokkha) (liberation through being empty of rāga (lust), dosa (hatred), and moha (delusion)) and the signless liberation (animitta-vimokkha) (liberation through the absence of the sign that is defilement), which are names for Nibbāna. The path he travels is therefore hard to trace, like a bird that flies and leaves no mark in the sky.

The reflection is that the less one accumulates, the less one is bound, and the freer the heart becomes. To consume with wisdom rather than with craving is the beginning of a heart at ease.

Verse 93

This verse was spoken with reference to the Elder Anuruddha, and so the Buddha spoke of one whose taints are destroyed.

The Buddha spoke of the one whose taints are destroyed — that is, free of the defilements (āsava) that have long lain fermenting in the disposition. He is unattached to food, eating only to sustain life and not for the sake of delicious flavor, with a mind inclined toward the emptiness liberation and the signless liberation, which are the sphere of liberation. He therefore leaves no trace for anyone to trace him by, like a bird that soars through the sky leaving no mark.

This verse reminds us that one who has no remaining clinging offers no sign by which defilement or suffering might catch hold. This is the true freedom of the heart.

Verse 94

This verse was spoken with reference to the Elder Mahākaccāyana, and so the Buddha praised one who has well tamed his faculties.

The Buddha spoke of one who has trained the faculties (indriya) — namely the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind — to be calm and still, just like a horse the charioteer has tamed until it is thoroughly gentle and no longer unruly. Such a one abandons conceit (māna), the grasping at self, is free of taints, and is unshaken — steadfast and unmoved by the worldly conditions. So beautiful is his virtue that even the gods hold him dear and wish to become like him.

The reflection is that restraint of the faculties — not letting the heart drift after what is alluring to eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind — is the self-training that makes its practitioner beloved and worthy of respect.

Verse 95

This verse was spoken with reference to the Elder Sāriputta, and so the Buddha praised the virtue of his patience and steadfastness.

The Buddha spoke of the monk who is unshaken and of beautiful conduct, one who feels neither elation nor aversion, but is like the earth — for as the earth receives both fragrant and foul without wavering, so he is firm and steady. He is like a firm pillar (a main post driven deep into the ground, which the wind cannot sway), and his heart is clear and pure like a lake free of mud. When the mind is thus free of defilement, for him there is no round of rebirth — he need not be born again.

The reflection is that the steadfastness of the heart does not come from evading blame and praise, but from settling the heart evenly, not rippling after whatever comes to strike it.

Verse 96

This verse was spoken with reference to the novice of the Elder Tissa of the city of Kosambī; the Buddha spoke it to the Elder Tissa concerning the virtue of one who is stilled.

The Buddha said that the one liberated through right knowledge — that is, who has realized the noble truths with correct wisdom — being at peace and unshaken, has peace in all three ways: the mind is at peace (thoughts not stirred up by defilement), speech is at peace (words neither harsh nor idle), and action is at peace (conduct orderly and harmless). Inner peace naturally reflects outward as peace in body, speech, and mind.

The reflection we can put into practice is that when the heart is at peace from within, speech and action come to be peaceful and orderly along with it. True peace therefore begins with the purifying of the heart, not with outward control.

Verse 97

This verse was spoken with reference to the Elder Sāriputta; the Buddha spoke it to thirty monks dwelling in the forest, concerning the qualities of the supreme person.

The words of this verse, taken at surface value, sound like reproach, but in truth they are praise with a deep meaning — beyond mere belief in others means the one who has realized the Dhamma directly for himself, and need no longer wait to hear it from another. Moreover, he knows Nibbāna, that state which no condition can fabricate. He who has cut off the joint of the round (vaṭṭa), destroyed the occasion for rebirth, and vomited out hope in existence is therefore the supreme person.

The reflection is that true wisdom does not arise from following others blindly, but from seeing and knowing for oneself until all doubt is gone. This is the most excellent confidence of all.

Verse 98

This verse was spoken with reference to the Elder Revata, who dwelt in a grove of acacia trees; the Buddha spoke it to Visākhā Migāramātā, concerning the virtue of the place where an arahant dwells.

The Buddha said that whether it be a village, a forest, a lowland, or a highland, so long as an arahant dwells there, that place becomes delightful — a pleasant place worth living in. For even though bodily peace is hard to find in a village, the arahant still attains peace of heart, since no objects can shake his mind. Wherever he dwells, that place is made beautiful by the Dhamma.

The reflection is that the delightfulness of a place does not truly lie in its location or outward beauty, but in the peaceful heart of the one who dwells there. One with a peaceful heart can find happiness in any place.

Verse 99

This verse was spoken with reference to a certain woman; the Buddha spoke it to a certain monk, concerning the difference in delight between one whose lust is gone and one who seeks sensual pleasures.

The Buddha said that the quiet, delightful forest, in which ordinary people who seek sensual pleasures take no delight because it lacks the allurements that pamper craving, is on the contrary the place where those free of lust take delight. Since they do not seek sensual pleasures, they find peace and happiness in seclusion. What the crowd sees as dreary, the one whose heart is free of craving sees as delightful.

The reflection is that our happiness comes from differing viewpoints and desires. The one who can lessen craving finds peace in the very place that those attached to sensual pleasure overlook. Inner peace is the delight that needs no outward thing to indulge it.