So I have heard. Evaṁ me sutaṁ—At one time the Buddha was staying near Rājagaha, in the Bamboo Grove, the squirrels’ feeding ground. ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā rājagahe viharati veḷuvane kalandakanivāpe.

Now at that time the wife of a certain brahmin of the Bhāradvāja clan, a brahmin lady named Dhanañjānī, was devoted to the Buddha, the teaching, and the Saṅgha. Tena kho pana samayena aññatarassa bhāradvājagottassa brāhmaṇassa dhanañjānī nāma brāhmaṇī abhippasannā hoti buddhe ca dhamme ca saṅghe ca. Once, while she was bringing her husband his meal, she tripped and expressed this heartfelt sentiment three times: Atha kho dhanañjānī brāhmaṇī bhāradvājagottassa brāhmaṇassa bhattaṁ upasaṁharantī upakkhalitvā tikkhattuṁ udānaṁ udānesi:

“Homage to that Blessed One, the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha! “Namo tassa bhagavato arahato sammāsambuddhassa.

Homage to that Blessed One, the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha! Namo tassa bhagavato arahato sammāsambuddhassa.

Homage to that Blessed One, the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha!” Namo tassa bhagavato arahato sammāsambuddhassā”ti.

When she said this, the brahmin said to Dhanañjānī: Evaṁ vutte, bhāradvājagotto brāhmaṇo dhanañjāniṁ brāhmaṇiṁ etadavoca:

“That’d be right. For the slightest thing this lowlife woman spouts out praise for that bald ascetic. “evamevaṁ panāyaṁ vasalī yasmiṁ vā tasmiṁ vā tassa muṇḍakassa samaṇassa vaṇṇaṁ bhāsati. Right now, lowlife woman, I’m going to refute your teacher’s doctrine!” Idāni tyāhaṁ, vasali, tassa satthuno vādaṁ āropessāmī”ti.

“Brahmin, I don’t see anyone in this world—with its gods, Māras, and Divinities, this population with its ascetics and brahmins, its gods and humans—who can refute the doctrine of the Blessed One, the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha. “Na khvāhaṁ taṁ, brāhmaṇa, passāmi sadevake loke samārake sabrahmake sassamaṇabrāhmaṇiyā pajāya sadevamanussāya, yo tassa bhagavato vādaṁ āropeyya arahato sammāsambuddhassa. But anyway, you should go. When you’ve gone you’ll understand.” Api ca tvaṁ, brāhmaṇa, gaccha, gantvā vijānissasī”ti.

Then the brahmin of the Bhāradvāja clan, angry and upset, went to the Buddha and exchanged greetings with him. Atha kho bhāradvājagotto brāhmaṇo kupito anattamano yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā bhagavatā saddhiṁ sammodi. When the greetings and polite conversation were over, he sat down to one side, Sammodanīyaṁ kathaṁ sāraṇīyaṁ vītisāretvā ekamantaṁ nisīdi. and addressed the Buddha in verse: Ekamantaṁ nisinno kho bhāradvājagotto brāhmaṇo bhagavantaṁ gāthāya ajjhabhāsi:

“When what is slain do you sleep at ease? “Kiṁsu chetvā sukhaṁ seti, When what is slain is there no sorrow? kiṁsu chetvā na socati; What is the one thing Kissassu ekadhammassa, whose killing you approve?” vadhaṁ rocesi gotamā”ti.

“When anger’s slain you sleep at ease. “Kodhaṁ chetvā sukhaṁ seti, When anger’s slain there is no sorrow. kodhaṁ chetvā na socati; O brahmin, anger has a poisonous root Kodhassa visamūlassa, and a honey tip. madhuraggassa brāhmaṇa; The noble ones praise its killing, Vadhaṁ ariyā pasaṁsanti, for when it’s slain there is no sorrow.” tañhi chetvā na socatī”ti.

When he said this, the brahmin said to the Buddha, Evaṁ vutte, bhāradvājagotto brāhmaṇo bhagavantaṁ etadavoca: “Excellent, worthy Gotama! Excellent! “abhikkantaṁ, bho gotama, abhikkantaṁ, bho gotama. As if he were righting the overturned, or revealing the hidden, or pointing out the path to the lost, or lighting a lamp in the dark so people with clear eyes can see what’s there, worthy Gotama has made the teaching clear in many ways. Seyyathāpi, bho gotama, nikkujjitaṁ vā ukkujjeyya, paṭicchannaṁ vā vivareyya, mūḷhassa vā maggaṁ ācikkheyya, andhakāre vā telapajjotaṁ dhāreyya: ‘cakkhumanto rūpāni dakkhantī’ti; evamevaṁ bhotā gotamena anekapariyāyena dhammo pakāsito. I go for refuge to the worthy Gotama, to the teaching, and to the mendicant Saṅgha. Esāhaṁ, bhante, bhagavantaṁ gotamaṁ saraṇaṁ gacchāmi dhammañca bhikkhusaṅghañca. May I receive the going forth, the ordination in the worthy Gotama’s presence?” Labheyyāhaṁ bhoto gotamassa santike pabbajjaṁ, labheyyaṁ upasampadan”ti.

And the brahmin received the going forth, the ordination in the Buddha’s presence. Alattha kho bhāradvājagotto brāhmaṇo bhagavato santike pabbajjaṁ, alattha upasampadaṁ. Not long after his ordination, Venerable Bhāradvāja, living alone, withdrawn, diligent, keen, and resolute, soon realized the supreme end of the spiritual path in this very life. He lived having achieved with his own insight the goal for which gentlemen rightly go forth from the lay life to homelessness. Acirūpasampanno kho panāyasmā bhāradvājo eko vūpakaṭṭho appamatto ātāpī pahitatto viharanto nacirasseva—yassatthāya kulaputtā sammadeva agārasmā anagāriyaṁ pabbajanti tadanuttaraṁ—brahmacariyapariyosānaṁ diṭṭheva dhamme sayaṁ abhiññā sacchikatvā upasampajja vihāsi.

He understood: “Rebirth is ended; the spiritual journey has been completed; what had to be done has been done; there is nothing further for this place.” “Khīṇā jāti, vusitaṁ brahmacariyaṁ, kataṁ karaṇīyaṁ, nāparaṁ itthattāyā”ti abbhaññāsi. And Venerable Bhāradvāja became one of the perfected. Aññataro ca panāyasmā bhāradvājo arahataṁ ahosīti.