This is as I heard. At one time the Blessed One was staying in the province of Sāvatthī, in Jeta’s park, at Anathapiṇḍika’s monastery. Then, late at night, a glorious deity, lighting up the entire Jeta’s park, went up to the Blessed One, bowed, stood to one side, and recited this verse:
“Life is tangled from within.
Life is tangled from outside.
These beings are tangled in tangles.
would like to ask meritorious and revered Gotama:
Who can untangle this tangle?”
The Blessed One:
“A wise person grounded in virtue,
should develop concentration and wisdom.
That bhikkhu who has wisdom
and the effort to remove defilements
can untangle this tangle.
One who has discarded
greed, hate, and ignorance
is free of defilements.
These great beings are known as Arahants.
They have untangled the tangle.
Where name and form,
as well as mental perceptions
and perception of form
ceases with nothing left over:
it’s there that the tangle is cut.”
Sādhu! Sādhu!! Sādhu!!!
