At the city of Sāvatthī…
One day, Jatā Bhāradvāja of the brahmin caste went up to the Buddha, and exchanged greetings with him.
When the greetings and polite conversation were over, he sat down to one side, and asked the Buddha in verse:
“There is a tangle1 inside, and a tangle outside.
These people are tangled up in a tangle.
I ask you this, Gotama,
who can untangle this tangle?”
The Buddha:
“A wise energetic person well grounded in virtue,
developing the mind and wisdom,
can untangle this tangle.
“Liberated ones have discarded
greed, hate, and ignorance.
They are free from defilements.
Their tangle has been untangled.
“Where mentality, form and perception
cease with nothing left over,
it is there that the tangle is cut.”
When the Buddha taught this Dhamma, Jatā Bhāradvāja said to the Buddha, “Excellent, Master Gotama! Excellent! Just as if someone turned upright, what was upside down, revealed what was hidden, pointed out the path to whoever was lost, or lit a lamp in the dark so people with good eyes could see what’s there, Master Gotama taught me the Dhamma, which is clear in many ways. I go for refuge to Master Gotama, to the Dhamma, and to the Saṅgha. Bhante, may I become a monk under you?”
And he became a monk under the Buddha. Not long after his ordination, Bhante Jatā Bhāradvāja, living alone, withdrawn, diligent, passionate, and firm, soon realized the supreme goal of the spiritual path in this very life. He achieved with his own wisdom the goal for which a son would leave the lay life to become a monk.
He realized: “Rebirth has ended. The spiritual journey has been completed. What had to be done to end suffering has been done. There will be no rebirth.” Therefore, Bhante Jatā Bhāradvāja became one of the enlightened monks.
