Dhammapada Verse 400 - Sariputtatthera Vatthu

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Source: Adapted from the original translation by Daw Mya Tin, M.A.

Dhammapada Verse 400 - Sariputtatthera Vatthu
Akkodhanam vatavantam

silavantam anussadam

dantam antimasariram(1)

tamaham brumi brahmanam.

Verse 400: Him I call a brahmana, who is free from anger, who practises austerity, who is virtuous and free from craving, who is controlled in his senses and for whom this body (i.e., existence) is the very last.

1. antimasariram: lit., one who has the last body. This is his last body because he will not be reborn; he is an arahat.

The Story of Thera Sariputta

While residing at the Veluvana monastery, the Buddha uttered Verse (400) of this book, with reference to the Venerable Sariputta.

While the Buddha was in residence at the Veluvana monastery, the Venerable Sariputta, accompanied by five hundred bhikkhus, entered Nalaka Village and stood at the door of the house of his own mother for alms-food. His mother invited them into the house. But while she was offering food to her son she said, "O you consumer of left-overs, you who have abandoned eighty crores to become a bhikkhu, you have ruined us." Then, she offered alms-food to the other bhikkhus and said to them rudely, "You all have used my son as your attendant; now eat your food." The Venerable Sariputta said nothing in reply but he just meekly took his bowl and came back to the monastery. Back at the monastery, the bhikkhus told the Buddha how the Venerable Sariputta had patiently borne the scolding and abuses of his mother. To them, the Buddha said that arahats never get angry, they never lose their temper.

Then the Buddha spoke in verse as follows:

Verse 400: Him I call a brahmana, who is free from anger, who practises austerity, who is virtuous and free from craving, who is controlled in his senses and for whom this body (i.e., existence) is the very last.

Credits
Translated by Daw Mya Tin, M.A.

Edited by Editorial Committee, Burma Tipitaka Association Rangoon, Burma, 1986

Courtesy of Nibbana.com

For free distribution only, as a gift of dhamma.

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