Theragāthā 228

Verses of the Senior Monks 7.5

The Book of the Sevens

Chapter One

Sarabhaṅga

1 I broke the reeds off with my hands,

made a hut, and stayed there.

That’s how I became known

as “Reed-breaker”.

2 But now it’s not appropriate

for me to break reeds with my hands.

The training rules have been laid down for us

by Gotama the renowned.

3 Previously, I, Sarabhaṅga,

didn’t see the disease in its entirety.

But now I have seen the disease,

as I’ve practiced what was taught

by he who is beyond the gods.

4 Gotama traveled by that direct route;

the same path traveled by Vipassī,

by Sikhī, Vessabhū,

Kakusandha, Koṇāgamana, and Kassapa.

5 These seven Buddhas have plunged into the ending,

free of craving, without grasping,

having become Dhamma, unaffected.

They have taught this Dhamma

6 out of compassion for living creatures—

suffering, origin, path,

and cessation, the ending of suffering.

In these four noble truths,

7 the endless suffering of transmigration

finally comes to an end.

When the body breaks up,

and life comes to an end,

there are no future lives;

I’m everywhere well freed.