The Chapter about the Arahats (DHP90-99)

For the one who has reached his goal, who grieves not, being released on all sides,
who has abandoned all the knots, no consuming fever is found.

The mindful ones who are striving do not delight in a dwelling,
like geese who abandon a lake, they abandon fondness for homes.

For those who have no stores, those who comprehend food aright,
for those whose resort is the liberation that is empty or signless,
like the birds in the sky, their track is hard to find.
For him whose pollutants are destroyed, who is not dependent on the foods,
for him whose resort is the liberation that is empty or signless,
like the birds in the sky, his footprint is hard to find.

For the one whose senses are stilled,
like horses well-trained by their charioteer,
who has abandoned conceit, who is without pollutants –
even the gods envy such a one.

One untroubled just like the earth,
steadfast just like a city-post,
like a lake mud-free –
such a one continues not in births and deaths.

His mind is calm, his speech and his actions are also calm,
liberated by right knowledge, such a one is truly peaceful.

The person who is beyond mere faith, who knows that which is unmade, who has cut off rebirth-linking,
who has destroyed the occasion, who has thrown out hope and desire, is surely the person supreme.

Whether in the village or wilds, whether on low or on high ground,
wherever the Arahats live, that ground is surely delightful.

The delightful wildernesses where the people do not delight,
those without passion will take delight, but not those who seek sense pleasures.

Translated by Ānandajoti Bhikkhu.

2nd edition, November 2017.

The text and translation, together with detailed notes and discussions, may be found in multiple formats on the translator’s website, Ancient Buddhist Texts.

Used by kind permission of Bhikkhu Ānandajoti.

The original translation was released under the following licence: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Prepared for SuttaCentral by Aminah Borg-Luck.