With Bhāradvāja of the Matted Hair (SN7.6)

Linked Discourses 7.6

1. The Perfected Ones

With Bhāradvāja of the Matted Hair

At Sāvatthī.

Then the brahmin Bhāradvāja of the Matted Hair 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 addressed the Buddha in verse:

“Tangled within, tangled without:¹

these people are tangled in tangles.

I ask you this, Gotama:

who can untangle this tangle?”

“A wise person grounded in ethics,

developing the mind and wisdom,

a keen and alert mendicant—

they can untangle this tangle.

Those in whom greed, hate, and ignorance

have faded away;

the perfected ones with defilements ended—

they have untangled the tangle.

Where name and form

cease with no residue left behind;

as well as impingement and perception of form:

it’s here this tangle is cut.”

When he had spoken, Bhāradvāja of the Matted Hair said to the Buddha,²

“Excellent, worthy Gotama! …” …

And Venerable Bhāradvāja became one of the perfected.