Ud 7:5 The Dwarf (Lakuṇṭha Sutta)

I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying near Sāvatthī at Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery. And on that occasion Ven. Bhaddiya the Dwarf, following behind a large number of monks, was going to the Blessed One. From afar, the Blessed One saw Ven. Bhaddiya the Dwarf coming, following behind a large number of monks: ugly, unsightly, stunted, treated with condescension1 by most of the monks. On seeing him, the Blessed One addressed the monks, “Monks, do you see that monk coming from afar, following behind a large number of monks: ugly, unsightly, stunted, treated with condescension by most of the monks?”

“Yes, lord.”

“That, monks, is a monk of great power, great might. The attainment already attained by that monk is not of a sort easily attained. And by means of it he has reached & remains in the supreme goal of the holy life for which clansmen rightly go forth from home into homelessness, knowing & realizing it for himself right in the here-&-now.”

Then, on realizing the significance of that, the Blessed One on that occasion exclaimed:

Faultless,

canopied in white,

the single-spoked chariot rolls along.

See him coming, untroubled:

one whose stream is cut,

free from bonds.2

Notes

1. The Commentary notes that misbehaving monks liked to stroke his hands and catch hold of his ears.

2. In SN 41:5, Citta the householder explains this verse as follows:

“Faultless stands for virtues.

“Canopied in white stands for release.

“Single-spoked stands for mindfulness.

“Rolls along stands for coming and going.

“Chariot stands for this body composed of the four elements….

“Passion is a trouble; aversion is a trouble; delusion is a trouble. These have been abandoned by a monk whose effluents have ended–their root destroyed, made like a palmyra stump, deprived of the conditions of development, not destined for future arising. That’s why the monk whose effluents have ended is said to be untroubled.

“Him coming stands for the arahant.

“Stream stands for craving. That has been abandoned by a monk whose effluents have ended–its root destroyed, made like a palmyra stump, deprived of the conditions of development, not destined for future arising. That’s why the monk whose effluents have ended is said to be one whose stream is cut.

“Passion is a bond; aversion is a bond; delusion is a bond. These have been abandoned by a monk whose effluents have ended–their root destroyed, made like a palmyra stump, deprived of the conditions of development, not destined for future arising. That’s why the monk whose effluents have ended is said to be free from bonds.”

SN 21:6 starts with the same prose passage as this udāna but ends with a different verse:

Swans, cranes, & peacocks,

elephants & spotted antelope

all fear the lion

(though) in body there’s no comparison.

In the same way, among human beings,

even if one is small

but endowed in discernment,

one is great for that–

not the fool endowed in physique.