The Tangle
Jaṭā Sutta (SN 7:6)
Near Sāvatthī. Then the brahman Jaṭā [“Tangle”] Bhāradvāja went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, exchanged courteous greetings with him. After this exchange of friendly greetings & courtesies, he sat to one side. As he was sitting there he addressed the Blessed One with a verse:
“A tangle within,
a tangle without,
people are entangled
in a tangle.
Gotama, I ask you this:
Who can untangle this tangle?”
The Buddha:
“A man established in virtue,
discerning,
developing discernment & mind,
a monk ardent, astute:
He can untangle this tangle.
Those whose
passion,
aversion,
& ignorance
have faded away,
arahants, their effluents ended:
For them the tangle’s untangled.
Where name-&-form,
along with perception
of impingement & form,
totally stop without trace:
That’s where the tangle
is cut.”
When this was said, the brahman Jaṭā Bhāradvāja said to the Blessed One, “Magnificent, Master Gotama! Magnificent! Just as if he were to place upright what was overturned, to reveal what was hidden, to show the way to one who was lost, or to carry a lamp into the dark so that those with eyes could see forms, in the same way has Master Gotama—through many lines of reasoning—made the Dhamma clear. I go to Master Gotama for refuge, to the Dhamma, & to the Saṅgha of monks. Let me obtain the Going-forth in Master Gotama’s presence, let me obtain Acceptance.”
Then the brahman Jaṭā Bhāradvāja received the Going-forth in the Blessed One’s presence, he gained the Acceptance. And not long after his Acceptance—dwelling alone, secluded, heedful, ardent, & resolute—he in no long time entered & remained in the supreme goal of the holy life, for which clansmen rightly go forth from home into homelessness, directly knowing & realizing it for himself in the here & now. He knew: “Birth is ended, the holy life fulfilled, the task done. There is nothing further for the sake of this world.” And so Ven. Bhāradvāja became another one of the arahants.
