Harmless

Harmless. Translated by Bhikkhu Sujato At Sāvatthī. Then the brahmin Bhāradvāja the Harmless 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 said, “I am Harmless, worthy Gotama, I am Harmless!”“If you were really like your name, then you’d be Harmless. But a truly harmless person does no harm by way of body, speech, or mind; they don’t harm anyone else.” When he had spoken, Bhāradvāja the Harmless said to the Buddha, “Excellent, worthy Gotama! Excellent! As if he were righting the overturned, or revealing the hidden, or pointing out the path to the lost, or lighting a lamp in the dark so people with clear eyes can see what’s there, worthy Gotama has made the teaching clear in many ways. I go for refuge to the worthy Gotama, to the teaching, and to the mendicant Saṅgha. May I receive the going forth, the ordination in the worthy Gotama’s presence?”And the brahmin Bhāradvāja the Harmless received the going forth, the ordination in the Buddha’s presence. Not long after his ordination, Venerable Bhāradvāja the Harmless, living alone, withdrawn, diligent, keen, and resolute, soon realized the supreme end of the spiritual path in this very life. He lived having achieved with his own insight the goal for which gentlemen rightly go forth from the lay life to homelessness. He understood: “Rebirth is ended; the spiritual journey has been completed; what had to be done has been done; there is nothing further for this place.” And Venerable Bhāradvāja the Harmless became one of the perfected.The Buddha's words / Ahiṁsakasutta SN 7.5