Dhammapada Verse 400
Sariputtatthera Vatthu
Akkodhanam vatavantam
silavantam anussadam
dantam antimasariram1
tamaham brumi brahmanam.
Verse 400: Him I call a brahmana, who is free
from anger, who practises austerity, who is virtuous and free from craving, who
is controlled in his senses and for whom this body (i.e., existence) is the very
last.
1. antimasariram: lit., one who has the last
body. This is his last body because he will not be reborn; he is an arahat.
The Story of Thera Sariputta
While residing at the Veluvana
monastery, the Buddha uttered Verse (400) of this book, with reference to the
Venerable Sariputta.
While the Buddha was in residence
at the Veluvana monastery, the Venerable Sariputta, accompanied by five hundred
bhikkhus, entered Nalaka Village and stood at the door of the house of his own
mother for alms-food. His mother invited them into the house. But while she was
offering food to her son she said, "O you consumer of left-overs, you who
have abandoned eighty crores to become a bhikkhu, you have ruined us."
Then, she offered alms-food to the other bhikkhus and said to them rudely,
"You all have used my son as your attendant; now eat your food." The
Venerable Sariputta said nothing in reply but he just meekly took his bowl and
came back to the monastery. Back at the monastery, the bhikkhus told the Buddha
how the Venerable Sariputta had patiently borne the scolding and abuses of his
mother. To them, the Buddha said that arahats never get angry, they never
lose their temper.
Then the Buddha spoke in verse as
follows:
| Verse 400: Him I call
a brahmana, who is free from anger, who practises austerity, who is
virtuous and free from craving, who is controlled in his senses and
for whom this body (i.e., existence) is the very last. |