26.36 The Story about the Elder, Formerly an Acrobat
Naṭapubbakattheravatthu
Dhp 418
CST4: Naṭaputtakattheravatthu, the Story about an Elder Who Was an Acrobat’s Son
Burlingame: The Monk Who Was Once a Mime
One bhikkhu who was previously an acrobat soon became an Arahat; when a troupe of acrobats passed through, the bhikkhus asked whether he still craved for his previous life, and he answered he did not; the bhikkhus asked the Buddha about it, and he confirmed the bhikkhu had overcome all delight and hatred, and spoke a verse.
Keywords: Acrobats
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“Abandoning delight and hate,” this Dhamma teaching was given by the Teacher while he was in residence at Veḷuvana with reference to a certain bhikkhu who was once an acrobat.
The story is the same as the foregoing. AJ: I include the story for completion’s sake. It is said that a certain acrobat giving performances from place to place heard the Teacher teach the Dhamma, whereupon he went forth, and attained Arahatship. One day, as he as entering the village for alms, in company with the Saṅgha of bhikkhus presided over by the Buddha, the bhikkhus saw a certain acrobat going through his performance. Thereupon they asked the bhikkhu who was once an acrobat: “Friend, yonder acrobat is going through the same kind of performance you used to go through; have you no longing for this sort of life?” – “No, friends,” replied the bhikkhu. The bhikkhus said to the Teacher: “Venerable Sir, this bhikkhu, having spoken what is not true, declares something false.”
When the Teacher heard them say this, he replied: “Bhikkhus, my son has abandoned both delight and hate,” and so saying, he pronounced the following verse:
418. Hitvā ratiñ-ca aratiñ-ca, sītibhūtaṁ nirūpadhiṁ,
sabbalokābhibhuṁ vīraṁ, tam-ahaṁ brūmi brāhmaṇaṁ.
Abandoning delight and hate,
cooled off and free from all cleaving,
a hero who vanquished the world,
that one I say is a Brahmin.
At the end of the teaching many reached the fruition of Stream-entry and so on.