Saṁyutta Nikāya
II. Nidāna Vagga
XXI. Bhikkhu Saṁyutta
II. The Nidana Book
21. The Kindred Sayings about Brethren
Sutta 6
Bhaddiya
Bhaddiya
[279] [189]
Thus have I heard:
The Exalted One was once staying near Savatthī at the Jeta Grove in Anāthapiṇḍika's Park.
Now the venerable Bhaddiya the Dwarf1 came into the presence of the Exalted One.
And the Exalted One saw him coming, and seeing him he addressed the brethren: —
'See ye, brethren, this brother coming, ugly, unsightly, hunchbacked, despised by the brethren.'
'We do, sir.'
'Now that brother is highly gifted, brethren, of a lofty nature. Not easy matter is it to win that which he formerly had not won, even that for the sake of which clansmen rightly leave the home for the homeless, even that uttermost goal of the divine living which he has attained, wherein he abides, having come to know it thoroughly for himself and to realize it.'
The Exalted One spake this.
The Well-farer so saying, the Master spake this yet further: —
Swans, herons, peacocks, elephants, and eke the dappled deer,
Varied as may their bodies be, all do the lion fear.
So among men a puny lad, if only he be wise,
Is truly great, not so the fool though large he be in size.
1 See Pss. of the Brethren, p. 230. The Comy. here also gives the legends of the karma that made him so unslghtly (as a rāja he mocked old people), and that gave him the lovely voice which finds no mention in this work.