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Dhammapada · 7 of 26
CHAPTER VII. The Venerable
90.There is no suffering for him who has finished his journey, and abandoned grief, who has freed himself on all sides, and thrown off all fetters.
91.They depart with their thoughts well-collected, they are not happy in their abode; like swans who have left their lake, they leave their house and home.
92.Men who have no riches, who live on recognised food, who have perceived void and unconditioned freedom (Nirvâna), their path is difficult to understand, like that of birds in the air.
93.He whose appetites are stilled, who is not absorbed in enjoyment, who has perceived void and unconditioned freedom (Nirvâna), his path is difficult to understand, like that of birds in the air.
94.The gods even envy him whose senses, like horses well broken in by the driver, have been subdued, who is free from pride, and free from appetites.
95.Such a one who does his duty is tolerant like the earth, like Indra’s bolt; he is like a lake without mud; no new births are in store for him.
96.His thought is quiet, quiet are his word and deed, when he has obtained freedom by true knowledge, when he has thus become a quiet man.
97.The man who is free from credulity, but knows the uncreated, who has cut all ties, removed all temptations, renounced all desires, he is the greatest of men.
98.In a hamlet or in a forest, in the deep water or on the dry land, wherever venerable persons (Arhanta) dwell, that place is delightful.
99.Forests are delightful; where the world finds no delight, there the passionless will find delight, for they look not for pleasures.
Asked of Guide
Why does the chapter compare the liberated person to swans and birds?
The chapter uses swans and birds to show how the liberated person leaves ordinary attachments: “like swans who have left their lake” and “like birds in the air.” These images stress effortless motion and freedom from fixed homes or possessions, so departure is serene and natural rather than violent or frantic.
The similes also signal how others cannot easily follow or comprehend that freedom: the liberated one’s path is “difficult to understand,” moving in a realm beyond common desires and appearances. This echoes The Gospel of Buddha’s idea that subduing oneself is the hardest conquest, and so the state appears rare and almost otherworldly to those still bound by cravings.
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