Reading guide
The familiar chain, then a claim of cosmic scope
The discourse's prose section runs the standard chain already seen in SN 22.15 and elsewhere: impermanent, suffering, not-self, not mine, disillusionment, fading desire, freedom, the arahant declaration. What is new is the sentence added at the very end of the prose: as far as there are abodes of sentient beings, even up to the pinnacle of existence (bhavagga, the highest conceivable plane of existence), the perfected ones stand foremost and best.
A poem opening with a cry of joy
The verse opens with an exclamation rather than a statement: “oh! how happy are the perfected ones!” The remaining lines of the first stanza name what makes them so — craving not found in them, the conceit “I am” cut off, the net of delusion shattered — three achievements named in quick succession as reasons for celebration rather than as goals still to be pursued.
A cascade of numbered qualities across the poem's middle stanzas
The poem's middle verses pile up numbered lists of qualities associated with the adept: the seven good qualities, the seven gems, the three trainings, and the ten factors — likely referring to the tenfold path of one beyond training (the eightfold path plus right knowledge and right liberation). These numbered categories are named rather than individually explained, assuming a listener already trained in this vocabulary.
Closing on the lion's roar echoed in SN 22.78
The poem's final stanza declares that relishing is not found in the arahants “above, below, all round,” and that they roar their lion's roar: “the awakened are supreme in the world!” This exact image — the lion's roar as a declaration of the Buddha's and the awakened's supremacy — is developed into a full extended simile in SN 22.78, two discourses ahead, making this poem's closing line a direct anticipation of what follows.
Key terms
The text
§1“Mendicants, form is impermanent. What’s impermanent is suffering. What’s suffering is not-self. And what’s not-self should be truly seen with right understanding like this: ‘This is not mine, I am not this, this is not my self.’
§2Consciousness is impermanent. What’s impermanent is suffering. What’s suffering is not-self. And what’s not-self should be truly seen with right understanding like this: ‘This is not mine, I am not this, this is not my self.’
§3Seeing this, a learned noble disciple grows disillusioned with form, feeling, perception, choices, and consciousness. Being disillusioned, desire fades away. When desire fades away they’re freed. When they’re freed, they know they’re freed. They understand: ‘Rebirth is ended, the spiritual journey has been completed, what had to be done has been done, there is nothing further for this place.’ As far as there are abodes of sentient beings, even up until the pinnacle of existence, the perfected ones are the foremost and the best.”
§4“Oh! How happy are the perfected ones! Craving is not found in them, the conceit ‘I am’ is cut off, and the net of delusion is shattered.
§5They’ve attained imperturbability, their minds are unclouded, nothing in the world clings to them, manifesting divinity, undefiled.
§6Completely understanding the five aggregates, their domain is the seven good qualities. Those true persons are praiseworthy, the Buddha’s true-born sons.
§7Endowed with the seven gems, and trained in the three trainings, the great heroes live on, with fear and dread given up.
§8Endowed with ten factors, those giants are immersed in samādhi. They are the best in the world, craving is not found in them.
§9The adept’s knowledge has arisen: ‘This bag of bones is my last.’ They are independent of others in the core of the spiritual path.
§10They do not waver due to the discriminations, they’re freed from future lives. They’ve reached the level of the tamed, in the world, they’re the winners.
§11Above, below, all round, relishing is not found in them. They roar their lion’s roar: ‘The awakened are supreme in the world!’”
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