Reading guide
Parents' own words, quoted directly
Unusually for this collection, the third verse quotes Bhadda's parents in their own voice, addressing the Buddha directly: ‘we had this son with difficulty; he is delicate and pampered... to attend upon the victor’. Most poems in this collection report a parent's role, if any, indirectly; this one preserves what appears to be the actual petition.
A prediction, using the same 'thoroughbred' vocabulary
The Buddha's instruction to Ānanda — ‘quickly give him the going-forth — this one will be a thoroughbred (ājāniyo)!’ — uses the identical horse-breeding vocabulary already found describing Sumana in Thag 6.10 (‘made a thoroughbred by a thoroughbred’), a recurring idiom in this collection for recognizing exceptional potential in a newly ordained child.
Liberation before the sun sets
The fifth verse states the timing precisely: ‘before the sun set, my mind was freed’ — ordained and awakened within a single day, one of the fastest attainment timelines stated anywhere in this collection. No years of practice are described; the poem moves directly from ordination to breakthrough.
A personal welcome, not a formal proclamation
The sixth verse's ordination moment is intimate rather than procedural: the Buddha, coming out from seclusion, simply says ‘Come Bhadda!’ — ‘that was my ordination’, Bhadda reports. This directness, a personal address standing in for formal procedure, appears again in the poem immediately following this one.
A third child ordained around age seven
The closing verse states Bhadda's age at ordination directly: seven years old (sattavassena). This joins Thag 6.10 (Sumana, also seven) and, as it turns out, Thag 7.4 immediately following this poem, forming a small cluster of child-prodigy ordination narratives converging on the same age within two consecutive books.
Key terms
The text
§1I was an only child, loved by my mother and father. They had me by practicing many supplications and observances.
§2Out of sympathy for me wishing me well and wanting the best for me, my mother and father took me to see the Buddha.
§3“We had this son with difficulty; he is delicate and pampered. We offer him to you, Lord, to attend upon the victor.”
§4The teacher, having accepted me, declared to Ānanda: “Quickly give him the going-forth—this one will be a thoroughbred!”
§5After he, the teacher, had sent me forth, the victor entered his dwelling. Before the sun set my mind was freed.
§6The teacher didn’t neglect me; when he came out from seclusion, he said: “Come Bhadda!” That was my ordination.
§7At seven years old I received ordination. I’ve attained the three knowledges; oh, the clear rightness of the teaching!
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