Sāvatthī, in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery
Present
The Buddha and Venerable Sāriputta, seated nearby
Form
Pure observation — no dialogue — followed by a four-line verse; the closing discourse of the Meghiyavagga
Length
Under 1 minute to read
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — the shortest discourse in the vagga, and its final word
Why this heartfelt saying
In the vagga’s shortest and final discourse, the Buddha watches Sāriputta sit cross-legged, doing nothing more than reviewing his own peacefulness — and closes the collection with four lines on a mind so stilled that it has, at last, slipped Māra’s bonds entirely.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
Observing Sāriputta sitting cross-legged and “reviewing his own peacefulness,” the Buddha speaks a closing verse describing exactly that state carried to its conclusion: a mind so at peace that transmigration through births is finished and Māra’s bonds no longer hold.
A specific kind of stillness
The narrative frame will be familiar from Ud 4.6 and Ud 4.7: Sāriputta is “sitting not far from the Buddha, cross-legged, with his body straight.” What distinguishes this discourse is the single added detail of what he is doing while seated: “reviewing his own peacefulness” (upasamaṁ paccavekkhamāno). Rather than simply meditating, he is actively examining his own settledness — a subtly different, more self-aware act than the plain stillness described for him, or for Piṇḍola, elsewhere in this vagga.
The verse: peace, the cord cut, freedom
As in Ud 4.6 and 4.7, the Buddha’s response is wordless observation followed directly by a verse, with no exchange between them: “With mind at peace, so full of peace, for a mendicant who has cut the cord, transmigration through births is finished: they’re freed from Māra’s bonds.” The verse’s central image is the “cord cut” (netticchinna) — netti referring to a leading-cord or conduit, here understood as craving, the very thing that draws a being onward from one life into the next. Once that cord is severed, the verse says, the wandering through repeated birth is simply finished, and what had bound the mind to Māra’s realm no longer applies.
An echo of Ud 4.9
This closing verse ends on almost the same note as the previous discourse’s verse for Upasena — “transmigration through births is finished... there’ll be no more future lives for them” there, “transmigration through births is finished: they’re freed from Māra’s bonds” here. Two consecutive discourses, one built around a mendicant’s own confident first-person reflection and the other around the Buddha’s silent observation of a different mendicant, arrive at the same destination by different roads.
Closing the vagga
As the tenth and final discourse of the Meghiyavagga, this brief piece brings the collection full circle. It opened with Meghiya, whose meditation in solitude was disturbed by unwanted thoughts he did not yet know how to handle; it closes with Sāriputta, whose meditation consists of calmly reviewing a peace he has already, fully, arrived at. Between them lie spirits, elephants, cowherds, slander, and quiet elders — but the vagga’s last word is simply stillness, examined and confirmed.
Key terms
upasama — peacefulness or stilling, the specific quality Sāriputta is described reviewing in himself, and the discourse’s own title.
paccavekkhati — to review or reflect upon; here applied reflexively to Sāriputta’s own attainment, distinct from simply abiding in it.
netticchinna — “the cord cut,” an image for craving (the leading-cord drawing a being to further rebirth) that has been severed.
jātisaṁsāra — transmigration or wandering-on through repeated birth, described in the verse’s closing lines as finished.
mārabandhana — “Māra’s bonds,” the state of freedom from which the verse says such a mendicant is finally released.
The text
The discourse in full, and the last of the Meghiyavagga: the Buddha’s silent observation of Sāriputta reviewing his own peacefulness, and the closing verse. There is no dialogue in this short text. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying near Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery. Now at that time Venerable Sāriputta was sitting not far from the Buddha, cross-legged, with his body straight, reviewing his own peacefulness.
§2The Buddha saw him meditating there.
§3Then, understanding this matter, on that occasion the Buddha expressed this heartfelt sentiment:
§4“With mind at peace, so full of peace, for a mendicant who has cut the cord, transmigration through births is finished: they’re freed from Māra’s bonds.”
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Self-check quiz
Ten questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.
Question 1 of 10
Where does this discourse take place?
Correct: A. The same setting as Ud 4.6, 4.7, and 4.8.
Question 2 of 10
Who does the Buddha observe in this discourse, and what makes it his fourth appearance in this vagga?
Correct: A. Sāriputta is this vagga’s most recurring figure.
Question 3 of 10
What specific activity is Sāriputta engaged in, distinguishing this discourse from Ud 4.6 and 4.7?
Correct: B. This is a more self-aware, reflective act than the plain stillness described elsewhere in the vagga.
Question 4 of 10
Does the Buddha speak directly to Sāriputta in this discourse?
Correct: A. This wordless observation-to-verse pattern recurs across several discourses in this vagga.
Question 5 of 10
What image does the closing verse use for craving that has been overcome?
Correct: C. Netti refers to a leading-cord or conduit, here understood as craving.
Question 6 of 10
According to the verse, what is true of a mendicant with mind at peace, the cord cut?
Correct: A. This is the verse’s full closing statement.
Question 7 of 10
How does this verse’s ending echo the verse of the discourse just before it, Ud 4.9?
Correct: A. Two consecutive discourses arrive at the same destination — the end of rebirth — by different roads.
Question 8 of 10
What position does this discourse hold within the Meghiyavagga?
Correct: C. The vagga’s traditional summary verse (uddāna) confirms Sāriputta as the tenth and closing figure.
Question 9 of 10
How does the reading guide describe the vagga’s overall arc, from its first discourse to this last one?
Correct: D. The reading guide frames this as the collection coming full circle.
Question 10 of 10
What is the discourse’s title in English, and what does it emphasize?
Correct: D. The title directly names the quality — upasama, peacefulness — that Sāriputta is shown examining in himself.
