sn.21.6 Saṁyutta Nikāya (Linked Discourses)

Lakuṇṭaka Bhaddiya

At Savatthi. Then the Venerable Lakuṇṭaka Bhaddiya approached the Blessed One. The Blessed One saw him coming in the distance and addressed the bhikkhus thus: “Bhikkhus, do you see that bhikkhu coming, ugly, unsightly, deformed, despised among the bhikkhus?”

“Yes, venerable sir.”

“That bhikkhu is of great spiritual power and might. It is not easy to find an attainment which that bhikkhu has not already attained. And he is one who, by realizing it for himself with direct knowledge, in this very life enters and dwells in that unsurpassed goal of the holy life for the sake of which clansmen rightly go forth from the household life into homelessness.”

This is what the Blessed One said … who further said this:

“Geese, herons, and peacocks,
Elephants, and spotted deer,
All are frightened of the lion
Regardless of their bodies’ size.

“In the same way among human beings
The small one endowed with wisdom—
He is the one that is truly great,
Not the fool with a well-built body.”

- Translator: Bhikkhu Bodhi

- Editor: Blake Walsh

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With Bhaddiya the Dwarf

At Sāvatthī.
Then Venerable Bhaddiya the Dwarf went to see the Buddha.
The Buddha saw him coming off in the distance,
and addressed the mendicants:
“Mendicants, do you see this monk coming—ugly, unsightly, deformed, and despised by the mendicants?”
“Yes, sir.”
“That mendicant is very mighty and powerful. It’s not easy to find an attainment that he has not already attained.
And he has realized the supreme end of the spiritual path in this very life. He lives having achieved with his own insight the goal for which gentlemen rightly go forth from the lay life to homelessness.”
That is what the Buddha said.
Then the Holy One, the Teacher, went on to say:
“Geese, herons, and peacocks,
elephants and spotted deer—
though their bodies are not equal,
they all fear the lion.
So it is for humans—
if a little person is wise,
they’re the truly great one,
not the fool with a good body.”