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thinking: 'Whatever Dhamma the ascetic Gotama will attain, he will declare it to us.' When I, Bhāradvāja, took coarse food, rice and gruel, then those... The group of five monks became disgusted and departed, saying: 'The ascetic Gotama is luxurious, he has given up exertion, he has reverted to luxury.' "Then I, Bharadvaja, having eaten coarse food, having gained strength, quite secluded from sensual pleasures... entered and remained in the first jhana. With the fading away of thought and examination, with inner tranquility, and the unification of the mind, without thought and examination, born of concentration, rapture and pleasure, I entered and remained in the second jhana... the third jhana... the fourth jhana. "With my mind thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, rid of defilements, pliant, workable, steady, attained to imperturbability, I directed my mind to the knowledge of recollecting past lives. I recollected my manifold past lives, that is, one birth, two births... Thus I recollected my manifold past lives in their modes and details. This, Bharadvaja, in the first watch of the night, was the first knowledge attained by me, ignorance was dispelled, knowledge arose; darkness was dispelled, light arose; as happens to one who dwells heedful, ardent, and resolute. "With my mind thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, rid of defilements, pliant, workable, steady, attained to imperturbability, I directed my mind to the knowledge of the passing away and reappearance of beings. With the divine eye, purified and surpassing that of humans, I saw beings passing away and reappearing, inferior and superior, fair and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate, I understood beings as they fare according to their kamma... This, Bharadvaja, in the middle watch of the night, was the second knowledge attained by me, ignorance was dispelled, knowledge arose; darkness was dispelled, light arose; as happens to one who dwells heedful, ardent, and resolute. "With my mind thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, rid of defilements, pliant, workable, steady, attained to imperturbability, I directed my mind to the knowledge of the destruction of the taints. I directly knew 'This is suffering'... I understood, 'this is suffering' as it really is. I understood, 'this is the origin of suffering' as it really is. I understood, 'this is the cessation of suffering' as it really is. I understood, 'this is the path leading to the cessation of suffering' as it really is. I understood, 'these are the taints' as it really is. I understood, 'this is the origin of the taints' as it really is. I understood, 'this is the cessation of the taints' as it really is. I understood, 'this is the path leading to the cessation of the taints' as it really is. As I thus knew, as I thus saw, my mind was liberated from the taint of sensual desire. My mind was liberated from the taint of becoming. My mind was liberated from the taint of ignorance. In the liberated, the knowledge 'it is liberated' arose. I understood: 'Birth is destroyed, the holy life has been lived, what was to be done has been done, there is no further state of being for this.' This, indeed, Bhāradvāja, in the last watch of the night, was the third knowledge attained by me. Ignorance was dispelled, knowledge arose. Darkness was dispelled, light arose. As is fitting for one who dwells heedful, ardent, and resolute." When this was said, the young man Saṅgārava said this to the Blessed One: "Truly, the striving of Master Gotama was firm, truly, the striving of Master Gotama was that of a good person; as is fitting for an Arahant, a Fully Self-Awakened One. Is it, Master Gotama, that there are gods?" "This is known to me, Bhāradvāja, as a matter of fact, that there are gods." "How is it, Master Gotama, when asked 'Are there gods?' you say 'This is known to me, Bhāradvāja, as a matter of fact, that there are gods.' Is it not, Master Gotama, that in this case it is empty and false?" "'Are there gods?' Bhāradvāja, when asked, if one were to say 'There are gods,' 'This is known to me as a matter of fact,' Whoever would say: "Known to me in every respect, known!" But here, by a discerning person, it should be concluded definitively that 'there are gods'. "But why, Master Gotama, did you not declare this at the outset?" "This, Bhāradvāja, is highly esteemed in the world, namely, 'there are gods'." 486. When this was said, the young man Saṅgārava said to the Blessed One: "Excellent, Master Gotama! Excellent, Master Gotama! Just as, Master Gotama, one might set upright what was overturned, or reveal what was hidden, or point out the way to one who was lost, or hold up a lamp in the darkness so that those with eyes might see forms— even so has the Dhamma been made clear in many ways by Master Gotama. I go for refuge to Master Gotama, and to the Dhamma, and to the Saṅgha of bhikkhus. May Master Gotama remember me as a lay follower who has gone for refuge from this day forth as long as life lasts." The Saṅgārava Sutta, the tenth, is finished. The Brāhmaṇa Vagga, the fifth, is finished. Its summary: Brahmāyu, Selassalāyano, Ghoṭamukha, and Brāhmaṇa; Caṅkī, Esu, Dhanañjāni, Vāseṭṭha, Subha, Saṅgārava. This is the summary of the vaggas: The Householder Vagga, the Bhikkhu, The Wanderer by name; The King Vagga, the Brāhmaṇa— These are the five in the Middle Collection. The Middle Fifty is concluded.