Thus have I heard. At one time the Buddha was staying in Śrāvastī, at Jetṛ’s Grove, in Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park. Then the Venerable Mahāpanthaka said to his younger brother Cūḍapanthaka:

“If a person is unable to keep in mind the rules of moral conduct, he should return to the lay life and wear the white robe of a layman.”

On hearing these words Cūḍapanthaka went out of the gate of Jetavana Monastery and stood aside weeping. While the monk was standing outside the gate, with his immaculate “divine eye” the Exalted One saw him beside himself and weeping bitterly. Rising from his quiet abiding and seemingly taking his walking-exercise, the Exalted One went out of the gate of Jetavana Monastery and asked Cūḍapanthaka, “Why, monk, are you weeping bitterly?”

“Exalted One,” replied Cūḍapanthaka, “My elder brother wants to expel me, saying that if a person is unable to keep in mind the rules of moral conduct, he should return to lay life … and that he should not stay here. That is why I am weeping bitterly.”

“Do not be afraid, monk,” said the Exalted One, “I will see to it that you will realise the Highest, Full and Complete Enlightenment; you would not become enlightened due to your elder brother Panthaka.”

Then the Exalted One took Cūḍapanthaka by the hand, returned with him to the vihāra and had him sitting down on the spot and holding a bamboo broom, saying to him, “What do you call this object? Pronounce the word for it.”

Now Cūḍapanthaka managed to pronounce “bamboo”, but he could not remember the word “broom”, and while he managed to pronounce “broom”, he forgot the word “bamboo”.

Venerable Cūḍapanthaka continued enunciating “bamboo broom” for several days. Consequently the defects in his pronouncing “bamboo broom” were gone, and he thought to himself, “What is this dispelling like, and what are defects like? There is a defect when there is grime on a slate roof, for instance, and getting rid leads to cleanliness.”

And again it occurred to him, “Why has the Exalted One given me this lesson? Now I should think about this matter.”

This train of thought occasioned further thinking, “Now there is also dirt on my body; I am myself an illustrative example; what is getting rid like, and what are impurities like?”

Then he reflected, “The impurities are the fetters of mental defilements, and getting rid corresponds to insight-knowledge. Just now I am able to sweep away these mental defilements with the broom of insight-knowledge.”

After these thoughts Venerable Cūḍapanthaka wisely reflected on the five aggregates of grasping, on their appearance and disappearance, “This is form, this is its arising and its cessation; this is feeling … perception … these are formative forces … and consciousness, its arising and its cessation.”

When he had wisely reflected on the five aggregates of grasping, his mind was freed from the malign influences of desire, of becoming and of ignorance. Having realised ultimate freedom, he gained insight-knowledge of this freedom and knew in accordance with fact, “Birth and death have come to and end, the holy life has been lived, what had to be done has been done, and there will be no more coming into existence.”

Venerable Cūḍapanthaka became an arhat and, after his realisation of arhatship, he rose from his seat and went to where the Exalted One was. There he bowed down his head at the Exalted One’s feet, sat down at one side and said to him, “Just now insight-knowledge and wisdom have been won, and the bamboo broom problem has been solved.”

“How, monk,” asked the Exalted One, “have you solved it?”

“Dispelling,” replied Cūḍapanthaka, “that is wisdom; and impurities are fetters.”

“Well said, monk,” the Exalted One approved, “It is as you say: dispelling is wisdom, impurities are fetters.” At that time Venerable Cūḍapanthaka addressed the following stanza to the Exalted One:

“Hardly has this enunciating, as the Exalted One bade
me do, been finished than, through insight-knowledge,
I could dispel the fetters; no remnants of them that
could affect me are in operation any more.”

“Monk,” confirmed the exalted One, “as you say, because of insight-knowledge there are no remnants of them in operation any more.”

Having listened to the Exalted One’s words, Venerable Cūḍapanthaka was pleased and respectfully applied himself to practice.