Summary: The Arahantavagga ("The Arahant") is the seventh chapter of the dhammapada, ten verses (Dhp 90–99) devoted entirely to the arahant — the fully liberated person who has ended all defilements (āsavā) and will not be reborn. The vagga moves from the arahant's interior freedom (Dhp 90–96) — evoking it through images of journey's end, swan, birds in the sky, tamed horses, earth-like equanimity, and triple peace — through the paradoxical "supreme person" verse (Dhp 97, a registered high-risk passage), to the exterior quality of the places where arahants dwell (Dhp 98–99). The preceding Paṇḍitavagga's closing verse (Dhp 89) names the arahant directly; this vagga takes that image as its full subject. For the doctrinal analysis see the arahant concept page.
Themes
- Journey's end and freedom from fever (Dhp 90): Gataddhino (one who has completed the journey), visoka (sorrowless), freed sabbadhi (everywhere); all gantha (ties/fetters) released. The absence of pariḷāha (fever, the burning of craving) is the key liberation metaphor.
- Non-attachment to any dwelling (Dhp 91): Like a haṁsa (swan) leaving the marsh, the mindful apply themselves (uyyuñjanti) yet cling to no abode. The image of movement-without-clinging captures the arahant's relationship to the world.
- Tracklessness and the two liberations (Dhp 92–93): Like birds through the sky (ākāseva sakuntānaṁ), the arahant's path cannot be traced. Their domain is suññato animitto ca vimokkho — the liberation of emptiness (suññatā) and of the signless (animitta). Nothing accumulated (sannicayo natthi); food understood (pariññātabhojanā). Dhp 92 speaks of this class broadly; Dhp 93 applies the same image specifically to one whose defilements have ended (yassāsavā parikkhīṇā).
- Serene faculties; even gods envy them (Dhp 94): Faculties (indriya) brought to calm (samathaṅgatāni) like horses expertly tamed by a charioteer; conceit (māna) and all defilements abandoned. Devāpi tassa pihayanti tādino — "even the gods envy the impartial one." Tādi (such-like, unaffected) is a recurring Pali epithet for the fully liberated.
- Earth-like equanimity; no transmigration (Dhp 95): Pathavisamo (earth-like, undisturbed), indakhilupamo (like Indra's post, immovable), rahadova apetakaddamo (like a clear lake, free of mud). Saṁsārā na bhavanti tādino — such a one does not transmigrate.
- Triple peace (Dhp 96): Mind (mana), speech (vācā), and deed (kamma) all santa (peaceful). Sammadaññāvimutta — "rightly freed through (direct) knowledge" — as opposed to release resting on faith alone.
- The paradoxical supreme person (Dhp 97, registered high-risk passage): The verse uses apparently negative language for the uttamaporisa (supreme person). Because this is a registered high-risk passage, this text page keeps only a minimal caution and defers the full analysis to arahant. Any expanded interpretation on this page requires renewed high-risk review.
- Delightful presence (Dhp 98): Wherever arahants dwell — village, wilderness, valley, upland — taṁ bhūmirāmaṇeyyakaṁ (that ground becomes delightful). The arahant sanctifies place by presence.
- Wilderness delight; free from passion (Dhp 99): Ramaṇīyāni araññāni — wildernesses are delightful to the vītarāgā (those free of passion), not to those seeking sensual pleasures (kāmagavesino). The vagga closes as it opens — with inner freedom that inverts the ordinary world.
Verses
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Verse 90
Pali (dhp90:1–90:4)
Gataddhino visokassa,
vippamuttassa sabbadhi;
Sabbaganthappahīnassa,
pariḷāho na vijjati.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp90:1–90:4)
At journey’s end, rid of sorrow;
everywhere free,
all ties given up,
no fever is found in them.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
ගොස් නිමවන ලද සංසාර මාර්ග ඇති ශොක නැති (ස්කන්ධාදී) සියලු ධර්මයෙහි නොඇලී (එයින් මිදුණු) සියලු කාය ග්රන්ථයන් (ගැට) ප්රහීණ කළාවූ ක්ෂීණාශ්රවයාහට (චෛතසික) පරිදාහයක් දැවිල්ලෙක් නැත්තේය.
Key terms: gataddhino (one who has gone the full journey/completed the path), visoka (sorrowless), vippamutta (liberated everywhere), gantha (bond/tie/fetter), pariḷāha (fever — the burning of craving) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 91
Pali (dhp91:1–91:4)
Uyyuñjanti satīmanto,
na nikete ramanti te;
Haṁsāva pallalaṁ hitvā,
okamokaṁ jahanti te.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp91:1–91:4)
The mindful apply themselves;
they delight in no abode.
Like a swan gone from the marsh,
they leave home after home behind.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
ස්මෘති සම්පන්නවූ (සිහිමත්) ක්ෂීණාශ්රවයෝ ව්යායාම කරන්නාහ. ඔහු ආලයෙහි (ගෙහි) නොඇලෙන්නාහ. ඔහු විලහැර යන්නාවූ හංසයන් මෙන් ආලයක් ආලයක් පාසා හරණාහුයයි (හෙවත් සියලු ආලයන් හරණාහුයි.)
Key terms: uyyuñjati (applies oneself, strives), satīmant (mindful), niketa (abode/home), haṁsa (swan), pallala (marsh, pond), okamoka (home after home — reduplicated) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 92
Pali (dhp92:1–92:6)
Yesaṁ sannicayo natthi,
ye pariññātabhojanā;
Suññato animitto ca,
vimokkho yesaṁ gocaro;
Ākāseva sakuntānaṁ,
gati tesaṁ durannayā.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp92:1–92:6)
Those with nothing stored up,
who have understood their food,
whose domain is the liberation
of the signless and the empty:
their path is hard to trace,
like birds in the sky.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
යම් (ක්ෂීණාශ්රව) කෙනෙකුන්ට (කුශලා කුශල) රැස් කිරීමෙක් (චීවරාදී සිව්පසස රැස්කිරීමෙක් වත්) නැද්ද යම් (ක්ෂීණාශ්රව) කෙනෙක් පිරිසිඳ දන්නා ලද භොජන ඇත්තාහුද, යම් (ක්ෂීණාශ්රව) කෙනෙකුන්ට සුඤ්ඤතවිමොක්ඛ (කිසිත් නැතැයි මිදීම) නම්වූද අනිමිත්ත විමොක්ඛ (අරමුණ නොගෙන මිදීම) නම්වූද අප්පණිහිත විමොක්ඛ (ආශාවක් නැති මිදීම) නම්වූද නිර්වාණය අරමුණු වේද ඒ ක්ෂීණාශ්රවයන්ගේ (උත්පත්ති) ගතිතොම ආකාශයෙහි පක්ෂීන් ගිය මග මෙන් නොදත හැක්කේය.
Key terms: sannicaya (accumulation, storing up), pariññātabhojana (one who has fully understood food), suññata vimokkha (liberation of emptiness), animitta vimokkha (liberation of the signless), gocara (domain, pasture), durannaya (hard to trace) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 93
Pali (dhp93:1–93:6)
Yassāsavā parikkhīṇā,
āhāre ca anissito;
Suññato animitto ca,
vimokkho yassa gocaro;
Ākāseva sakuntānaṁ,
padaṁ tassa durannayaṁ.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp93:1–93:6)
One whose defilements have ended;
who’s not attached to food;
whose domain is the liberation
of the signless and the empty:
their track is hard to trace,
like birds in the sky.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
යම් ක්ෂීණාශ්රවයෙකුට කාමාදී ආශ්රවයෝ ක්ෂයවූවාහුද කබලිංකාරාහාරයෙහි (සිඟු අහරෙහි) ද තෘෂ්ණාව දෘෂ්ටි වශයෙන් නොඇලුනේද, යම් ක්ෂීණාශ්රවයෙකුට සුඤ්ඤත විමොක්ඛ නම්වූද, අනිමිත්ත විමොක්ඛ නම්වූද අප්පණිහිත විමොක්ඛ නිර්වාණය අරමුණුවේද ඒ ක්ෂීණාශ්රවයාගේ පිය ආකාශයේ පක්ෂීන්ගේ පිය මෙන් නොදත හැක්කේයි.
Key terms: āsavā parikkhīṇā (defilements fully ended — the Pali definition of arahantship), anissita (not attached/dependent), suññata/animitta vimokkha — same pair as Dhp 92; Dhp 93 applies the image specifically to the individual Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 94
Pali (dhp94:1–94:4)
Yassindriyāni samathaṅgatāni,
Assā yathā sārathinā sudantā;
Pahīnamānassa anāsavassa,
Devāpi tassa pihayanti tādino.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp94:1–94:4)
Whose faculties have become serene,
like horses tamed by a charioteer,
who has abandoned conceit and defilements;
the unaffected one is envied by even the gods.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
යම් ක්ෂීණාශ්රවයෙකුගේ ෂඞ්ඉන්ද්රියයන් දක්ෂ රියැදුරෙකු විසින් මනාකොට දමනය කරණ ලද අශ්වයන් මෙන් මනාකොට දැමුණේද ප්රහීණවූ (නවවිධි) මාන ඇති, ආශ්රව නැති, (අෂ්ටලොක ධර්මයෙන් නොසැලෙන හෙයින්) තාදීවූ (නොසැලෙන) ඔහුට දෙවියෝද කැමති වෙති.
Key terms: indriya (sense faculties), samathaṅgata (brought to calm/serenity), māna (conceit — one of the ten fetters), anāsava (defilements-ended), tādi (such-like, unaffected, impartial — a canonical arahant epithet), pihayati (longs for, envies) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 95
Pali (dhp95:1–95:4)
Pathavisamo no virujjhati,
Indakhilupamo tādi subbato;
Rahadova apetakaddamo,
Saṁsārā na bhavanti tādino.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp95:1–95:4)
Undisturbed like the earth,
true to their vows, steady as Indra’s pillar,
like a lake clear of mud;
such a one does not transmigrate.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
පොළොව හා සමවූ නුවර දොර හිඳුවන ලද කණුවක් බඳුවූ (අටලෝ දහමින් කම්පා නොවන බැවින්) තාදීවූ (නොසැලෙන) යහපත් ව්රත (වත්) ඇති යම් ක්ෂීණාශ්රවයෙක් විරුද්ධ නොවේද, පහවූ මඩ ඇති විලක් මෙන් ප්රසන්නවේද, ඒ ක්ෂීණාශ්රවයාහට සංසාරයෝ (ඉපදීම්) නොවන්නාහ.
Key terms: pathavisama (earth-like), indakhilupama (like Indra's post/pillar — a fixed boundary stone at a city gate), tādi (impartial, unaffected), subbata (true to vows), rahada (deep lake/pool), apetakaddama (free of mud), saṁsāra (wandering/transmigration) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): Mahāthera Sāriputta is cited in Dhp-a as the vatthu subject. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 96
Pali (dhp96:1–96:4)
Santaṁ tassa manaṁ hoti,
santā vācā ca kamma ca;
Sammadaññāvimuttassa,
upasantassa tādino.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp96:1–96:4)
Their mind is peaceful,
peaceful are their speech and deeds.
Such a one is at peace,
rightly freed through enlightenment.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
මනාකොට (තදංගාදී පංචවිධ විමුක්තියෙන්) විශෙෂයෙන් මිදුනාවූ, අටලෝ දහමින් කම්පා නොවූ, සන්සුන්වූ, රහතුන්ගේ සිත කය වචනය යන තුන්දොරම ශාන්තය.
Key terms: santa (peaceful, calm), sammadaññāvimutta (rightly freed through direct knowledge — as opposed to saddhāvimutta, faith-release), upasanta (thoroughly at peace), tādi (impartial, unaffected) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 97
Pali (dhp97:1–97:4)
Assaddho akataññū ca,
sandhicchedo ca yo naro;
Hatāvakāso vantāso,
sa ve uttamaporiso.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp97:1–97:4)
Lacking faith, a house-breaker,
one who acknowledges nothing,
purged of hope, they’ve wasted their chance:
that is indeed the supreme person!
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
යමෙක් (අනුන්ගේ බස්) නොඅදහාද, (බුදුන්ගේ විනා අන් ශාස්තෲවරයෙක් කෙරෙහි ඇදහිලි නැත්තේද) අත්ත (නොකළ) නම් වූ නිර්වාණය ප්රත්යක්ෂ කොට දත්තේද, (සංස්කාර) සන්ධිය සින්දේද, සින්දාවූ ප්රතිසන්ධ්යාවකාශ (පිළිසිඳීම් ඉඩ) ඇත්තාවූ වමනය කරණ ලද ආශා ඇත්තේද හෙතෙම ඒකාන්තයෙන් උත්තම පුරුෂ නම්වේ.
Key terms: assaddha, akataññū, sandhiccheda, hatāvakāsa, vantāsa, uttamaporisa — high-risk paradoxical terms; see the textual note below and arahant for the full analysis. Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): Mahāthera Sāriputta cited in Dhp-a as the context for this verse. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 98
Pali (dhp98:1–98:4)
Gāme vā yadi vāraññe,
Ninne vā yadi vā thale;
Yattha arahanto viharanti,
Taṁ bhūmirāmaṇeyyakaṁ.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp98:1–98:4)
Whether in village or wilderness,
in a valley or the uplands,
wherever the perfected ones live
is a delightful place.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
ගමක හෝ වනයක හෝ වළතැනෙක හෝ ගොඩ තැනෙක හෝ යම් තැනෙක්හි රහත්හු වාසය කරත්ද ඒ භූමි ප්රදෙශය සිත්කලුය.
Key terms: arahant (perfected one, fully liberated), bhūmirāmaṇeyyaka (delightful ground/place — compound: bhūmi + rāmaṇeyya) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 99
Pali (dhp99:1–99:4)
Ramaṇīyāni araññāni,
yattha na ramatī jano;
Vītarāgā ramissanti,
na te kāmagavesino.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp99:1–99:4)
Delightful are the wildernesses
where no people delight.
Those free of greed will delight there,
not those who seek sensual pleasures.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
අරණ්යයෝ සිත් අලවන්නාහ. යම් අරණ්යයෙක්හි මහජනතෙම නොඇලේද, (එබඳු අරණෙහි) පහවූ රාග ඇති රහත්හු (ක්ෂීණශ්රවයෝ) ඇලෙන්නාහ. ඒ රහත්හු වස්තුකාම ක්ලේශකාමයන් නොසොයන සුල්ලෝය.
Key terms: ramaṇīya (delightful), arañña (wilderness, forest), vītarāga (free of passion/greed — vīta = gone + rāga = passion), kāmagavesino (those seeking/hunting sensual pleasures) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Textual notes
- Dhp 92 and Dhp 93 share the core image and three pāda lines verbatim (Suññato animitto ca, vimokkho yesaṁ/yassa gocaro; ākāseva sakuntānaṁ). Dhp 92 uses the plural (yesaṁ — those) and Dhp 93 the singular (yassa — one whose). The pairing is likely deliberate — general class then individual exemplification.
- Dhp 97 is a registered high-risk passage. The traditional Theravāda reading consistently applies each apparently-negative term as a paradoxical description of the arahant's liberated qualities. Any deviation from this reading requires high-risk review before publication. See arahant for the full commentary-verified analysis.
- Tādi (impartial, such-like, unaffected) appears in Dhp 94 and Dhp 95. It is a technical arahant epithet across several vaggas.
Related pages
- dhammapada — parent text
- dhammapada 06 panditavagga — preceding vagga (Dhp 89 bridges directly)
- dhammapada 08 sahassavagga — following vagga
- arahant — full doctrinal analysis, including Dhp 97 high-risk passage
- mahakassapa — associated vatthu in the Arahantavagga commentarial tradition (commentary)
- anuruddha — associated vatthu in the Arahantavagga commentarial tradition (commentary)
- sariputta — cited in Dhp-a for Dhp 95 and Dhp 97 vatthus (commentary)