[891] **Alone, he attained delight**: the Blessed One is one by way of what is reckoned as going forth (pabbajjā); he is one in the sense of being without a companion; he is one in the sense of the abandoning of craving (taṇhā); he is one in the sense of being utterly devoid of lust; he is one in the sense of being utterly devoid of hatred; he is one in the sense of being utterly devoid of delusion; he is one in the sense of being utterly without defilements; he is one in the sense of having gone by the one-way path (ekāyana-magga); he is one in the sense of having alone fully awakened to the unsurpassed perfect awakening.
How is the Blessed One one by way of what is reckoned as going forth? The Blessed One, while still young, black-haired, endowed with the blessing of youth, in the prime of life, while his mother and father, unwilling, wept with tearful faces and lamented, abandoned the circle of relatives; having cut the impediment of fame and honour, having cut the impediment of son and wife, having cut the impediment of relatives, having cut the impediment of friends and companions, having cut the impediment of stores, having shaved off hair and beard, having put on the ochre robes, having gone forth from the home life into homelessness, having attained the state of owning nothing, alone he wanders, dwells, moves, proceeds, guards, maintains, and sustains himself. Thus the Blessed One is one by way of what is reckoned as going forth.
How is the Blessed One one in the sense of being without a companion? Being thus gone forth, alone he resorted to remote lodgings in the forests and woodland wilds — of little sound, of little noise, free from the breath of passers-by, fit for the privacy of humans, suitable for seclusion. Alone he walks, alone he stands, alone he sits, alone he makes his bed, alone he enters the village for alms, alone he returns, alone he sits in private, alone he determines upon walking meditation; alone he wanders, dwells, moves, proceeds, guards, maintains, and sustains himself. Thus the Blessed One is one in the sense of being without a companion.
How is the Blessed One one in the sense of the abandoning of craving? Being thus alone, without a companion, diligent, ardent (ātāpī), and resolute, exerting the great striving at the foot of the Bodhi tree on the bank of the river Nerañjarā, having scattered Māra together with his army — Namuci, kinsman of the heedless — he abandons, dispels, makes an end of, and brings to non-existence craving — the net, the stream, the clinging (visattikā).
A person with craving as his companion, wandering on the long road,
does not pass beyond saṃsāra, with its being thus and being otherwise.
Having known this danger — that craving is the origin of suffering (dukkha) —
free from craving, without grasping, mindful, let a bhikkhu wander forth.
Thus the Blessed One is one in the sense of the abandoning of craving.
How is the Blessed One one as utterly devoid of lust? Because lust has been abandoned, he is one as utterly devoid of lust. Because hatred has been abandoned, he is one as utterly devoid of hatred. Because delusion has been abandoned, he is one as utterly devoid of delusion. Because the defilements have been abandoned, he is one as utterly without defilements.
How is the Blessed One one in the sense of having gone by the one-way path? The one-way path is what is called the four establishments of mindfulness (satipaṭṭhāna), the four right strivings, the four bases of spiritual power, the five faculties, the five powers, the seven factors of awakening (bojjhaṅga), and the noble eightfold path.
Seeing the end in the destruction of birth,
compassionate for their welfare, he understands
the one-way path: by this path they crossed the flood before,
they will cross it, and they cross it now.
Thus the Blessed One is one in the sense of having gone by the one-way path.
How is the Blessed One one in the sense of having alone fully awakened to the unsurpassed perfect awakening? Awakening (bodhi) is what is called the knowledge (ñāṇa) in the four paths — wisdom, the wisdom faculty, the power of wisdom, the awakening factor of investigation of dhammas, investigation (vīmaṃsā), insight (vipassanā), right view. By that knowledge of awakening the Blessed One awakened: "All formations are impermanent," he awakened; "All formations are suffering," he awakened; "All dhammas are non-self," he awakened; "With ignorance as condition, formations," he awakened … "With birth as condition, aging and death," he awakened; "With the cessation of ignorance, the cessation of formations," he awakened … "With the cessation of birth, the cessation of aging and death," he awakened; "This is suffering," he awakened; "This is the origin of suffering," he awakened; "This is the cessation of suffering," he awakened; "This is the way of practice leading to the cessation of suffering," he awakened; "These are the taints (āsava)," he awakened; "This is the origin of the taints," he awakened; "This is the cessation of the taints," he awakened; "This is the way of practice leading to the cessation of the taints," he awakened; "These dhammas are to be directly known," he awakened; "These dhammas are to be fully understood," he awakened; "These dhammas are to be abandoned," he awakened; "These dhammas are to be developed," he awakened; "These dhammas are to be realized," he awakened. He awakened to the origin, the passing away, the gratification, the danger, and the escape in regard to the six bases of contact; he awakened to the origin, the passing away, the gratification, the danger, and the escape in regard to the five aggregates subject to clinging; he awakened to the origin, the passing away, the gratification, the danger, and the escape in regard to the four great elements; he awakened: "Whatever is of a nature to arise, all that is of a nature to cease." Or else: whatever is to be awakened to, awakened to in detail, fully awakened to, attained, touched, and realized — all that, by that knowledge of awakening, he awakened to, awakened to in accordance, awakened to in detail, fully awakened to, rightly awakened to, attained, obtained, touched, and realized. Thus the Blessed One is one in the sense of having alone fully awakened to the unsurpassed perfect awakening.
**He attained delight**: *delight* — the delight of renunciation, the delight of seclusion, the delight of peace, the delight of full awakening: this he attained, reached, touched, and realized; hence, "alone, he attained delight." Therefore the Elder Sāriputta said:
As the One with Vision is seen by the world together with its devas,
having dispelled all darkness, alone he attained delight.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.