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# Ud 1:7 · Aja (Aja Sutta)
- URL: https://www.journal.ninthheaven.co/civilisation/trad-buddhism/ud-1-7/
- Published: 2026-06-01T00:07:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-07-13T16:54:16.000Z
- Description: Udāna · Ud 1:7. Translated by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu.
- Author: Ninth Heaven Literature & Arts Association (NHLAA)
- Tags: Buddhism, Sutta Piṭaka, Text, Indian, The Buddha, Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, Udāna, Verse, Pali, Early Buddhist, Library, #Import 2026-07-06 03:28

I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying near Pāva at the Ajakalāpaka \[Herd-of-Goats\] shrine, the dwelling of the Ajakalāpaka spirit. And on that occasion, in the pitch-black darkness of the night, the Blessed One was sitting in the open air, and the rain was falling in scattered drops.

Then the Ajakalāpaka spirit–wanting to cause fear, terror, & horripilation in the Blessed One–went to him and, on arrival, not far from him, three times made a commotion & pandemonium: “Commotion & pandemonium! Commotion & pandemonium! Commotion & pandemonium!–That’s a goblin for you, contemplative!”

Then, on realizing the significance of that, the Blessed One on that occasion exclaimed:

When,

with regard to his own qualities,[1](https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/KN/Ud/ud1%5F7.html?ref=journal.ninthheaven.co)

a brahman is one

who has gone beyond,

he transcends this goblin

and his pandemonium.

Note

1\. *Dhammas.* This is apparently a reference to skillful and unskillful mental qualities–which would mean that this sutta sides with the passages in the Canon categorizing unbinding not as a dhamma, but as the transcending of all dhammas. (The suttas in general are inconsistent on this point. [Iti 90](https://www.journal.ninthheaven.co/civilisation/trad-buddhism/iti-90/), among others, states clearly that unbinding counts as a dhamma. [AN 10:58](https://www.journal.ninthheaven.co/civilisation/trad-buddhism/an-10-58/), on the other hand, calls unbinding the ending of all dhammas. [Sn 5:6](https://www.journal.ninthheaven.co/civilisation/trad-buddhism/sn-5-6/) calls the attainment of the goal the transcending of all dhammas, just as [Sn 4:6](https://www.journal.ninthheaven.co/civilisation/trad-buddhism/sn-4-6/) and [Sn 4:10](https://www.journal.ninthheaven.co/civilisation/trad-buddhism/sn-4-10/) state that the arahant has transcended dispassion, said to be the highest dhamma. [MN 22](https://www.journal.ninthheaven.co/civilisation/trad-buddhism/mn-22/), in the famous simile of the raft, states that all dhammas are abandoned at the end of the path.)

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*Translated by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu. © 2014 / rev. 2017 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu — released under the [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/?ref=journal.ninthheaven.co) licence, for free distribution only. Source: [dhammatalks.org](https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/KN/Ud/ud1%5F7.html?ref=journal.ninthheaven.co) (Metta Forest Monastery).*