After forty-nine days of deep meditation under the Bodhi tree, Siddhartha Gautama achieved full enlightenment. His first words were not a sermon to others, but a “Song of Victory” addressed to the architect of his own suffering.
Anekajāti saṃsāraṃ sandhāvissaṃ anibbisaṃ;
Gahakārakaṃ gavesanto dukkhā jāti punappunaṃ.
Gahakāraka diṭṭhosi, puna gehaṃ na kāhasi;
Sabbā te phāsukā bhaggā, gahakūṭaṃ visaṅkhataṃ;
Visaṅkhāragataṃ cittaṃ, taṇhānaṃ khayam ajjhagā.
The Meaning
Translated, the Buddha declares: “Through countless births in Samsara I have wandered, seeking but not finding the builder of this house. Painful is repeated birth. O house-builder, you are seen! You shall not build a house again. Your rafters are broken, your ridgepole is shattered. To dissolution goes my mind; the end of craving have I attained.”
The Significance
This verse marks the ultimate psychological breakthrough. The “house-builder” is a metaphor for taṇhā (craving), the driving force behind rebirth and suffering.
By “shattering the ridgepole,” the Buddha signaled that he had dismantled the ego and the ignorance that keeps the soul anchored to the cycle of pain. It is a triumphant shout of personal proclamation of awakening, not a public teaching. It’s the moment the seeker became the Awakened One.
This awakening is believed to have occurred on the full moon day of Vaishakha, known as Vesak or Buddha Purnima. The same full moon also marked his birth and his final passing (Parinirvana), making Vesak a triple sacred anniversary and a cosmic symbol of illumination, completion, and release.
