One whose senses have come to calm, like horses well-tamed by a charioteer, who has abandoned pride and is free of taints — even the gods envy such a one.

Yassindriȳāni samathaṅgatāni — whose senses have come to calm: indriya are the sensory faculties. Their tranquilization is not repression but the result of gradual and patient training of attention.

Assā yathā sārathinā sudantā — like horses well-tamed by a charioteer: in the Kaṭha Upaniṣad and the Bhagavad Gītā, the body is the chariot, the senses the horses, the mind the reins. Here the tamer is contemplative practice. Tamed horses are directed force, not suppressed force.

Pahīnamānassa anāsavassa — who has abandoned pride and is free of taints: māna (pride, presumption) is one of the ten fetters. Its abandonment together with the extinction of the āsava marks the full arahant.

Devāpi tassa pihayanti tādino — even the gods envy such a one: the reverence of deva toward the human arahant subverts the ordinary cosmic hierarchy. In Buddhism, human realization surpasses divine condition. Heaven bows before the awakened earth.