The Brahmin Chapter (DHP383-423)

Collection of Minor Texts

Verses of Dhamma

The Brahmin Chapter

Cut the stream,

try to dispel sensuality, brahmin.

Having known the elimination of all things,

you will know the Unmade, brahmin.

When a brahmin

goes beyond duality,

then all fetters come to an end

for the one who knows.

One for whom the beyond, the not-beyond,

and both beyond and not beyond cannot be found,

without anxiety, unattached -

that is who I call a brahmin.

Sitting dispassionately in meditation,

the task complete, free of defilements,

having reached the highest goal -

that is who I call a brahmin.

The sun shines by day,

the moon illuminates the night,

a well-dressed aristocrat shines,

a meditating brahmin shines,

and the one that shines both day and night

is the Buddha, the Radiant One.

One who has expelled all evil is called a brahmin,

one who lives peacefully is called a contemplative,

one who has personally exiled all their contaminants

is called a renunciant.

A brahmin would not attack another person,

nor would a brahmin abandon one.

Woe comes to one who attacks a brahmin,

woe comes to one who abandons a brahmin.

There is nothing better than this for a brahmin:

when the mind is kept away from its preferences.

Whenever one turns away from causing harm,

then suffering is replaced by peace.

One who does no misconduct

with body, speech, or mind,

one who is restrained in these three ways -

that is who I call a brahmin.

If someone has helped you understand the Dhamma

taught by the fully awakened one,

then you should respectfully venerate them,

like a brahmin at a fire-sacrifice.

It is not because of tangled hair, lineage,

or birth that one is a brahmin.

One in whom there is truth, Dhamma,

and purity is a brahmin.

Fool, what does tangled hair do for you?

What does a goatskin robe do for you?

Inside you there is a jungle;

you only polish the outside.

A person wearing rag-robes,

lean, with protruding veins,

meditating alone in the forest -

that is who I call a brahmin.

I do not say that one is a brahmin

because of the womb they were born from or the mother that produced them;

if they are possessive;

but one who is not possessive and not acquisitive -

that is who I call a brahmin.

One who has cut all fetters

and is not agitated,

who has transcended all bonds and is unattached -

that is who I call a brahmin.

Having cut the thong and strap,

having broken every link of the chain,

one who has removed the barricade and is awakened -

that is who I call a brahmin.

Insult, attack, imprisonment -

one who endures these without getting upset,

with patience as strong as an army -

that is who I call a brahmin.

Free from anger, religious,

virtuous, humble,

trained, bearing their final body -

that is who I call a brahmin.

Like water on a lotus leaf,

like a mustard seed on a needle tip,

one to whom sensuality does not stick -

that is who I call a brahmin.

One who understands suffering

and has personally eliminated it here and now,

who has set down the burden, unattached -

that is who I call a brahmin.

One who has profound wisdom and intelligence,

expert in what is and is not the path,

who has attained the highest goal -

that is who I call a brahmin.

Not involved with laypeople

or with monks,

a homeless wanderer with few wishes -

that is who I call a brahmin.

One who has renounced violence towards living beings,

whether weak or strong,

who does not injure or kill -

that is who I call a brahmin.

One who is unhindered amidst the hindered,

self-disciplined, cooled,

not acquisitive amidst the acquisitive -

that is who I call a brahmin.

One from whom passion, hatred,

conceit, and contempt have fallen away,

like mustard seeds from a needle tip -

that is who I call a brahmin.

One who speaks words that are gentle, instructive,

and true,

and that do not create attachment to anything -

that is who I call a brahmin.

One who steals nothing in the world -

whether it is long or short, small or large,

beautiful or ugly -

that is who I call a brahmin.

One in whom no longing can be found,

for this world or the next,

free of longing, unattached -

that is who I call a brahmin.

One in whom no adherence can be found,

who has overcome confusion through direct knowledge,

who has reached immersion in the deathless -

that is who I call a brahmin.

One who has transcended

attachment to both merit and evil,

sorrowless, immaculate, and pure -

that is who I call a brahmin.

One who, like the moon, is stainless, pure,

clear, and undisturbed;

one who has completely eliminated delight in existence -

that is who I call a brahmin.

This dangerous, difficult path,

Saṁsāra, delusion -

a meditator who has transcended it, crossed over it, gone beyond it,

who is unmoved, unconfused,

and enlightened through non-grasping -

that is who I call a brahmin.

One who has abandoned sensuality,

who wanders without a home,

who has completely eliminated sensual existence -

that is who I call a brahmin.

One who has abandoned craving,

who wanders without a home,

who has completely eliminated craving for existence -

that is who I call a brahmin.

One who has abandoned craving,

who wanders without a home,

who has completely eliminated craving for existence -

that is who I call a brahmin.

One who is no longer attached to human existence,

and is not attached to celestial existence either;

one who is not attached to anything -

that is who I call a brahmin.

Having relinquished liking and disliking,

serene and non-possessive,

a hero who has overcome the entire world -

that is who I call a brahmin.

One who completely understands

the death and rebirth of sentient beings,

unattached, heavenly, awake -

that is who I call a brahmin.

One whose destiny is not known

by any angel, spirit, or human,

an Arahant whose corruptions have been eliminated -

that is who I call a brahmin.

One who has nothing before, after,

or in the middle;

one who is not possessive and not acquisitive -

that is who I call a brahmin.

A bull, an excellent hero,

a great sage, a victor,

unmoved, cleansed, awake -

that is who I call a brahmin.

One who knows their past lives,

who sees heaven and hell,

who has reached the elimination of birth,

a sage who has mastery of higher knowledge,

who has mastered every attainment -

that is who I call a brahmin.