The Mystic Syllable Huṁ (UD1.4)

Heartfelt Sayings 1.4

The Mystic Syllable Huṁ

So I have heard.¹

At one time, when he was first awakened, the Buddha was staying in Uruvelā at the goatherd’s banyan tree on the bank of the Nerañjarā River.

There the Buddha sat cross-legged for seven days without moving, experiencing the bliss of freedom.

When seven days had passed, the Buddha emerged from that state of immersion.

Then a certain brahmin, one of those who murmured the mystic syllable huṁ, huṁ, went up to the Buddha and exchanged greetings with him.²

When the greetings and polite conversation were over, he stood to one side and said,

“Worthy Gotama, how do you define a brahmin? And what are the things that make one a brahmin?”

Then, understanding this matter, on that occasion the Buddha expressed this heartfelt sentiment:

“Any brahmin who has banished bad qualities—³

not murmuring the mystic syllable huṁ, unstained, self-controlled,⁴

a complete knowledge master who has completed the spiritual journey—⁵

they may legitimately proclaim the divine doctrine;⁶

who have no pretensions about anything in the world.”⁷