§ XXVI

The Buddha's Way of Virtue, by W.D.C Wagiswara and K.J. Saunders, [1920], at sacred-texts.com

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§ XXVI

THE BRAHMIN

383. Play the man and stem the flood of passion! Cast off your lusts, O Brahmin; having known the ending of the perishable, thou knowest the imperishable, O Brahmin.

384. When the Brahmin has travelled the twofold path of meditation, then indeed his chains fall off him, for he knows the truth.

385. Him I call the Brahmin whom desire assails not from within nor from without, in whom is no fear, he is indeed free.

386. Him I call Brahmin who is meditative, clean of heart, solitary, who has done his duty and got rid of taints, who has reached the goal of effort.

387. The sun shines by day, the moon lights up the night; radiant is the soldier in his panoply, radiant the Brahmin in his meditation; but the Buddha in his brightness is radiant day and night.

388. By Brahmin mean one who has put

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away evil; for his serenity is a man called Samano; for excluding his own sin is a man called recluse.

389. Do no evil to a Brahmin; let not the Brahmin return evil for evil. Woe to him who kills a Brahmin; yea, rather, woe to that Brahmin who loses his temper!

390. It is no slight benefit to a Brahmin when he learns to hold his impulses in check; from whatever motive evil temper is controlled, by that control grief is truly soothed.

391. By whomsoever no evil is done in deed, or word, or thought, him I call a Brahmin who is guarded in these three.

392. As the Brahmin honours the burnt-sacrifice, so do thou honour him, from whomsoever is learnt the law of the true Buddha.

393. Not by matted locks, nor by lineage, nor by caste is one a Brahmin; he is the Brahmin in whom are truth and righteousness and purity.

394. What boots your tangled hair, O fool, what avails your garment of skins? You have adorned the outer parts, within you are full of uncleanness.

395. A man clothed in cast-off rags, lean, with knotted veins, meditating alone in the forest, him I call a Brahmin.

396. Not him do I call Brahmin who is merely born of a Brahmin mother; men may give him

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salutation as a Brahmin, though he be not detached from the world: but him I call a Brahmin who has attachment to nothing.

397. Him I call a Brahmin who has cut the bonds, who does not thirst for pleasures, who has left behind the hindrances.

398. Whoso has cut the cable, and the rope and the chain with all its links, and has pushed aside the bolt, this wise one I call a Brahmin.

399. Whoever bears patiently abuse and injury and imprisonment, whose bodyguard is fortitude, he is the Brahmin.

400. He is the Brahmin who does not give way to anger, who is careful of religious duties, who is upright, pure, and controlled, who has reached his last birth.

401. He who clings not to pleasures as water clings not to the lotus leaf, nor mustard-seed to the needle-point, him I call Brahmin.

402. He is the Brahmin who in this very world knows the end of sorrow, who has laid the burden aside and is free.

403. Whoso is wise with deep wisdom, seeing the right way and the wrong, and has reached the goal, him I call Brahmin.

404. He is the Brahmin who is not entangled either with householders or with recluses, who has no home and few wants.

405. He who lays down the rod, who neither

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kills, nor causes the death of creatures, moving or fixed, he is the Brahmin.

406. Not opposing those who oppose, calm amidst the fighters, not grasping amidst men who grasp, he is the Brahmin.

407. He is the Brahmin from whom anger, and hatred, and pride, and slander have dropped away, as the mustard-seed from the needlepoint.

408. If one were to preach gentle, and instructive, and truthful words by which no man is offended, he is the Brahmin.

409. Whoso takes nothing small or great, good or bad, unless it be given him, he is the Brahmin.

410. In whom are found no longings, who is free and detached from this world and the next, he is the Brahmin.

411. Him I call a Brahmin in whom lust is not found, who has cast off doubt, who knows the path that leads to Nirvāna (the deathless state) and reaches it.

412. Who in this life has passed from the grip of either merit or demerit, free of sorrow, cleansed and purified, him I call Brahmin.

413. Who is clear as the moon, pure, and limpid, and serene, who has quenched his thirst for life;

414. Who has passed through this impassable quagmire of rebirth, and infatuation, has waded

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through it and got beyond it, who is meditative and supplies no fuel to the fires of lust and doubt, him I call a Brahmin.

415. Who in this life, deserting his lusts, goes from home into solitude, and has quenched lust, and with it the desire to be reborn;

416. Who in this life deserts craving, and goes from home into solitude, who has quenched craving, and with it the desire to be reborn, him I call Brahmin.

417. Who has left behind him human pleasures and passed beyond heavenly ones, and is freed from all entanglement of delight;

418. Who has left aside both gusto and disgust, who is cooled and has in him no spark of rebirth, victor in all worlds, and hero, him I call Brahmin.

419. He is the Brahmin who fully knows the perishing of living things and their uprising, who is detached and happy and wise.

420. He is the Brahmin whose way is not known to gods, nor heavenly minstrels, nor immortals; the Arahat pure of all taint, him I call the Brahmin.

421. Whoso has nothing left, of past or future or present states, who is poor and grasps at nothing, him I call Brahmin.

422. The Leader Supreme, the heroic, the great Rishi, the Victor without lust and purified, the Buddha, he is the Brahmin.

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423. He is the Brahmin indeed who knows his former lives, and who knows heaven and hell, who has reached the end of births, the sage whose knowledge is perfect, and who is perfect with all perfection.

THE END

OF

THE DHAMMAPADA