The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha - Bhikkhu Nanamoli [384]
By priestly craft, you should know
Is called a chaplain, Vāseṭṭha;
He is not a brahmin.
26. Whoever governs among men
The town and realm, you should know
Is called a ruler, Vāseṭṭha;
He is not a brahmin.
11.
27. “I call him not a brahmin
Because of his origin and lineage.
If impediments still lurk in him,
He is just one who says ‘Sir.’904
Who is unimpeded and clings no more:
He is the one I call a brahmin.
28. Who has cut off all fetters
And is no more by anguish shaken,
Who has overcome all ties, detached:
He is the one I call a brahmin. [120]
29. Who has cut each strap and thong,
The reins and bridle-band as well,
Whose cross-bar is lifted, the awakened one:
He is the one I call a brahmin.
30. Who endures without a trace of hate
Abuse, violence, and bondage too,
With strength of patience well arrayed:
He is the one I call a brahmin.
31. Who does not flare up with anger,
Dutiful, virtuous, and humble,
Subdued, bearing his final body:
He is the one I call a brahmin.
32. Who, like the rain on lotus leaves,
Or mustard seed on the point of an awl,
Clings not at all to sensual pleasures:
He is the one I call a brahmin.
33. Who knows right here within himself
The destruction of all suffering,
With burden lowered, and detached:
He is the one I call a brahmin.
34. Who with deep understanding, wise,
Can tell the path from the not-path
And has attained the goal supreme:
He is the one I call a brahmin.
35. Aloof alike from householders
And those gone into homelessness,
Who wanders without home or wish:
He is the one I call a brahmin.
36. Who has laid aside the rod
Against all beings frail or bold,
Who does not kill or have them killed:
He is the one I call a brahmin.
37. Who is unopposed among opponents,
Peaceful among those given to violence,
Who does not cling among those who cling:
He is the one I call a brahmin.
38. Who has dropped all lust and hate,
Dropped conceit and contempt,
Like mustard seed on the point of an awl:
He is the one I call a brahmin. [121]
39. Who utters speech free from harshness,
Full of meaning, ever truthful,
Which does not offend anyone:
He is the one I call a brahmin.
40. Who in the world will never take
What is not given, long or short,
Small or big or fair or foul:
He is the one I call a brahmin.
41. Who has no more inner yearnings
Regarding this world and the next,
Who lives unyearning and detached:
He is the one I call a brahmin.
42. Who has no more indulgences
No more perplexity since he knows;
Who has gained firm footing in the Deathless:
He is the one I call a brahmin.
43. Who has transcended all ties here
Of both merit and evil deeds,
Is sorrowless, stainless, and pure:
He is the one I call a brahmin.
44. Who, pure as the spotless moon,
Is clear and limpid, and in whom
Delight and being have been destroyed:
He is the one I call a brahmin.
45. Who has passed beyond the swamp,
The mire, saṁsāra, all delusion,
Who has crossed to the further shore
And meditates within the jhānas,
Is unperturbed and unperplexed,
Attained Nibbāna through no clinging:
He is the one I call a brahmin.
46. Who has abandoned sensual pleasures
And wanders here in homelessness
With sense desires and being destroyed:
He is the one I call a brahmin.
47. Who has abandoned craving too,
And wanders here in homelessness,
With craving and being both destroyed:
He is the one I call a brahmin.
48. Who leaves behind all human bonds
And has cast off the bonds of heaven,
Detached from all bonds everywhere:
He is the one I call a brahmin.
49. Who leaves behind delight and discontent,
Who is cool and acquisitionless,
The hero who has transcended the whole world:
He is the one I call a brahmin. [122]
50. Who knows how beings pass away
To reappear in many a mode,
Unclutching he, sublime, awake:
He is the one I call a brahmin.
51. Whose destination is unknown
To gods, to spirits, and to men,