Vāseṭṭhasutta

mn98:11.1 I don’t call someone a brahmin

mn98:11.2 after the mother’s womb they’re born from.

mn98:11.3 If they still have attachments,

mn98:11.4 they’re just someone who says ‘worthy’.

mn98:11.5 Having nothing, taking nothing:

mn98:11.6 that’s who I declare a brahmin.

mn98:11.7 Having cut off all fetters

mn98:11.8 they have no anxiety;

mn98:11.9 they’ve slipped their chains and are detached:

mn98:11.10 that’s who I declare a brahmin.

mn98:11.11 They’ve cut the strap and harness,

mn98:11.12 the halter and bridle too;

mn98:11.13 with cross-bar lifted, they’re awakened:

mn98:11.14 that’s who I declare a brahmin.

mn98:11.15 Abuse, killing, caging:

mn98:11.16 they endure these without anger.

mn98:11.17 Patience is their powerful army:

mn98:11.18 that’s who I declare a brahmin.

mn98:11.19 Not irritable or pretentious,

mn98:11.20 dutiful in precepts and observances,

mn98:11.21 tamed, bearing their final body:

mn98:11.22 that’s who I declare a brahmin.

mn98:11.23 Like water from a lotus leaf,

mn98:11.24 like a mustard seed off the point of a pin,

mn98:11.25 sensual pleasures slip off them:

mn98:11.26 that’s who I declare a brahmin.

mn98:11.27 They understand for themselves

mn98:11.28 the end of suffering in this life;

mn98:11.29 with burden put down, detached:

mn98:11.30 that’s who I declare a brahmin.

mn98:11.31 Deep in wisdom, intelligent,

mn98:11.32 expert in the path and what is not the path;

mn98:11.33 arrived at the highest goal:

mn98:11.34 that’s who I declare a brahmin.

mn98:11.35 Mixing with neither

mn98:11.36 householders nor the homeless;

mn98:11.37 a migrant with no bastion, few in wishes:

mn98:11.38 that’s who I declare a brahmin.

mn98:11.39 They’ve laid aside violence

mn98:11.40 against creatures firm and frail;

mn98:11.41 not killing or making others kill:

mn98:11.42 that’s who I declare a brahmin.

mn98:11.43 Not fighting among those who fight,

mn98:11.44 quenched among those who have taken up arms,

mn98:11.45 not grasping among those who grasp:

mn98:11.46 that’s who I declare a brahmin.

mn98:11.47 They’ve discarded greed and hate,

mn98:11.48 along with conceit and contempt,

mn98:11.49 like a mustard seed off the point of a pin:

mn98:11.50 that’s who I declare a brahmin.

mn98:11.51 The words they utter

mn98:11.52 are polished, informative, and true,

mn98:11.53 and don’t offend anyone:

mn98:11.54 that’s who I declare a brahmin.

mn98:11.55 They don’t steal anything in the world,

mn98:11.56 long or short,

mn98:11.57 tiny or huge, beautiful or ugly:

mn98:11.58 that’s who I declare a brahmin.

mn98:11.59 They have no hope

mn98:11.60 for this world or the next;

mn98:11.61 with no need for hope, detached:

mn98:11.62 that’s who I declare a brahmin.

mn98:11.63 They have no clinging,

mn98:11.64 knowledge has freed them of indecision,

mn98:11.65 they’ve arrived at the objective of freedom from death:

mn98:11.66 that’s who I declare a brahmin.

mn98:11.67 They’ve escaped the chain

mn98:11.68 of both good and bad deeds;

mn98:11.69 sorrowless, stainless, pure:

mn98:11.70 that’s who I declare a brahmin.

mn98:11.71 Pure as the spotless moon,

mn98:11.72 clear and unclouded,

mn98:11.73 they’ve ended relish for rebirth:

mn98:11.74 that’s who I declare a brahmin.

mn98:11.75 They’ve got past this grueling swamp

mn98:11.76 of delusion, transmigration.

mn98:11.77 Meditating in stillness, free of indecision,

mn98:11.78 they have crossed over to the far shore.

mn98:11.79 They’re quenched by not grasping:

mn98:11.80 that’s who I declare a brahmin.

mn98:11.81 They’ve given up sensual pleasures,

mn98:11.82 and have gone forth from lay life;

mn98:11.83 they’ve ended rebirth in the sensual realm:

mn98:11.84 that’s who I declare a brahmin.

mn98:11.85 They’ve given up craving,

mn98:11.86 and have gone forth from lay life;

mn98:11.87 they’ve ended craving to be reborn:

mn98:11.88 that’s who I declare a brahmin.

mn98:11.89 They’ve thrown off the human yoke,

mn98:11.90 and slipped out of the heavenly yoke;

mn98:11.91 unyoked from all yokes:

mn98:11.92 that’s who I declare a brahmin.

mn98:11.93 Giving up desire and discontent,

mn98:11.94 they’re cooled and free of attachments;

mn98:11.95 a hero, master of the whole world:

mn98:11.96 that’s who I declare a brahmin.

mn98:11.97 They know the passing away

mn98:11.98 and rebirth of all beings;

mn98:11.99 unattached, holy, awakened:

mn98:11.100 that’s who I declare a brahmin.

mn98:11.101 Gods, centaurs, and humans

mn98:11.102 don’t know their destiny;

mn98:11.103 the perfected ones with defilements ended:

mn98:11.104 that’s who I declare a brahmin.

mn98:11.105 They have nothing before or after,

mn98:11.106 or even in between.

mn98:11.107 Having nothing, taking nothing:

mn98:11.108 that’s who I declare a brahmin.

mn98:11.109 Captain of the herd, excellent hero,

mn98:11.110 great seer and victor;

mn98:11.111 unstirred, washed, awakened:

mn98:11.112 that’s who I declare a brahmin.

mn98:11.113 They who know their past lives,

mn98:11.114 see heaven and places of loss,

mn98:11.115 and have attained the end of rebirth:

mn98:11.116 that’s who I declare a brahmin.