9. The Dhammapada Brāhmaṇavaggo — The Brāhmin Commentary by S. Radhakrishnan
1. chinda sotaṁ parakkamma kāme panuda brāhmaṇa saṅkhārānaṁ ñatvā akataññū si brāhmaṇaO Brāhmin , cut off the stream, be energetic, drive away desires. Knowing the destruction of all that is made (or the elements of existence) you know the uncreated, O Brāhmin . The term 'Brāhmaṇa' of the Vedas is accepted by Buddhists as a term for a saint, one who has attained final sanctification. The Brāhmin is one who casts of his belief in the durable existence of the individual which is the basis of all pride and desire. Not by ritual and sacrifices, not by isolation and trance but by self-forgetfulness and active social service does one trancend the ego and become Brāhmin who knows the uncreated. The Buddha here distinguishes between the created perishable and the uncreated imperishable. 2. yada dvayesu dhammesu pāragū hoti brāhmanoath' assa sabbe samyogā atthaṁ gacchanti jānatoWhen the Brāhmin has reached the other shore in both laws, to him who knows all bonds vanish.The two laws refer to self-restraint and spiritual insight attained through meditation. 3. yassa pāram apāram vā pārāpāraṁ na vijjativītadaraṁ visaññuttaṁ tam ahaṁ bṛūmi brāhmaṇamHim I call Brāhmin for whom there is neither this shore nor that shore, nor both, who is free from fear and free from shackles. 4. jhāyiṁ virajam āsinam, katakiccam anāsavamuttamattham anuppattaṁ tam ahaṁ brūmi brāhmaṇam Him I call Brāhmin who is meditative, free from passion, settled, whose work is done, free from taints and who has attained the highest end (of sainthood). 5. divā tapati ādicco, rattim ābhāti candimāsannddho khattiyo tapati, jhāyī tapati brāhmaṇoatha sabbam ahorattim buddho tapati tejasāThe Sun shines by the day, the moon lights up the night, the warrior shines in his armour, the Brāhmin shines in his meditation, but awakened shines all day and night by his radiance (of spirit). 6. bāhitapāpo ti brāhmaṇo samacariyā samaṇo ti vuccatipabbājayam attano malaṁ tasmā pabbajito ti vuccatiBecause he has put aside evil he is called Brāhmin; because he lives in serenity he is called samaṇa; because he puts away his impurities he is called pabbajita.These are fanciful derivations. Brāhmin is derived from bah, to put aside, drive away, samaṇa from sam, to be equal, pabbajita from pabbaj, to cast out. 7. na brāhmaṇassa pahareyya nāssa muñcetha brāhmaṇodhī brāhmaṇassa hantāram tato dhī yassa muñcatiOne should not attack a Brāhmin; let not the Brāhmin free (his anger) on him (the evil-doer); woe to him who slays a Brāhmin and more woe to him who sets free (his anger) on him (the evil-doer).A Brāhmin should not return evil for evil. Even when struck he should not lose his temper. The Brāhmin should not take the life of any creature that breathes. The only blood that he can shed is his own if the giving up of his life would save or rescue a fellow creature. 8. na brāhmaṇass' etada kiñci seyyoyadā nisedho manaso piyehiyato yato hiṁsamano nivattatitato tato sammati-m-eva dukkhamIt is no slight benefit to a Brāhmin when he holds his mind back from the pleasures of life. Wherever the wish to injure desists, even there is cessation of suffering. 9. yassa kāyena vācāya manasā n'atthi dukkatamsaṁvutam tīhi ṭhānehi tam aham brūmi brāhmaṇamHim I call a Brāhmin who does not hurt by body, speech, or mind, who is controlled in these three things. 10. yamhā dhammaṁ vijāneyya sammāsamhbuddhadesitamsakkaccaṁ tam namasseyya aggihuttaṁ va brāhmanoHim who has understood the law as taught by the well-awakened (fully enlightened) one, him should a man worship reverentially, even as the Brāhmin worships the sacrificial fire.We must honour him who teaches us the law of the Buddha. 11. na jaṭāhi na gottena na jaccā hoti brāhmanoyamhi saccaṁ ca dhammo ca, so sukhi, so ca brāhmanoNot by matted hair, not by lineage, not by caste does one become a Brāhmin. He is a Brāhmin in whom there are truth and righteousness. He is blessed.Vasala Sutta: 'Not by birth does one become an outcast; not by birth does one become a Brāhmin; by deeds one becomes an outcast, by deeds one becomes a Brahmin'. Sundarikabhāradvāja Sutta: 'Do not ask about descent, but ask about conduct; from wood, it is true, fire is born; (likewise) a firm sage, although belonging to a low family, may become noble when restrained (from sinning) by humility'. 12. kiṁ te jaṭāhi dummedha kiṁ te ajinasāiṭiyā?abbhantaraṁ te gahanam bāhiram parimajjasiWhat is the use of matted hair, O fool, what of the raiment of goat-skins? Thine inward nature is full of wickedness; the outside thou makest clean. 13. paṁsukūladharaṁ jantum kisaṁ, dhamanisanthatamekaṁ vanasmiṁ jhāyantaṁ tam ahaṁ brūmi brāhmaṇamHim I call a Brāhmin who wears cast-off garments, lean, spread over with veins, solitary, and who practises meditation in the forest. 14. na cāhami brāhmaṇaṁ brūmi yomijaṁ mattisaṁbhavambhovādi nāma so hoti, sa ce hoti sakiṁcanoakiṁcanam anādānaṁ tam ahaṁ brūmi brāhmaṇamI do not call him a Brāhmin because of his origin or of his mother. If he be with goods he is called bhovāidi. Him I call a Brāhmin who is free from goods and free from attachment.bhovādi: One who says bho, the familiar form of address to inferiors or equals. Brāhmins generally address the Buddha as bho, while the Buddhists use bhante, 'lord'. The Brāhmins are called bhovādins or arrogant men who address even the Buddha with familiarity. The Buddhists use bhovādi as a term of reproach for the Brāhmins. 15. sabbasaṁyojanaṁ chetvā yo ve na paritassatisangātigaṁ visaṁyuttaṁ tam aham brūmi brāhmaṃamHim I call a Brāhmin who has cut all the fetters, who never trembles (in fear), who has passed beyond attachments, who is separated (from what is impure). 16. chetvā nandim varattaṁ ca sandānaṁ sahanukkamamukkhittapaḷighaṁ buddhaṁ tam ahaṁ brūmi brāhmaṇamHim I call a Brāhmin who has cut the strap and the thong and the chain with its appurtenances, who has burst the bar and is awakened.Hatred is the strap, desire is the thong, the sixty-three heretical doctrines are the chain, the appurtenances are doubt, ignorance, etc., and the bar is the bar of ignorance. 17. akkosaṁ vadhabandham ca aduṭṭhayo titikkhatikhantībalaṁ balānīkaṁ tam ahaṁ brūmi brāhmaṇamHim I call a Brāhmin who, though he has committed no offence, bears patiently reproach, ill-treatment, imprisonment; who has endurance for fis force and strength for his army. 18. akkodhanam vatavantaṁ sīlavantaṁ anussutamdantam antinasarīraṁ tam ahami brūmi brāhmaṇamHim I call a Brāhmin who is free from anger, who is careful of religious duties, observes the moral rules, pure, controlled, and wears his last body. 19. vāri pokkharapatte va āragge-r-iva sāsapoyo na lippati kāmesu tam ahami brūmi brāhmaṇamHim I call a Brāhmin who, like water on the leaf of a lotus or a mustard seed on the point of an awl, does not cling to pleasures.As water does not cling to the lotus leaf or a mustard seed to an awl point, the Brāhmin does not cling to pleasures. 20. yo dukkhassa pajāṇāti idh eva khayam attanopannabhāraṁ visaṁyuttaṁ tam ahaṁ brūmi brāhmaṇam(20) Him I call a Brāhmin who, even here, knows the end of his suffering, who has laid aside his burden, who is detached. 21. gambhīrapaññaṁ medhāviṁ maggāmaggasa kovidamuttamattham anuppattaṁ tam ahaṁ brūmi brāhmaṇamHim I call a Brāhmin whose wisdom is deep, who possesses knowledge, who discerns the right way and the wrong and who has attained the highest end. 22. asaṁsaṭṭhaṁ gahaṭṭhehi anāgārehi c'ūbhayamanokasārim appicchaṁ tam ahaṁ brūmi brāhmaṇamHim I call a Brāhmin who keeps away from both house holders (laymen) and the houseless (mendicants), who does not frequent houses and has but few wants. 23. midhāya daṇḍam bhūtesu tasesu thāvaresu cayo na hanti na ghāteti tam ahaṁ brūmi brāhmaṇamHim I call a Brāhmin who lays aside the rod with regard to creatures, moving or unmoving, and neither kills nor causes (their) death. 24. aviruddham viruddhesu attadaṇḍesu nibbutamsādānesu anādānaṁ tam ahaṁ brūmi brāhmaṇamHim I call a Brāhmin who is without hostility among those who are hostile, who is peaceful among those with up lifted staves, who is unattached among those who are attached. 25. yassa rāgo ca doso ca māno makkho ca pātitosāsaporiva āraggā tam ahaṁ brūmi brāhmaṇamHim I call a Brāhmin whose passion and hatred, pride and hypocrisy have fallen like a mustard seed from the point of an awl. 26. akakkasaṁ viññāpāṇiṁ giraṁ saccam udīrayeyāya nābhisaje kaṁci tam ahaṁ brūmi brāhmaṇamHim I call a Brāhmin who utters true speech, free from harshness, clearly understood, by which no one is offended. 27. yo 'dha dīghaṁ va rassaṁ vā aṇum thūlaṁ subhāsubhamloke adinnaṁ nādiyati tam ahaṁ brūmi brāhmaṇam(27) Him I call a Brāhmin who does not take, here in the world, what is not given him, be it long or short, small or large, good or bad. 28. āsā yassa na vijjanti asmiṁ loke paramhi canirāsayaṁ visaṁyuttaṁ tam ahami brūmi brāhmaṇam(28) Him I call a Brāhmin who has no desires for this world or for the next, who is free from desires and who is separated (from impurities). 29. yassālayā ma vijjanti aññāya akathaṁnkathīamatogadham anuppattaṁ tam ahaṁ brūmi brāhmaṇamHim I call a Brāhmin who has no desires, who is free from doubt by knowledge (of the truth), who has reached the depth of the eternal. 30. yo 'dha puññaṁ ca pāpam ca ubho saṅgam upaccagāasokaṁ virajaṁ suddhaṁ tam ahami brūmi brāhmaṇamHim I call a Brāhmin who here has passed beyond the attachments of good and evil, who is free from grief, free from passion, free from impurity. 31. candaṁ va vimalaṁ suddham vippasannam anāvilamnandībhavaparikkhīṇaṇ tam ahami brūmi brāhmaṇam (31) Him I call a Brāhmin who like the moon is stainless, pure, serene, undisturbed, in whom joyance is extinguished.(413) 32. yo imam paḷipathaṁ duggaṁ saṁsāraṁ moham accagātiṇṇo pāragato jhāyī anejo akathaṁkathīanupādāya nibbuto tam ahaṁ brūmi brāhmaṇamHim I call a Brāhmin who has gone beyond this miry road of rebirth and delusion, difficult (to cross), who has crossed over, who has reached the other shore, who is meditative, unagitated, not doubting, not grasping, and calm. 33. yo 'dha kāme pahatvāna anāgāro paribbajekāmabhavaparikkhīṇaṁ tam ahaṁ brūmi brāhmaṇamHim I call a Brāhmin who, in this world, giving up all sensual pleasures, wanders about without a home, in whom all desire for existence is extinguished.34. yo 'dha taṇham pahatvāna anāgāro paribbajetaṇhābhavaparikkhīnaṁ tam ahaṁ brūmi brāhmaṇamHim I call a Brāhmin who, in this world, giving up all craving, wanders about without a home, in whom all craving for existence is extinguished.\ 35. hitvā māmusakaṁ yogam dibbam yogam upaccagāsabbayogavisaṁyuttaṁ tam ahaṁ brūmi brāhmaṇamHim I call a Brāhmin who, casting off attachment to human things, rises above attachment to heavenly things, is separated from all attachments. 36. hitvā ratim ca aratiṁ ca sītībhūtami nirūpadhimsabbalokābhibhuṁ vīraṁ tam ahaṁ brūmi brāhmaṇamHim I call a Brāhmin who gives up what is pleasurable and what is unpleasurable, who is cooled and is free from any seeds (of renewed existence), the hero who has conquered all the worlds. 37. cutiṁ yo vedi sattānam upapattiṁ ca sabbasoasattaṁ sugataṁ buddham tam ahaṁ brūmi brāhmaṇamHim I call a Brāhmin who knows everywhere the perishing of living things and their uprising, who is free from attachment, living aright, and who is awakened. 38. yassa gatiṁ na jānanti devāgandhabbamānusākhīṇāsavam arahantaṁ tam ahaṁ brūmi brāhmaṇamHim I call a Brāhmin whose path the gods do not know, nor spirits nor men, whose taints are extinct and who has attained sainthood. 39. yassa pure ca pacchā ca majjhe ca n'atthi kiṁcanamakiṁcanam anādānaṁ tam ahaṁ brūmi brāhmaṇamHim I call a Brāhmin for whom there is nothing before, behind, or between, who has nothing and is without attachment. 40. usabham pavaram vīraṁ mahesiṁ vjitāvinamanejaṁ mahātakaṁ buddhaṁ tam ahaṁ brūmi brāhmaṇamHim I call a Brāhmin who is fearless (like a bull), noble, heroic, the all-wise, who has overcome (death), the sinless who has accomplished his study, the awakened. 41 pubbe-nivāsaṁ yo vedī saggāpāyam ca passatiatho jātikkhayaṁ patto abhiññāvosito munisabbavositavosānaṁ tam ahaṁ brūmi brāhmaṇam Him I call a Brāhmin who knows his former abodes (lives), who perceives heaven and hell, has reached the end of births, is a sage whose knowledge is perfect and has accomplished all that has to be accomplished.