[621] "What do you think, Assalāyana? Is it only a brahmin who is capable of taking a bathing scrubber (sotti sināna), going to the river, and washing off dust and dirt — not a khattiya, not a vessa, not a sudda?"
"Not so, worthy Gotama. A khattiya too, worthy Gotama, is capable of taking a bathing scrubber, going to the river, and washing off dust and dirt; a brahmin too, worthy Gotama, … ; a vessa too, worthy Gotama, … ; a sudda too, worthy Gotama, … ; indeed, worthy Gotama, all four classes (vaṇṇa) are capable of taking a bathing scrubber, going to the river, and washing off dust and dirt."
"That being so, Assalāyana, what is the strength of the brahmins here, what is their assurance, when the brahmins say: 'Only brahmins are the highest class; any other class is inferior … heirs of Brahmā'?"
"Though the worthy Gotama says this, still in this matter the brahmins think thus: 'Only brahmins are the highest class; any other class is inferior … heirs of Brahmā.'"
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.