[206] "Those brahmins who remember the ancient ways
were supreme in virtue (sīla), men of former times;
their doors were guarded and well protected,
for they had overcome anger.
Those brahmins who remember the ancient ways
delighted in Dhamma and in meditative absorption (jhāna);
but these, having strayed from those very ways, [thinking] 'we have given them up,'
drunk with clan, conduct themselves unrighteously.
Overcome by anger, wielding many a rod,
hostile toward beings both frail and firm—
for one whose doors are unguarded, [all such observances] are vain,
like wealth a man has gained in a dream:
fasting, and lying on the bare ground,
bathing at dawn, and the three Vedas,
rough hides, matted hair, mud,
mantras, rites and vows (sīlabbata), austerity,
deceit, crooked staffs,
and ceremonial rinsing with water—
these are the badges of the brahmins,
performed for the sake of some paltry gain.
But a mind (citta) well concentrated,
limpid and undisturbed,
without barrenness toward all beings—
that is the path to the attainment of Brahmā."
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.