[359]
"I am no brahmin, nor a king's son,
nor of the vessa class, nor am I anyone at all.
Having fully understood the clan of ordinary people,
owning nothing, I wander in the world with wisdom.
Clad in the outer robe (saṅghāṭi), homeless, I wander,
my hair shorn off, inwardly quenched,
untainted here by men (māṇavas):
you ask me, (brahmin,) an unfitting thing — a question about clan."
The brahmin said:
"Sir, brahmins together with brahmins do indeed ask:
'Are you a brahmin?'"
The Blessed One said:
"If you say that you are a brahmin, and say that I am no brahmin,
then I ask you about the Sāvittī, with its three lines and twenty-four syllables."
The brahmin asked:
"Depending on what have seers, men,
khattiyas, and brahmins — many here in the world —
arranged sacrifice to the deities?"
The Blessed One answered:
"When one who has gone to the end, a master of knowledge (vedagū),
obtains anyone's oblation at the time of sacrifice,
then, I declare, that person's sacrifice succeeds."
The brahmin said:
"Surely, then, that oblation [of mine] will succeed,
since we have seen such a master of knowledge;
for it was through not seeing those like you
that other folk have eaten the sacrificial cake (pūraḷāsa)."
The Blessed One said:
"Therefore, brahmin, since you are one in need of the good,
draw near and ask:
perhaps here you may find one of excellent wisdom —
at peace, free of the smoke [of anger], untroubled, without longing."
The brahmin said:
"(Master Gotama,) I delight in sacrifice;
desiring to perform sacrifice, I do not understand:
let your honor instruct me;
tell me this — where does an oblation succeed?"
The Blessed One said:
"Then, brahmin, lend your ear:
I shall teach you the Dhamma.
Do not ask about birth; ask about conduct:
from wood indeed is fire born;
even one of lowly family becomes a sage —
steadfast, a thoroughbred, held in check by moral shame (hiri).
One tamed by truth, endowed with self-taming,
who has gone to the end of knowledge, who has lived out the holy life (brahmacariya) —
to him at the proper time one should present the oblation:
so let a brahmin who looks for merit sacrifice.
Those who, having abandoned sensual pleasures, wander homeless,
their selves well restrained, straight as a shuttle —
to them at the proper time one should present the oblation:
so let a brahmin who looks for merit sacrifice.
Those rid of lust, their faculties well composed,
released, as the moon from Rāhu's grasp —
to them at the proper time one should present the oblation:
so let a brahmin who looks for merit sacrifice.
They wander in the world without clinging,
ever mindful, having abandoned what they cherished as their own —
to them at the proper time one should present the oblation:
so let a brahmin who looks for merit sacrifice.
He who, having abandoned sensual pleasures, fares on overcoming them,
who has known the end of birth and death,
fully quenched, cool as a pool of water —
the Tathāgata deserves the sacrificial cake.
Equal among those who are equal, far from those who are unequal,
the Tathāgata is of infinite wisdom;
unsullied here or in the world beyond —
the Tathāgata deserves the sacrificial cake.
In whom no deceit dwells, nor conceit,
who is rid of greed, free of mine-making, without longing,
his anger expelled, inwardly quenched —
that brahmin has shed the stain of sorrow:
the Tathāgata deserves the sacrificial cake.
He who has removed the mind's (citta) abode,
for whom there exist no possessions at all,
not clinging either here or in the world beyond —
the Tathāgata deserves the sacrificial cake.
Concentrated, he has crossed the flood (ogha),
and he has known the Dhamma with supreme view;
his taints (āsava) destroyed, bearing his final body —
the Tathāgata deserves the sacrificial cake.
He for whom the taints of existence and harsh speech
are dispelled, gone to their end, and are no more —
he, the master of knowledge, everywhere released —
the Tathāgata deserves the sacrificial cake.
Passed beyond ties, for whom no ties exist,
who among those attached to conceit is free of attachment to conceit,
having fully understood suffering (dukkha) together with its field and ground —
the Tathāgata deserves the sacrificial cake.
Not relying on longing, a seer of seclusion,
passed beyond the views known from others,
for whom there exist no objects [of support] at all —
the Tathāgata deserves the sacrificial cake.
He for whom things high and low, comprehended,
are dispelled, gone to their end, and are no more —
at peace, released in the destruction of clinging (upādāna) —
the Tathāgata deserves the sacrificial cake.
Seeing the end that is the destruction of birth,
he has thrust away, without remainder, the fetter (saṃyojana), the path of lust;
pure, faultless, stainless, free of desire —
the Tathāgata deserves the sacrificial cake.
He who beholds no self in himself,
concentrated, gone upright, of steadfast self —
truly he is unmoved, free of barrenness, free of doubt:
the Tathāgata deserves the sacrificial cake.
In whom there exist no lurking delusions at all,
who has knowledge (ñāṇa) and vision regarding all dhammas,
who bears his final body,
and has attained the full awakening, unsurpassed and blissful —
thus far does the purity of a spirit (yakkha) extend:
(the Tathāgata deserves the sacrificial cake.)"
The brahmin said:
"And may my oblation be a true oblation,
since I have found such a master of knowledge;
for [you are] Brahmā seen face to face — may the Blessed One accept it from me;
may the Blessed One eat my sacrificial cake."
The Blessed One said:
"What has been chanted over with verses is not to be eaten by me;
for those who see rightly, brahmin, this is not the way (dhamma).
The Buddhas reject what has been chanted over with verses:
while the Dhamma endures, brahmin, this is their rule of conduct.
But serve with other food and drink
the consummate one, the great seer,
his taints destroyed, his remorse stilled;
for that is the field for one who looks for merit."
The brahmin said:
"It is good, Blessed One: may I understand it so —
who it is that may eat the offering (dakkhiṇā) of one like me,
whom I should seek out at the time of sacrifice,
now that I have reached your teaching."
The Blessed One said:
"One from whom contentiousness has departed,
whose mind is unclouded,
who is released from sensual pleasures,
whose dullness has been dispelled,
the remover of the boundaries [of defilement],
skilled in birth and death,
the sage endowed with sagehood (moneyya) —
when such a one has come to the sacrifice,
put away the frown:
revere him with joined palms;
venerate him with food and drink —
thus do offerings prosper."
The brahmin said:
"Your honor, the Buddha, deserves the sacrificial cake;
[you are] the unsurpassed field of merit,
the recipient of the offerings of all the world:
what is given to your honor bears great fruit."
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.