[36] 26.
Exert yourself and cut off the stream! Dispel sensual pleasures, brahmin!
Having known the destruction of conditioned things (saṅkhārā), you are, brahmin, a knower of the Unmade (akata).
When, in regard to the two dhammas, a brahmin has gone to the far shore,
then for him, the one who knows, all bonds (saṃyoga) come to an end.
He for whom there exists neither the far shore, nor the near shore, nor both the far and the near,
free of distress, detached — him I call a brahmin (brāhmaṇa).
The meditator, free of dust, seated, his task done, free of taints (āsava),
who has attained the highest goal — him I call a brahmin.
By day the sun shines; by night the moon glows;
girt in armor the khattiya (warrior-noble) shines; meditating, the brahmin shines;
but through the whole day and night the Buddha shines with his splendor.
Because he has banished evil (bāhita-pāpa), he is a "brahmin";
because of his calm conduct (sama-cariyā) he is called an "ascetic" (samaṇa);
expelling (pabbājayaṃ) his own stain,
therefore he is called "one gone forth" (pabbajita).
One should not strike a brahmin, nor should a brahmin release [wrath] upon him:
shame upon the striker of a brahmin, and greater shame upon him who releases [wrath] at his striker!
For a brahmin this is no small advantage —
when the mind is held back from things that are dear:
wherever the mind of harming turns away,
just there suffering (dukkha) is stilled.
He who has no misdeed by body, by speech, or by mind,
who is restrained in these three respects — him I call a brahmin.
From whomever one should learn the Dhamma taught by the Fully Self-Enlightened One,
let one venerate that person with reverence, as a brahmin venerates the fire oblation.
Not by matted hair, nor by clan,¹ nor by birth does one become a brahmin:
in whom there is truth and Dhamma, he is pure,² and he is a brahmin.
What use is matted hair to you, O witless one? What use to you a garment of antelope hide?
Within you is a tangled thicket; you groom only the outside.
The person wearing rag-robes, lean, his veins showing over his body,
meditating alone in the forest — him I call a brahmin.
I do not call one a brahmin because he is born of a [brahmin] womb, sprung from a [brahmin] mother:
he is merely "one who says bho" (bhovādī, one who addresses others as "bho"),
if he is still one who has something.
One who has nothing and grasps at nothing — him I call a brahmin.
He who, having cut every fetter (saṃyojana), truly does not tremble,
who has passed beyond ties, detached — him I call a brahmin.
Having cut the strap³ and the thong, the cord⁴ together with its bridle,
having lifted the cross-bar, awakened — him I call a brahmin.
He who, unangered, endures abuse, blows, and bonds,
whose strength is patience (khanti), whose army is that strength — him I call a brahmin.
The one without anger, devout in observances, virtuous, free of [defilement's] swellings,
tamed, bearing his final body — him I call a brahmin.
Like water on a lotus leaf, like a mustard seed on the point of an awl,
he who does not cling to sensual pleasures — him I call a brahmin.
He who understands, right here, the destruction of his own suffering,
whose burden is laid down, who is detached — him I call a brahmin.
The one of deep wisdom, intelligent, skilled in what is the path (magga) and what is not the path,
who has attained the highest goal — him I call a brahmin.
He who mixes with neither householders nor the homeless,
wandering without abode, of few wishes — him I call a brahmin.
He who has laid down the rod toward beings, the trembling and the firm alike,
who neither kills nor causes to kill — him I call a brahmin.
Unopposing among the opposing, quenched among those with rods in hand,
ungrasping among those who grasp — him I call a brahmin.
He from whom lust (rāga) and hatred (dosa), conceit and detraction (makkha) have been made to fall,
like a mustard seed from the point of an awl — him I call a brahmin.
He who would utter speech that is not harsh, instructive and true,
by which he would offend no one — him I call a brahmin.
He who here in the world takes nothing that is not given,
whether long or short, fine or coarse, fair or foul — him I call a brahmin.
He in whom no longings are found, for this world or for the next,
without longing,⁵ detached — him I call a brahmin.
He in whom no clingings are found, who, having understood, is free of perplexity,
who has attained the plunge into the Deathless (amata) — him I call a brahmin.
He who here has passed beyond attachment to both merit and evil,
sorrowless, dust-free, pure — him I call a brahmin.
Spotless as the moon, pure, limpid and unclouded,
in whom delight in existence is utterly destroyed — him I call a brahmin.
He who has passed beyond this quagmire, this hard road, saṃsāra, delusion (moha),
who has crossed over, gone to the far shore, a meditator, unstirred, free of perplexity,
quenched through not clinging — him I call a brahmin.
He who here, having abandoned sensual pleasures, would wander forth homeless,
in whom sensual desire and existence are utterly destroyed — him I call a brahmin.
He who here, having abandoned craving (taṇhā), would wander forth homeless,
in whom craving and existence are utterly destroyed — him I call a brahmin.
Having left behind the human bond, having passed beyond the heavenly bond,
detached from all bonds — him I call a brahmin.
Having abandoned delight and discontent, grown cool, without acquisitions (upadhi),
a hero who has vanquished the whole world — him I call a brahmin.
He who knows in every way the passing away and the rebirth of beings,
unattached, well-gone, awakened — him I call a brahmin.
He whose destination devas, gandhabbas, and humans do not know,
his taints destroyed, an arahant — him I call a brahmin.
He for whom there is nothing before, behind, or in between,
who has nothing and grasps at nothing — him I call a brahmin.
The bull, the most excellent, the hero, the great seer, the conqueror,
the unstirred, the cleansed, the awakened — him I call a brahmin.
He who knows his former abodes, who sees heaven and the states of woe,
who has reached the destruction of birth (jāti), a sage consummate in direct knowledge (abhiññā),
who has fulfilled every fulfillment — him I call a brahmin.
The Brāhmaṇavagga, the Twenty-Sixth.
The Summary (uddāna) of the Verses of the Dhammapada
[Variant readings noted in the Siamese edition:
¹ Po., M., Yu.: gottena ("by clan," singular).
² Yu.: sukhī ("happy").
³ Yu.: nandī.
⁴ Yu.: sandāmaṃ; M., Po.: sandhānaṃ.
⁵ Also read: nirāsāsaṃ.]
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.