[367] Then Sabhiya the wanderer, having delighted in and rejoiced at the Blessed One's words — elated in mind, gladdened, uplifted, with rapture (pīti) and joy (somanassa) arisen — asked the Blessed One a further question:
"By attaining what do they call one a brahmin (brāhmaṇa)?" (thus said Sabhiya)
"By what an ascetic (samaṇa)? And how 'one who is washed' (nhātaka)?
How is one called a 'nāga'?
Asked by me, O Blessed One, declare it."
"Having banished (bāhetvā) all evils," ("Sabhiya," said the Blessed One)
"stainless, well concentrated, of steadfast self,
having passed beyond saṃsāra, consummate (kevalī),
independent — such a one (tādī) is called a brahmin (brahmā).
"Stilled (samitāvī), having abandoned merit (puñña) and evil,
dustless, having known this world and the next,
passed beyond birth (jāti) and death (maraṇa) —
such a one, in accordance with that state, is called an ascetic.
"Having washed away (ninnahāya) all evils,
inwardly and outwardly, in the whole world,
among devas and humans who are subject to construing (kappiya),
he enters upon no construct (kappa): him they call 'one who is washed.'
"He commits no offense (āgu) at all in the world;
having cast off all ties and bonds,
nowhere does he cling — fully released:
such a one, in accordance with that state, is called a nāga."
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.