3:9 Vṅseṭṭha

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('â', He is indeed a Blessed One, worthy & rightly self-awakened, consummate in clear-knowing & conduct, well-gone, an expert with regard to the cosmos, unexcelled trainer of people fit to be tamed, teacher of devas & human beings, awakened, blessed.â Come, letâs go to Gotama the contemplative and, on arrival, ask him about this matter. However he answers, thatâs how weâll hold it." "As you say, master," the young brahman Bhṅradvṅja responded to the young brahman Vṅseṭṭha. So the young brahmans Vṅseṭṭha and Bhṅradvṅja went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, exchanged courteous greetings with him. After an exchange of friendly greetings & courtesies, they sat to one side. As they were sitting there, the young brahman Vṅseṭṭha addressed the Blessed One in verses: Master, weâre acknowledged & self-proclaimed as masters of the three knowledges1: I, a student of Pokkharasṅti, this one, of Tṅrukka. Whatever is taught by masters of the three knowledges, in that we are adept— grammarians & philologists, on a par with our teachers in recitation. We have a dispute, Gotama, on the topic of birth. Bhṅradvṅja says that one is a brahman through birth, I say through action.2 Know this, One with Eyes. Neither of us can win over the other. We come, asking the master reputed to be self-awakened. As people going with hands palm-to-palm over the heart pay homage, venerating the moon when itâs just past new, in the same way in the world, Gotama, we ask Gotama, the Eye arisen in the world: Is one a brahman through birth or is it through action? Tell us, who donât know, how we might know a brahman." The Buddha: "I will answer you step-by-step as it really is. Animals are divided by nature, for their species differ, one from another.3 You know grasses & trees, even though they donât proclaim themselves: Their distinguishing markings are made by nature, for their species differ, one from another. Then beetles & moths, down to white ants: Their distinguishing markings are made by nature, for their species differ, one from another. You know four-footed beasts, small & large: Their distinguishing markings are made by nature, for their species differ, one from another. You know belly-footed, long-backed snakes: Their distinguishing markings are made by nature, for their species differ, one from another. Then you know fish in the water, with water their range: Their distinguishing markings are made by nature, for their species differ, one from another. Then you know birds, with wings as their vehicles, coursing through the sky: Their distinguishing markings are made by nature, for their species differ, one from another. While these species have many distinguishing marks made by nature, human beings     donât have many distinguishing marks made by nature: not through hair or head not through ears or eyes, not through face or nose, not through mouth or lips, not through neck or shoulders, not through belly or back, not through buttocks or chest, not through groin or intercourse, not through hands or feet, not through fingers or nails, not through calves or thighs, not through complexion or voice. Their distinguishing mark is not made by nature as it is for other species. In human beings thatâs not found individually in their bodies, but their identification is described in terms of convention: Whoever, among human beings, makes a living by guarding cows, you know him thus, Vṅseṭṭha, as a farmer, not as a brahman. Whoever, among human beings, makes a living through various crafts, you know him thus, Vṅseṭṭha, as a craftsman, not as a brahman. Whoever, among human beings, makes a living through trade, you know him thus, Vṅseṭṭha, as a merchant, not as a brahman. Whoever, among human beings, makes a living by serving others, you know him thus, Vṅseṭṭha, as a servant, not as a brahman. Whoever, among human beings, makes a living through stealing, you know him thus, Vṅseṭṭha: This is a thief, not a brahman. Whoever, among human beings, makes a living through arrow & sword, you know him thus, Vṅseṭṭha, as a soldier, not as a brahman. Whoever, among human beings, makes a living through priesthood, you know him thus, Vṅseṭṭha, as a sacrificer, not as a brahman. Whoever, among human beings, makes a living partaking of city & state, you know him thus, Vṅseṭṭha, as a king, not as a brahman. I donât call one a brahman for being born of a mother or sprung from a womb. Heâs called a ),

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('â', bho-sayerâ if he has anything at all. But someone with nothing, who clings to no thing: Heâs what I call a brahman.4 Having cut every fetter, he doesnât get ruffled. Beyond attachment, unshackled: Heâs what I call a brahman. Having cut the strap & thong, cord & bridle, having thrown off the bar,5 awakened: Heâs what I call a brahman. He endures—unangered— insult, assault, & imprisonment. His army is strength; his strength, forbearance: Heâs what I call a brahman. Free from anger, duties observed, principled, with no overbearing pride, trained, a ),

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('â', last-bodyâ: Heâs what I call a brahman.6 Like water          on a lotus leaf, a mustard seed     on the tip of an awl, he doesnât adhere     to sensual pleasures: Heâs what I call a brahman. He discerns right here, for himself, on his own, his own ending of stress.7 Unshackled, his burden laid down: Heâs what I call a brahman. Wise, deeply discerning, astute as to what is the path & whatâs not; his ultimate goal attained: Heâs what I call a brahman. Uncontaminated by householders & houseless ones alike; living with no home, with next to no wants: Heâs what I call a brahman. Having put aside violence against beings fearful or firm, he neither kills nor gets others to kill: Heâs what I call a brahman. Unopposing          among opposition, unbound          among the armed, unclinging          among those who cling: Heâs what I call a brahman. His passion, aversion, conceit, & contempt, have fallen away— like a mustard seed from the tip of an awl: Heâs what I call a brahman. He would say whatâs non-grating, instructive, true— abusing no one: Heâs what I call a brahman. Here in the world he takes nothing not-given —long, short, large, small, attractive, not: Heâs what I call a brahman. His longing for this & for the next world canât be found; free from longing, unshackled: Heâs what I call a brahman. His attachments, his homes, canât be found. He, through knowing,8 is unperplexed, has reached a footing in          the deathless9: Heâs what I call a brahman. He has gone beyond attachment here for both merit & evil— sorrowless, dustless, & pure: Heâs what I call a brahman. Spotless, pure like the moon —limpid & calm— his delights, his becomings, totally gone: Heâs what I call a brahman. He has made his way past this hard-going path: delusion, wandering-on. Heâs crossed over, has gone beyond, is free from want, from perplexity, absorbed in jhṅna, through no-clinging unbound: Heâs what I call a brahman. Whoever, abandoning sensual passions here, would go forth from home— his sensual passions, becomings, totally gone: Heâs what I call a brahman. Whoever, abandoning craving here, would go forth from home— his cravings, becomings, totally gone: Heâs what I call a brahman. Having left behind the human bond, having made his way past the divine, from all bonds unshackled: Heâs what I call a brahman. Having left behind delight & displeasure, cooled, with no acquisitions— a hero who has conquered all the world, every world: Heâs what I call a brahman. He knows in every way beingsâ passing away, and their re- arising; unattached, awakened, well-gone: Heâs what I call a brahman. He whose course they donât know —devas, gandhabbas, & human beings10— his effluents ended, an arahant: Heâs what I call a brahman. He who has nothing —in front, behind, in between— the one with nothing who clings to no thing: Heâs what I call a brahman. A splendid bull, conqueror, hero, great seer— free from want, awakened, washed: Heâs what I call a brahman. He knows          his former lives. He sees          heavens & states of woe, has attained          the ending of birth11: Heâs what I call a brahman. For this is a convention in the world: the name & clan determined, come into being from common consent, here & there determined. Taking a position unknowingly for a long time obsessively, those who donât know say that one is a brahman by birth. Not by birth is one a brahman, not by birth a non-brahman. By action is one a brahman. By action one is a non-brahman. By action is one a farmer. By action one is a craftsman. By action is one a merchant. By action one is a servant. By action is one a thief. By action one is a soldier. By action is one a sacrificer. By action one is a king. The wise see action in this way as it has come to be, seeing          dependent co-arising, cognizant          of actionâs results. Through action the world rolls on. People roll on through action. In action are beings held bound together, as in a linchpin, a chariot traveling along. Through austerity, the holy life, through restraint & self-control: Thatâs how one is a brahman. Thatâs a brahman unexcelled. Consummate in the three knowledges,12 further-becoming ended, at peace: Know, Vṅseṭṭha: Thatâs Brahmṅ, thatâs Sakka,13 for those who directly know." When this was said, the young brahmans Vṅseṭṭha & Bhṅradvṅja said to the Blessed One: "Magnificent, Master Gotama! Magnificent! Just as if he were to place upright what was overturned, to reveal what was hidden, to show the way to one who was lost, or to carry a lamp into the dark so that those with eyes could see forms, in the same way has Master Gotama—through many lines of reasoning—made the Dhamma clear. We go to Master Gotama for refuge, to the Dhamma, & to the Saṃgha of monks. May Master Gotama remember us as lay followers who have gone for refuge from this day forward, for life." vv. 594–656 Notes 1. In the Brahmanical tradition, this means the three Vedas. Later in this poem, the Buddha will give "three knowledges" a Buddhist definition. 2. In this context, Vṅseṭṭha is referring to action in this lifetime, rather than action in previous lifetimes. 3. In this and the following verses, the Buddha is playing with three meanings of the word jṅti: birth, species, and nature. This point becomes clear when he later contrasts these natural distinctions in the animal world with the conventional distinctions in the human world. 4. This verse begins a section where the verses are identical with Dhp 396–423, except that the last verse in the series is missing a line present in Dhp 423: "He is a sage who has mastered full-knowing, his mastery totally mastered." This section redefines "brahman" to mean an arahant (although see note 9, below). As for "bho-sayer": Brahmans, when surprised or amazed, tended to use the word bho, or master, as an exclamation. "If he has anything" (reading sa ce with the Burmese and Sri Lankan editions) = if he/she lays claim to anything as his/her own. 5. The three commentaries explaining this verse—SnA, MA, and DhpA—treat these symbols in slightly different ways. They all agree that the strap = hatred and the thong = craving. As for the remaining symbols, MA simply states that cord = views, bridle = view-obsession, and bar = ignorance. SnA and DhpA, however, try to make more of the image by exploring the interconnections of the chariot parts. In their explanation, cord = 62 wrong views (listed in the Brahmajṅla Sutta, DN 1) and bridle = obsessions (sensuality, becoming, anger, conceit, views, uncertainty, ignorance (AN 7:11-12)). They note the connection between the 62 wrong views and the obsessions (one of which is views), which is apparently similar to the way the cord and bridle are connected. They go on to note that when one has cut all these things, the bar, which equals ignorance, has been lifted. The fact that the cutting of these chariot parts automatically accomplishes the lifting of the bar is apparently symbolic of the fact that ignorance is one of the obsessions. 6. "With no overbearing pride": reading anussadaṃ with the Thai, Burmese, and Sri Lankan editions. "Last-body": Because an arahant will not be reborn, this present body is his/her last. 7. "For himself, on his own, his own ending of stress": three different ways that the one word attano functions in this verse. 8. According to SnA, "attachments/homes (ṅlaya)" = cravings. "Knowing": the knowledge of full Awakening (aā±ā±ṅ). 9. "A footing in the deathless": The image here derives from a standard analogy comparing the practice to the act of crossing a river. According to AN 7:15, the point where the meditator gains footing on the river bottom, but before getting up on the bank, corresponds to the third stage of awakening, the attainment of non-return. To reach the fourth stage, becoming an arahant, is to go beyond the river and stand on firm ground. Either this verse is using the image differently, equating the gaining of a footing with arahantship, or else it is the only verse in this set to apply the term "brahman" to a non-returner. 10. On the fact that even devas and brahmṅs cannot know the course of the arahant, see MN 49, SN 23:2, AN 11:10, and Dhp 92–93. 11. The forms of mastery listed in this verse correspond to the three knowledges that comprised the Buddhaâs Awakening: knowledge of previous lives, knowledge of how beings pass away and are reborn in the various levels of being, and knowledge of the ending of the effluents that maintain the process of birth (see MN 4). Itâs in this verse that the Buddha redefines the three knowledges claimed by Vṅseṭṭha and Bhṅradvṅja, showing that they donât qualify as masters of the three knowledges that constitute the knowledge of a genuine brahman in his eyes. 12. Here, of course, the Buddha is referring to the three knowledges as defined by him, not as earlier defined by Vṅseṭṭha. 13. Sakka is the chief of the devas of the heaven of the Thirty-three. - --> - - - -