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Ud 1.5PTS Ud 3Thera1 min read

The Brahmin

Brāhmaṇasutta

The Buddha redefines the term “brahmin” to mean anyone, regardless of birth, who is awakened.

Translated by Bhikkhu Sujato · Pāli: Mahāsaṅgīti Tipiṭaka · Public domain (CC0) via SuttaCentral

  • 0.1Udāna 1.5Heartfelt Sayings 1.5

0.2BrāhmaṇasuttaThe Brahmin

1.1Evaṁ me sutaṁ—So I have heard.1.2ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā sāvatthiyaṁ viharati jetavane anāthapiṇḍikassa ārāme.At one time the Buddha was staying near Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery.1.3Tena kho pana samayena āyasmā ca sāriputto āyasmā ca mahāmoggallāno āyasmā ca mahākassapo āyasmā ca mahākaccāno āyasmā ca mahākoṭṭhiko āyasmā ca mahākappino āyasmā ca mahācundo āyasmā ca anuruddho āyasmā ca revato āyasmā ca nando yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkamiṁsu.Now at that time a number of senior monks approached the Buddha—the venerables Sāriputta, Mahāmoggallāna, Mahākassapa, Mahākaccāna, Mahākoṭṭhita, Mahākappina, Mahācunda, Anuruddha, Revata, and Nanda.1

2.1Addasā kho bhagavā te āyasmante dūratova āgacchante;The Buddha saw them coming off in the distance,2.2disvāna bhikkhū āmantesi:and addressed the mendicants:2.3“ete, bhikkhave, brāhmaṇā āgacchanti;“These, mendicants, are brahmins coming!2.4ete, bhikkhave, brāhmaṇā āgacchantī”ti.These are brahmins coming!”2.5Evaṁ vutte, aññataro brāhmaṇajātiko bhikkhu bhagavantaṁ etadavoca:When he said this, a certain mendicant who was brahmin by birth asked the Buddha,2.6“kittāvatā nu kho, bhante, brāhmaṇo hoti, katame ca pana brāhmaṇakaraṇā dhammā”ti?“Sir, how do you define a brahmin? And what are the things that make one a brahmin?”

3.1Atha kho bhagavā etamatthaṁ viditvā tāyaṁ velāyaṁ imaṁ udānaṁ udānesi:Then, understanding this matter, on that occasion the Buddha expressed this heartfelt sentiment:

4.1“Bāhitvā pāpake dhamme,“Having banished bad qualities,4.2ye caranti sadā satā;those who live always mindful,4.3Khīṇasaṁyojanā buddhā,with fetters ended, awakened,4.4te ve lokasmi brāhmaṇā”ti.they are the world’s true brahmins.”

4.5Pañcamaṁ.

Translator’s notes

  1. A similar list of great disciples is found in the prelude to the Ānāpānassatisutta at MN 118:1.3. The only difference is that there the final person is Ānanda rather than Nanda. It is tempting to follow the BJT and PTS in reading Ānanda here as well, but the purpose of this sutta is to extol all these monks as “brahmins”, which the sutta itself explains as meaning “with fetters ended”, namely arahants. But at this time, Ānanda was still a stream-enterer (DN 16:5.13.2), and would only attain arahantship after the Buddha’s passing away (Kd 21:1.6.1). Nanda, on the other hand, was indeed an arahant (Ud 3.2:14.3).

    ↩ ud1.5:1.3