26. The Brahman

383

Cut the stream of craving energetically,
And drive away, O wise man, sensuality.
The end of things conditioned having seen,
Then knower of the un-formed will you be.

384

When, through concentration and insight, a true brahman has gone beyond, he understands truth, and all his bonds fall away.

385

One for whom there is no attachment to this world, or to the world beyond, or to both; one who is free of sorrow and fetters, I call a true brahman.

386

One who sits in meditation, stainless, duty done, free of the asavas, the highest goal attained, I call such a person a true brahman.

387

The sun by day shines bright;
The moon’s ablaze at night;
The soldier gleams when wearing armour;
Brahmans glow immersed in jhana;
But through the daytime and the night,
The Buddha floods the world with light.

388

By renouncing all evil one’s called a renunciate.
If anchored in peace, then one’s known as an anchorite.
And whoever their spiritual defects removes,
It is proper to label the person, recluse.

389

One shouldn’t ever strike a monk;
A monk should not retaliate.
Shame on those who first attack,
And shame on those who then strike back!

390

For a monk there’s naught excelling
Holding back from what’s endearing.
As desires destructive fade,
So his sorrows melt away.⁽¹⁾

391

I call someone a true brahman if he is restrained in three ways: doing no wrong by body, speech or mind.

392

To him through whom you first received
The Dhamma that the Lord revealed,
Bestow respectful salutation,
Like priests serve fire, with veneration.

393

Not matted hair, nor birth, nor clan
Establish one’s a godly man.
But knowing truth, and conduct righteous,
Evince one’s pure, indeed religious.⁽²⁾

394

Why, O fool, the matted hair?
What good, the deerskin cloak you wear?
Within you lies entanglement;
Outside is mere embellishment.

395

The monk who uses rag-cloth robes,
Who sits alone in lonely groves,
Whose frame is lean, with sinews lined,
That person’s one I’d call divine.⁽²⁾

396

From mother born,
And womb emerged,
Don’t mean a man
“A saint” be termed.⁽²⁾

A man inclined
To call things “mine”,
And then refer
To men as “Sir”:
He should be termed,
“Addresser by ‘Sir’”.

But he who’s free
Of thoughts of ‘me’,⁽³⁾
And holding-on,
A saint is he.

397

One who
          has sundered all fetters,
          is free of worry and excitement,
          is free of bonds,
          is liberated,
I call a true brahman.

398

One who has cut the reins of craving,
The traces of hatred,
The lead of views,
Together with the bridle of the latent tendencies,
Who has thrown off the yoke of ignorance,
Who is fully enlightened,
I call a true brahman.

399

One who bears, without resentment,
          verbal abuse,
          flogging,
          physical restraint;
whose power, whose invincible army, is patience, I call a true brahman.

400

One who
          is free of anger,
          carefully observes his religious duties,
          is virtuous,
          is free of defilement,
          is tamed,
          has been born for the last time,
I call a true brahman.

401

A lotus leaf scatters the droplets of rain;
A needlepoint lets fall a mustard-seed grain.
If someone should likewise life’s pleasures relinquish,
That person, I say, is one truly religious.

402

One who, in his lifetime, knows the complete destruction of suffering, whose burden is laid down, who is unbound, I call a true brahman.

403

One who
          is of profound wisdom,
          is insightful,
          knows what is the path, and what is not,
          has attained the highest goal,
I call a true brahman.

404

One who is aloof from both laypeople and the religious, with nowhere called ‘home’, and with few needs, I call a true brahman.

405

One who has abandoned the use of weapons against creatures, either fierce or timorous, and who neither kills nor encourages others to kill, I call a true brahman.

406

One tranquil amid the tempestuous,
And friendly amid the ferocious,
Who's gracious amid the rapacious,
Is rightfully labelled religious.

407

A pin-tip retains
Not a mustard-seed grain.
They who likewise have sloughed
Their ill-feelings and lust,
And put also aside
Their contempt and their pride;
Having cast off these stains,
As true brahmans they’re named.

408

With gentle discourse, never lies,
With courteous speech, he edifies;
And with his tongue, he none maligns:
He is, indeed, a man divine.

409

One who would not steal anything at all, either large or small, attractive or unattractive, I call a true brahman.

410

One who is free of longing for all worlds, either human or divine, who is free of hopes and expectations, who is free of attachment, I call a true brahman.

411

One in whom no attachment is found; who, through final knowledge, has no doubts about Dhamma; and who has attained to the depths of the Immortal, I call a true brahman.

412

One who has overcome attachment to both good and evil, who is sorrowless, stainless, and pure, I call a true brahman.

413

Unruffled as the moon, as spotless,
Pure, resplendent and serene;
Becoming and delight uprooted;
Brahmans true, are deemed to be.

414

He who has escaped danger, this difficult road, samsara, delusion; he who has reached the other shore, attained Nibbana, is meditative, free of lust, free of doubt, free of clinging, desireless, I call a true brahman.

415

One who has overcome his lusts, who wanders homeless, who has destroyed sensuality and becoming, I call a true brahman.

416

One who abandons craving, becomes a homeless wanderer, and who then destroys both craving and becoming, I call a true brahman.

417

One who has forsaken human bonds, transcended divine bonds, who is thus liberated from all bonds, I call a true brahman.

418

One who has given up liking and disliking, who is free of passion, free of possessiveness, a hero who has conquered all worldly attachment, I call a true brahman.

419

One who understands in every way both the death and rebirth of beings, who is free of clinging, who has attained bliss, and is awakened, I call a true brahman.

420

One whose destiny is unknowable to humans, spirits and devas; who has destroyed the asavas, an arahant, I call a true brahman.

421

One who has no attachment to anything, either in the past, future or present; who is free of attachment and clinging, I call a true brahman.

422

One who is mighty, noble, heroic, a great sage, victorious, free of lust, cleansed of evil, enlightened, I call a true brahman.

423

One who
          knows his former lives,
          sees heaven and hell,
          has ended birth,
          has attained the special knowledges,
          is fully accomplished, a sage,
I call a true brahman.

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