Dhammapada Verse 396
The Story of a Brahmin
Once, a brahmin from Savatthi thought that since the Buddha called his disciples 'brahmanas', he should also be called a 'brahmana' because he was born of brahmin parents. When he told the Buddha about this, the Buddha replied to him, "O brahmin! I do not call him a brahmana just because he is born of brahmin parents. I call him a brahmana only if he is free from moral defilements and cut off all clinging to existence."
Then the Buddha spoke in verse as follows:
Na caham brahmanam brumi
yonijam mattisambhavam,
bhovadi1 nama so hoti
sace hoti sakincano
akincanam anadanam
tamaham brumi brahmanam.
yonijam mattisambhavam,
bhovadi1 nama so hoti
sace hoti sakincano
akincanam anadanam
tamaham brumi brahmanam.
Verse 396: I do not call him a brahmana just because he is born from the womb of a brahmana mother. He is just a bhovadi brahmin if he is not free from moral defilements. Him I call a brahmana, who is free from moral defilements and from attachment.
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