Verses 266 and 267

Dhammapada Verses 266 and 267

The Story of a Brahmin

Once, there was a brahmin who was in the habit of going round for alms. One day, he thought, "Samana Gotama has declared that one who lives by going round for alms is a bhikkhu. That being so, I should also be called a bhikkhu." So thinking, he went to the Buddha and said to him that he (the brahmin) should also be called a bhikkhu, because he also went round for alms-food. To him the Buddha replied, "Brahmin, I do not say that you are a bhikkhu simply because you go round for alms-food. One who professes a wrong faith and acts accordingly is not to be called a bhikkhu. Only he who lives meditating on the impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and insubstantiality of the aggregates is to be called a bhikkhu."

Then the Buddha spoke in verse as follows:

Na tena bhikkhu so hoti
yavata bhikkhate¹ pare
vissam dhammam samadaya
bhikkhu hoti na tavata.

Verse 266: He does not become a bhikkhu merely because he stands at the door for alms. He cannot become a bhikkhu because he acts according to a faith which is not in conformity with the Dhamma.

Yo'dha punnanca papanca
bahetva brahmacariyava
sankhaya loke carati
sa ve "bhikkhu" ti vuccati.

Verse 267: In this world, he who lays aside both good and evil, who leads the life of purity, and lives meditating on the khandha aggregates is indeed called a bhikkhu.

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1. bhikkhate: lit., begs.