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THE BRAHMIN [1] O Brahmin! Struggle hard, seal off the stream, drive away desires. Knowing that all elements of existence have dissolved, you will know the Uncreated: [2] When the Brahmin has gone beyond the dualities, then he attains knowledge and all his bondages disappear. [3] Him I call a Brahmin for whom there is neither the shore nor the shoreless, for whom both are non-existent, one who is free from fear, free from attachment. [4] Him I call a Brahmin who
is given to meditation and is free from impurities, who
has settled down and done what is to be done, the sinless who has attained the
supreme Good.
Page – 247 [5] The sun burns by the day, the moon shines by the night, the warrior gleams in his armour, the Brahmin is luminous in his meditation, the Buddha sheds his effulgence day and night. [6] He has cast away his sins, therefore he is a Brahmin. He has led the life of discipline, therefore he is a monk. But a recluse is he who is cleansed of all impurities. [7] One must not hurt a Brahmin, nor should a Brahmin, when hurt, hit back. It is a disgrace to him who hurts a Brahmin, but a greater disgrace it is to the Brahmin who hits back. [8] There is no greater good for man than to withdraw the mind from its cherished objects. The more the wicked mind quietens, the more the suffering ceases. [9] Him I call a Brahmin who does not do wrong, whether by the body or by speech or by mind, who is self-controlled in all the three domains. [10] Bow to him with reverence, whoever has taught you the doctrine of the Enlightened, even as a Brahmin does to the sacrificial Fire. [11] Not by matted locks nor by pedigree nor by birth does one become a Brahmin. He is a Brahmin in whom there is the Truth, the Right, one who is free. [12] O Fool! What for your
matted locks? What for your robe of animal-skin? Within, you are a dense jungle, only in the outside you are trimmed.
Page – 248 [13] I name that living being a Brahmin who, even though clothed in dirty rags, the body reduced to mere veins, is solitary, in meditation, dwelling in the forests. [14] I do not call him a Brahmin who is merely born in a Brahmin family, of a Brahmin mother and is rich and vain. One who possesses nothing, who is attached to nothing, him I call a Brahmin. [15] I call him a Brahmin who has broken all bond ages and has no fear, who has no attachment, who is free. [16] I call him a Brahmin who has cut the thongs and straps and the chain with all its links, who has thrown off the yoke and is thus enlightened. [17] I call him a Brahmin who bears without resentment blows and shackles, whose force is in forbearance and who possesses the strength of an army. [18] I call him a Brahmin who is free from anger, who is true to his faith, true to his practice, faithful to the doctrine, who has self-control and, for the last time has taken a body. [19] I call him a Brahmin who does not stick to a desire, even as water does not stick to a lotus-leaf or as a mustard-seed to the point of a needle. [20] I call him
a Brahmin who has in this life known the end of suffering, laid down his load
and is free from bondages.
Page – 249 [21 I call him a Brahmin who is profound in knowledge, strong in intelligence, who can discern which is the Path and which is not the Path, who has attained the supreme Goal. [22] I call him a Brahmin who does not keep company with householders nor with wandering monks, who has no home and very few needs. [23] I call him a Brahmin who refrains from hurting creatures, timid or strong, who does not kill nor cause to kill. [24] I call him a Brahmin who is friendly among the unfriendly, calm among the violent, disinterested among the interested. [25] I call him a Brahmin from whom passion and hatred and pride and pretence have dropped away even like a mustard-seed from the point of a needle. [26] I call him a Brahmin who utters words that are smooth and instructive, offending none. [27] I call him a Brahmin who does not, in this world, take anything long or short, small or big, good or bad, which has not been given to him. [28] I call him a Brahmin who has no desire in this world or in the other, who has no longing, who is free. [29] I call him a Brahmin who
has no yearning, who has attained the highest knowledge, who is free from
doubts, who has reached the profoundest immortality.
Page – 250 [30] I call him a Brahmin who has cast away the twin bonds of sin and virtue, who is free from grief, and free from impurity, who is pure. [31] I call him a Brahmin who is like the Moon, stainless, pure, clear, serene, whose worldly cravings have withered away. [32] I call him a Brahmin who has gone beyond this path of mire, hard to traverse, this round of worldly life, the delusion, who has crossed over and reached the other shore, who is given to meditation, who is unmoved, free from doubt, free from needs, wholly withdrawn. [33] I call him a Brahmin who has cast off all desires, has no home and wanders free, who has exhausted all hankering. [34] I call him a Brahmin who has here below thrown out all thirst, who has no home and wanders free, who has exhausted all hankering. [35] I call him a Brahmin who has abandoned ties human or heavenly, who is free from all ties. [36] I call him a Brahmin who has rejected all attraction and repulsion, who has become indifferent, free from limitation, who has conquered all the worlds, the hero. [37] I call him a Brahmin who has
the perfect knowledge of the birth and death of all beings, who has no
attachment, who is the Blessed and the Enlightened.
Page – 251 [38] I call him a Brahmin whose destiny is known neither to the Gods nor to the demi-gods nor to men, whose bonds have dwindled away, the Worthy. [39] I call him a Brahmin who has neither the past nor the future nor the present, who owns nothing, who receives nothing. [40] I call him a Brahmin who is puissant, the very best, the hero, the supreme sage who has conquered all foes, the impassible, the purified, the enlightened. [41] I call him
a Brahmin who knows his previous lives, who sees heaven and hell, and thus
having come to the end of births and become a sage, attained perfect knowledge,
attained all perfection.
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