Dhammapada, Dhamma Verses (KN 2)

26: The Chapter about Brahmins – 139
Na jaṭāhi na gottena, na jaccā hoti brāhmaṇo,
Not because of matted hair, family or birth is one a true brahmin,
yamhi saccañ-ca Dhammo ca, so sucī so va brāhmaṇo. [393]
in whom there is truth and Dhamma, that one is pure, that one is surely a brahmin.
Kiṁ te jaṭāhi dummedha, kiṁ te ajinasāṭiyā?
Why do you have your hair matted, stupid one, and why your deer-skin?
Abbhantaraṁ te gahanaṁ, bāhiraṁ parimajjasi. [394]
Within you there is a jungle, 1 you (only) polish the outside.
Paṁsukūladharaṁ jantuṁ, kisaṁ dhamanisanthataṁ,
That one who wears discarded clothes, who is lean 2 with protruding veins,
ekaṁ vanasmiṁ jhāyantaṁ, tam-ahaṁ brūmi brāhmaṇaṁ. [395]
who meditates alone in the forest, that one I say is a brahmin. 3
Na cāhaṁ brāhmaṇaṁ brūmi yonijaṁ mattisambhavaṁ,
I do not call one a brahmin simply because of being born from a (certain) womb, 4
bhovādī nāma so hoti sace hoti sakiñcano;
that one is just one who says ‘bho’ 5 if he is attached;
akiñcanaṁ anādānaṁ, tam-ahaṁ brūmi brāhmaṇaṁ. [396]
having nothing and unattached, that one I say is a brahmin.
Sabbasaṁyojanaṁ chetvā yo ve na paritassati,
Whoever has cut off all the fetters surely does not tremble,
saṅgātigaṁ visaṁyuttaṁ, tam-ahaṁ brūmi brāhmaṇaṁ. [397]
surmounting attachments, detached, that one I say is a brahmin.
1
Comm: a jungle of defilements.
2
Her name means the lean (Kisā) Gotamī.
3
This statement, which occurred also in vs. 385, 386 & 391 now becomes the refrain in all the
remaining verses.
4 From here to the end all the verses are drawn from Vāseṭṭhasutta (MN 98 and Sn 3.9); it is worth
noting that this chapter is exceptionally long, and the parallel collections are much shorter.
5
It was a way for brahmins to address non-brahmins, implying their inferiority.