Dhammapada Verses 266 and 267 - Annatarabrahmana Vatthu

Tipitaka » Sutta Pitaka » Khuddaka Nikaya » Dhammapada

Source: Adapted from the original translation by Daw Mya Tin, M.A.

Dhammapada Verses 266 and 267 - Annatarabrahmana Vatthu
Na tena bhikkhu so hoti

yavata bhikkhate(1) pare

vissam dhammam samadaya

bhikkhu hoti na tavata.

Yo'dha punnanca papanca

bahetva brahmacariyava

sankhaya loke carati

sa ve "bhikkhu" ti vuccati.

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.

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.

1. bhikkhate: lit., begs.

The Story of a Brahmin

While residing at the Jetavana monastery, the Buddha uttered Verses (266) and (267) of this book, with reference to 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:

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.

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.

Credits
Translated by Daw Mya Tin, M.A.

Edited by Editorial Committee, Burma Tipitaka Association Rangoon, Burma, 1986

Courtesy of Nibbana.com

For free distribution only, as a gift of dhamma.

Wikipitaka edition © 2014.