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[157
Seventh Study: Sakadalputra]
We call one a Brahmin who is not attached to his own people, family members, etc., who does not think too much about becoming a renunciant, and who delights in the excellent, Dharma-filled words of the Aryas. Just as gold that has been heated in fire is pure and clear, so too, in our view, is one who is free from attachment, aversion, and fear a Brahmin.
One who is a conqueror of the senses, engaged in austerity, who has become thin as a result, whose body has little blood and flesh due to intense practice, who is mounted on the attainment of Nirvana through excellent vows, is truly a Brahmin.
One who, knowing with subtlety the beings that move and those that are stationary, does not harm them through the three yogas - mind, speech, and body, is a Brahmin.
One who does not speak falsely out of anger, laughter, greed, and fear, we call a Brahmin.
One who does not take anything, whether animate or inanimate, small or large, without it being given, is a Brahmin. One who does not indulge in sexual intercourse with gods, humans, or animals through mind, speech, and body, is truly a Brahmin.
Just as the lotus, though born in water, is not attached to it, so too, one who is not attached to sensual pleasures is a Brahmin.
One who is not greedy, who lives on alms, who has renounced the home and possessions, who does not have attachment to householders, is a Brahmin.
One who, abandoning the previous association with caste members and relatives, adopts a life of renunciation, and does not return to be attached to pleasures, is a Brahmin in our view.
The word-picture of the personality of a Brahmin presented here makes it clear that, in the words of Jayaghoṣa Muni, a great renunciant, constantly moving on the path of spiritual practice, a practitioner who flawlessly observes the vows, is truly a Brahmin.
The last section or chapter of the Buddhist Dhammapada is the Brahmana-vagga, which describes the nature, qualities, and character of a Brahmin. It is said there:
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'One whose eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind are not attached to the infinite forms of sound, smell, taste, touch, and the endless 'I' and 'mine', that is, one who is raised above desires and pleasures, fearless, unattached, is a Brahmin.
It is not less meritorious for a Brahmin to turn his mind away from pleasant pleasures. Where the mind is freed from violence, there sorrow itself is pacified.
1. Uttaraadhyayanasutra 25. 20-29.