Dhammapada verse 419
Chapter 26, Brahmins (Brāhmaṇavagga) · verses 383–423
“They know the passing away and rebirth of all beings; unattached, holy, awakened: that’s who I declare a brahmin.”
Cutiṁ yo vedi sattānaṁ, upapattiñca sabbaso; Asattaṁ sugataṁ buddhaṁ, tamahaṁ brūmi brāhmaṇaṁ.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 419 mean?
Verse 419 belongs to chapter 26, Brahmins (Brāhmaṇavagga), which gathers verses 383–423 on the true brahmin. It is filed under good & evil, the buddha & teachers. Read it with the verses around it: the Dhammapada arranges chapters as short runs, not as isolated lines, so verse 418 and verse 420 are part of the same passage.
Forty-one verses on the true brahmin, and the final and longest chapter. Its argument is a sustained redefinition: you are not a brahmin by birth, by hair or by ancestry, but by what you have done and given up. It closes the book by taking the highest title available and handing it to the person who has ended the work.
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