Dhammapada verse 420
Chapter 26, Brahmins (Brāhmaṇavagga) · verses 383–423
“Gods, centaurs, and humans don’t know their destiny; the perfected ones with defilements ended: that’s who I declare a brahmin.”
Yassa gatiṁ na jānanti, devā gandhabbamānusā; Khīṇāsavaṁ arahantaṁ, tamahaṁ brūmi brāhmaṇaṁ.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 420 mean?
Verse 420 belongs to chapter 26, Brahmins (Brāhmaṇavagga), which gathers verses 383–423 on the true brahmin. It is filed under purity & stains. Read it with the verses around it: the Dhammapada arranges chapters as short runs, not as isolated lines, so verse 419 and verse 421 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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