Thus have I heard. At one time the Blessed One was staying at Uruvela on the bank of the Nerañjara River at the Goatherd Banyan tree having newly attained perfect enlightenment. Now at that time the Blessed One had been sitting for seven days with one leg crossed over the other experiencing the happiness of liberation. Then with the ending of those seven days the Blessed One arose from that concentration meditation.
Then a certain grumbly-natured[2] brahmin approached the Blessed One and, having approached, exchanged greetings. Having courteously exchanged pleasant words he stood to one side. Then standing to one side the brahmin said this to the Blessed One: "To what extent indeed, revered Gotama, is one a brahmin, and moreover, which are the things that make one a brahmin?" Then the Blessed One, having understood the meaning of this, uttered at that time this inspired utterance:
A brahmin who has abandoned defilements, is not a grumbler, is free from impurity, self-restrained, of highest knowledge, the holy life fulfilled, he in truth is to be called a brahmin, whose inclinations are not for anything in the world.
1. Submitted by Derek Cameron. For information about the Yahoo! Pali Group, see » http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Pali [Go back]
2. The Humhumka of the Sutta’s title, here translated as as “grumbly,” literally means one who makes a disdainful sound, somewhat analagous to the English “tut-tut.” [Go back]