SN7:7 Suddhika
- DG BB TBW © Translated from the Pali by Bhikkhu Bodhi. (More copyright information)
1At Sāvatthī. Then the brahmin Suddhika Bharadvaja approached the Blessed One and exchanged greetings with him. When they had concluded their greetings and cordial talk, he sat down to one side sn.i.166 and recited this verse in the presence of the Blessed One:
2v.629 "In the world no brahmin is ever purified
Though he be virtuous and austere in practice;
One accomplished in knowledge and conduct is purified,
Not the others, the common folk."
[n.442] Spk-pṭ explains the sīla referred to in pāda b as pañcavidhaniyama, an obvious allusion to the second limb of Patañjali's Yoga system. Spk: By knowledge (vijjā) he means the Three Vedas, by conduct (caraṇa) the conduct of one's clan (gottacaraṇa; Spk-pṭ: the clan itself, called conduct).
As vijjacaraṇasampanna is one of the nine chief epithets of the Buddha and is also used to describe the arahant (see v. 596), the second couplet, if read apart from the commentarial explanation, expresses the Buddhistic rather than the brahmanical point of view. See too the Buddha’s argument with the brahmin youth Ambaṭṭha at DN I 99,19–100,16.
The Blessed One:
3v.630 "Even though one mutters many chants,
One does not become a brahmin by birth
If one is rotten within and defiled,
Supporting oneself by fraudulent means.
4v.631 "Whether khattiya, brahmin, vessa, sudda,
Caṇḍala or scavenger,
If one is energetic and resolute,
Always firm in exertion,
One attains the supreme purity:
Know, O brahmin, that this is so."
5When this was said, the brahmin Suddhika Bharadvaja said to the Blessed One: "Magnificent, Master Gotama!" … And the Venerable Bharadvaja became one of the arahants.
1Sāvatthinidānaṁ. Atha kho suddhikabhāradvājo brāhmaṇo yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā bhagavatā saddhiṁ sammodi. Sammodanīyaṁ kathaṁ sāraṇīyaṁ vītisāretvā ekamantaṁ nisīdi. Ekamantaṁ nisinno kho suddhikabhāradvājo brāhmaṇo bhagavato santike imaṁ gāthaṁ ajjhabhāsi:
2"Na brāhmaṇo sujjhati koci,
Loke sīlavāpi tapokaraṁ;
Vijjācaraṇasampanno,
So sujjhati na aññā itarā pajā"ti.
3"Bahumpi palapaṁ jappaṁ,
na jaccā hoti brāhmaṇo;
Antokasambu saṅkiliṭṭho,
kuhanaṁ upanissito.
4Khattiyo brāhmaṇo vesso,
Suddo caṇḍālapukkuso;
Āraddhavīriyo pahitatto,
Niccaṁ daḷhaparakkamo;
Pappoti paramaṁ suddhiṁ,
Evaṁ jānāhi brāhmaṇā"ti.
5Evaṁ vutte, suddhikabhāradvājo brāhmaṇo bhagavantaṁ etadavoca: "Abhikkantaṁ, bho gotama … pe … aññataro ca panāyasmā bhāradvājo arahataṁ ahosīti.