Aṅguttara Nikāya
Pañcaka-Nipāta
XX. Brāhmaṇa Vagga

The Book of the Gradual Sayings
The Book of the Fives
Chapter XX: The Brāman

Sutta 192

Doṇa Suttaɱ

Brāhman Doṇa

Translated by E. M. Hare

[1] Thus have I heard:

Once the Exalted One dwelt near Sāvatthī.

Now brāhman Doṇa^[1] visited the Exalted One
and greeted him;
and after exchanging the customary words of greetings,
sat down at one side.

So seated,
brāhman Doṇa said to the Exalted One:

'I have heard it said, Master Gotama,
that Master Gotama does not salute aged,
venerable brāhmans,
well stricken in years,
long on life's road,
grown old —
nor rise up for them,
nor offer them a seat.

Master Gotama, it is just so;
Master Gotama does not salute aged,
venerable brāhmans,
well stricken in years,
long on life's road,
grown old —
nor rise up for them,
nor offer them a seat.

This is not right, Master Gotama.'^[2]

■

'Do you not^[3] profess to be a brāhman, Doṇa?

'If of anyone, Master Gotama,
in speaking rightly
it should be said:

"The brāhman is well born on both sides,
pure in descent
as far back as seven generations,
both of mother and father,
unchallenged
and without reproach in point of birth;^[4]
studious,
carrying the mantras in mind,
a past master in the three Vedas
with the indices and ritual,
in phonology too,
[164] and fifthly in the legends;
an expert in verse and grammar,
skilled in reading the marks of a great man,
in speculation on the universe"^[5] —

to be sure
of me, Master Gotama,
in speaking rightly
that thing should be said;
for I, Master Gotama,
am well born on both sides,
pure in descent
as far back as seven generations,
both of mother and father,
unchallenged
and without reproach in point of birth;
studious,
carrying the mantras in mind,
a past master in the three Vedas
with the indices and ritual,
in phonology too,
and fifthly in the legends;
an expert in verse and grammar,
skilled in reading the marks of a great man,
in speculation on the universe.'

■

'Doṇa, those brāhman-sages of old,
mantra-makers,
mantra-sayers,
whose ancient collection of mantra verses,
hymns
and sayings,
brāhmans now ever hymn,
ever say,
ever word the word,
ever have the sayings said —
to wit:
Aṭṭaka
Vāmaka
Vāmadeva
Vessāmitta
Yamataggi
Aṅgīrasa
Bhāradvāja
Vāseṭṭha
Kassapa
and Bhagu^[6] —
they these five brāhmans have declared:

the Brahma-like,^[7]
the deva-like,
the bounded,
the breaker of bounds and,
fifthly, the brāhman-outcast.

Which of them, Doṇa,
are you?'

■

'We know not of these five brāhmans, Master Gotama;
yet we know that we are brāhmans.

It were well for me
if Master Gotama would teach me Dhamma
so that I may know of these five.'

■

'Then listen, brāhman,
give heed
and I will speak!'

'Yes, sir,' replied he;
and the Exalted One said:

'And how, Doṇa,
becomes a brāhman
Brahma-like?

Take the case, Doṇa,
of a brāhman who is well born on both sides,
pure in descent
as far back as seven generations,
both of mother and father,
unchallenged
and without reproach in point of birth —
he for eight and forty years^[8]
leads the Brahma-life of virginity,^[9]
applying himself to the mantras;^[10]
then, completing that course,
he seeks the teacher's fee for teaching
according to Dhamma,
not non-Dhamma.

And what there is Dhamma, Doṇa?

Never as ploughman^[11]
nor [165] trader
nor cowherd
nor bowman
nor rajah's man
nor by any craft
(to get his living),
but solely by going about for alms,
despising not the beggar's bowl.^[12]

And he hands over the teacher's fee for teaching,
has his hair-beard shaved off,
dons the yellow robe
and goes forth from the home
to the homeless life.

■

And thus gone forth,
he abides^[13] in mind pervading with amity
one world quarter,
so a second,
a third,
a fourth,
then above,
below,
athwart,
everywhere,
the whole wide world he pervades
with thoughts of amity,
far-reaching,
expansive,
measureless,
without hatred or ill-will.

■

He abides in mind pervading with pity
one world quarter,
so a second,
a third,
a fourth,
then above,
below,
athwart,
everywhere,
the whole wide world he pervades
with thoughts of pity,
far-reaching,
expansive,
measureless,
without hatred or ill-will.

■

He abides in mind pervading with sympathy
one world quarter,
so a second,
a third,
a fourth,
then above,
below,
athwart,
everywhere,
the whole wide world he pervades
with thoughts of sympathy,
far-reaching,
expansive,
measureless,
without hatred or ill-will.

■

He abides in mind pervading with poise
one world quarter,
so a second,
a third,
a fourth,
then above,
below,
athwart,
everywhere,
the whole wide world he pervades
with thoughts of poise,
far-reaching,
expansive,
measureless,
without hatred or ill-will.

And having made these four Brahma-abidings^[14] become,
on the breaking up of the body after death,
he arises in the well-faring Brahma-world.

Thus, Doṇa,
a brāhman becomes Brahma-like.^[15]

And how, Doṇa,
becomes a brāhman
deva-like?

Take the case, Doṇa, of a brāhman
who is well born on both sides,
pure in descent
as far back as seven generations,
both of mother and father,
unchallenged
and without reproach in point of birth —
he for eight and forty years
leads the Brahma-life of virginity,
applying himself to the mantras;
then, completing that course,
he seeks the teacher's fee for teaching
according to Dhamma,
not non-Dhamma.

And what there is Dhamma, Doṇa?

Never as ploughman
nor trader
nor cowherd
nor bowman
nor rajah's man
nor by any craft
(to get his living),
but solely by going about for alms,
despising not the beggar's bowl.

And he hands over the teacher's fee for teaching,
and seeks a wife according to Dhamma,
not non-Dhamma.

And what there is Dhamma?

Not with one bought or sold,
but only with a brāhmaṇī on whom water has been poured.^[16]

And he goes only to a brāhmaṇī,
not to the daughter of a noble,
low-caste man
or serf,
nor to the daughter of an outcast,
hunter,
bamboo- [166] worker,
cart-makar,
or aboriginal;^[17]
nor goes to a woman, with child,
nor to one giving suck,
nor to one not in her season.

And wherefore, Doṇa —
goes not a brāhman
to one with child?

If he go,
the boy or girl
will surely be foully born^[18]
therefore he goes not.

And wherefore goes he not
to one giving suck?

If he go,
the boy or girl
will surely be an unclean suckling;^[19]
therefore he goes not.

And wherefore goes he not
to one not in her season?

If, Doṇa,
a brāhman go to one in her season,^[20]
never for him
does the brāhmaṇī become a means for lust,
for sport,
for pleasure;
the brāhmaṇī is for the brāhman
just a means to beget offspring.

And when in wedlock^[21]
he has begotten (a child),
he has his hair-beard shaved off,
dons the yellow robe
and goes forth from the home
to the homeless life.

And thus gone forth,
aloof from sensuous appetites,
aloof from evil ideas,
enters and abides in the first musing,
wherein applied and sustained thought works,
which is born of solitude
and is full of joy and ease;

suppressing applied and sustained thought,
he enters and abides in the second musing,
which is self-evolved,
born of concentration,
full of joy and ease,
free from applied and sustained thought,
and there the mind becomes calm and one-pointed;

free from the zest for joy,
mindful and self-possessed,
he enters and abides in the third musing,
and experiences in his being
that ease whereof the Ariyans declare:

'He that is tranquil and mindful dwells at ease;

by putting away ease and by putting away ill,
by the passing away of happiness and misery
he was wont to feel,
he enters and abides in the fourth musing,
which is utter purity of mindfulness,
which comes of disinterestedness
and is free of ease and ill.

And having made these four musings become,
on the breaking up of the body after death,
he arises in the well-faring heaven^[22] world.

Thus Doṇa,
a brāhman becomes deva-like.

And how, Doṇa,
becomes a brāhman bounded?^[23]

Take the case, Doṇa, of a brāhman
who is well born on both sides,
pure in descent
as far back as seven generations,
both of mother and father,
unchallenged
and without reproach in point of birth —
he for eight and forty years
leads the Brahma-life of virginity,
applying himself to the mantras;
then, completing that course,
he seeks the teacher's fee for teaching
according to Dhamma,
not non-Dhamma.

And what there is Dhamma, Doṇa?

Never as ploughman
nor trader
nor cowherd
nor bowman
nor rajah's man
nor by any craft
(to get his living),
but solely by going about for alms,
despising not the beggar's bowl.

And he hands over the teacher's fee for teaching,
and seeks a wife according to Dhamma,
not non-Dhamma.

And what there is Dhamma?

Not with one bought or sold,
but only with a brāhmaṇī on whom water has been poured.

And he goes only to a brāhmaṇī,
not to the daughter of a noble,
low-caste man
or serf,
nor to the daughter of an outcast,
hunter,
bamboo-worker,
cart-makar,
or aboriginal;
nor goes to a woman, with child,
nor to one giving suck,
nor to one not in her season.

And wherefore, Doṇa —
goes not a brāhman
to one with child?

If he go,
the boy or girl
will surely be foully born
therefore he goes not.

And wherefore goes he not
to one giving suck?

If he go,
the boy or girl
will surely be an unclean suckling;
therefore he goes not.

And wherefore goes he not
to one not in her season?

If, Doṇa,
a brāhman go to one in her season,
never for him
does the brāhmaṇī become a means for lust,
for sport,
for pleasure;
the brāhmaṇī is for the brāhman
just a means to beget offspring.

And when in wedlock
he has begotten a child,
the fondness for children obsesses him
and he settles on the family estate^[24]
and does not go forth from the home
to the homeless life.

In the bounds of the brāhmans of old
he stays
nor transgresses them;
and it is said:

"Within bounds
he keeps
and transgresses not."

And therefore the brāhman is called bounded.

Thus, Doṇa,
the brāhman becomes bounded.

[167] And how, Doṇa,
becomes a brāhman
a breaker of bounds?^[25]

Take the (case, Doṇa, of a brāhman
who is well born on both sides,
pure in descent
as far back as seven generations,
both of mother and father,
unchallenged
and without reproach in point of birth —
he for eight and forty years
leads the Brahma-life of virginity,
applying himself to the mantras;
then, completing that course,
he seeks the teacher's fee for teaching
according to Dhamma,
not non-Dhamma.

And what there is Dhamma, Doṇa?

Never as ploughman
nor trader
nor cowherd
nor bowman
nor rajah's man
nor by any craft
(to get his living),
but solely by going about for alms,
despising not the beggar's bowl.

And he hands over the teacher's fee for teaching,
and seeks a wife
either according to Dhamma
or non-Dhamma:
one bought or sold
or a brāhmaṇī on whom the water-pouring ceremony has been performed.

He goes to a brāhmaṇī
or to the daughter of a noble
or low-caste man
or a serf;
to the daughter of an outcast
or a hunter
or a bamboo-worker
or a cart-maker
or an aboriginal;
he goes to a woman with ohild,
to one giving suck,
to one in her season,
to one not in her season;
and for him
the brāhmaṇī becomes
just a means for lust,
for sport
and for pleasure
or to beget offspring.

And he keeps not within the Ancient brāhman bounds,
but transgresses them;
and it is said:

"He keeps not within bounds
but transgresses,"

and therefore he is called
a breaker of bounds.

Thus, Doṇa, the brāhman becomes
a breaker of bounds.

And how, Doṇa, becomes a brāhman a brāhman-outcast?

Take the case, Doṇa, of a brāhman
who is well born on both sides,
pure in descent
as far back as seven generations,
both of mother and father,
unchallenged
and without reproach in point of birth —
he for eight and forty years
leads the Brahma-life of virginity,
applying himself to the mantras;
then, completing that course,
he seeks the teacher's fee for teaching
according to Dhamma,
or non-Dhamma:
as ploughman,
trader,
cowherd,
bowman,
rajah's man
or by some craft
or, despising not the beggar's bowl,
just by going about for alms.

On handing back the teacher's fee,
he seeks a wife
according to Dhamma
or non-Dhamma:
one bought or sold,
or a brāhmaṇī
on whom water has been poured.

He leads a life doing all these things.

Then the brāhmans say thus of him;

"How is it that an honourable brāhman
leads this sort of life?"

and to this he replies:

"Just^[26] as fire burns clean things or unclean,
[168] but not by that is the fire defiled;
even so, good sire, if a brāhman lead a life doing all these things,
not by that is a brāhman defiled."

And it is said:

"He leads a life doing all these things,"

and therefore he is called a brāhman-outcast.

Thus, Doṇa, a brāhman becomes
a brāhman-outcast.

Verily, Doṇa,
those brāhman-sages of old,
mantra-makers,
mantra-sayers,
whose ancient collection of mantra verses,
hymns
and sayings,
brāhmans now ever hymn,
ever say,
ever word the word,
ever have the sayings said —
to wit:
Aṭṭaka
Vāmaka
Vāmadeva
Vessāmitta
Yamataggi
Aṅgīrasa
Bhāradvāja
Vāseṭṭha
Kassapa
and Bhagu —
these five brāhmans declared:

the Brahma-like,
the deva-like,
the bounded,
the breaker of bounds
and, fifthly,
the brāhman-outcast.

Which of them, Doṇa,
are you?'

■

'If such there are^[27] Master Gotama,
we at least do not fulfil
(the ways of) the brāhman-outcast!

But it is marvellous what you say, Master Gotama,
it's wonderful, Master Gotama!^[ed1]

'Tis just as if one had set upright a thing toppled over,
opened out a covered thing,
showed a blind man along the road,
brought an oil lamp into the dark,
so that those that had eyes could see objects —
it is just thus that Dhamma has been blazed abroad by Master Gotama in manifold ways.

'I, Master Gotama,
go to Master Gotama for refuge,
to Dhamma
and to the monk-Order;
let Master Gotama look upon me as a lay-disciple,
to that refuge gone,
henceforth as long as life lasts!'

^[1] This brāhman is presumably the same as at A. ii, 37. Bu. offers no help; there is also the Doṇa who received the B.'s bowl, D. ii, 106; for the Tibetan story known as Droṇasama, Cf. Rockhill's Life, and Chwang, ii, 43, possibly there a nickname.

^[2] This para, recurs at A. iv, 173.

^[3] Tvam pi no paṭijānāsi?' Vv.ll. of no are ne and kho.

^[4] Cf. above, § 134.

^[5] Cf. G.S. i, 146; D. i, 120; M. ii, 147; Sn. p. 105; Mil. 10. At A. i, 163 this section follows the verses given in our § 179.

^[6] This is also stock; see Vin. i, 245, D. i, 104, M. ii, 170; Cf. A. iv, 61. Our Comy. repeats DA. i, 273.

^[7] Brahma-aama.

^[8] Cf. Āpastamba, ii, 12 f. (S.B.E. ii, 7, also Manu referred to there); A. iv, 37; Sn. 389; SnA. 316 ff. refers to our text.

^[9] Komāra-brahmacariyaɱ.

^[10] Comy. the Vedas.

^[11] This list recurs at M. i, 85; A. iv, 281.

^[12] Comy. the beggar's portion.

^[13] Cf. D. iii, 223; M. ii, 76; S. v, 115; A. iv, 390.

^[14] Brahma-vihāre.

^[15] Brahma-sama; see Expos. i, 262; Sn. 508.

^[16] Udak'ūpassaṭṭha. Comy. glosses: pariccattaɱ, and explains: after pouring water on her hands they give her to him. Upa√sṛj can mean: to oause to flow (water) in Skt.; Cf. the ceremony at A. iv, 210; it is now used in Ceylon.

^[17] Cf. M. ii, 183.

^[18] Atimīḷhajo. Comy. atimīḷhe mahāgūtharāsimhi jāto; Tr. Dict. suggests adhi- for ati-.

^[19] A-suci-paṭipīto, S.e. so; P.E.D. prefers v.l. pīḷita, but √pā connects with pāyamāna of the text.

^[20] With S.e. we should read utuniɱ for an- of the text.

^[21] Text methunaɱ, with v.l. mithunaɱ; Comy. and S.e. so; P.E.D. does not notice this form, but see Childers and Skt. Dict. s.v. Comy. observes: Dhītaraɱ vā puttaɱ vā uppādetvā. ...

^[22] Saggaɱ lokaɱ.

^[23] Mariyāda, SnA. 318 ff.

^[24]We should read kuṭwnbaɱ with Comy. and S.e.

^[25] Sambhinna-mariyāda.

^[26] I cannot trace this simile elsewhere, but for the sentiment Cf. Sn. 547, 812; J. v, 485.

^[27] Evaɱ sante.

^[ed1] Hare abridges as does the PTS Pali, the BJT Pali has the full formula. I have picked this up from AN 5.194.

Aṅguttara Nikāya Pañcaka-Nipāta XX. Brāhmaṇa Vagga

The Book of the Gradual Sayings The Book of the Fives Chapter XX: The Brāman

Sutta 192

Doṇa Suttaɱ

Brāhman Doṇa

Aṅguttara Nikāya
Pañcaka-Nipāta
XX. Brāhmaṇa Vagga

The Book of the Gradual Sayings
The Book of the Fives
Chapter XX: The Brāman