Dhammapada verse 392
Chapter 26, Brahmins (Brāhmaṇavagga) · verses 383–423
“You should graciously honor the one from whom you learn the Dhamma taught by the awakened Buddha, as a brahmin honors the sacred flame.”
Yamhā dhammaṁ vijāneyya, sammāsambuddhadesitaṁ; Sakkaccaṁ taṁ namasseyya, aggihuttaṁva brāhmaṇo.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 392 mean?
Verse 392 belongs to chapter 26, Brahmins (Brāhmaṇavagga), which gathers verses 383–423 on the true brahmin. It is filed under the buddha & teachers. Read it with the verses around it: the Dhammapada arranges chapters as short runs, not as isolated lines, so verse 391 and verse 393 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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