Dhammapada verse 393
Chapter 26, Brahmins (Brāhmaṇavagga) · verses 383–423
“Not by matted hair or family, or birth is one a brahmin. Those who are truthful and principled: they are pure, they are brahmins.”
Na jaṭāhi na gottena, na jaccā hoti brāhmaṇo; Yamhi saccañca dhammo ca, so sucī so ca brāhmaṇo.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 393 mean?
Verse 393 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 392 and verse 394 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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