Dhammapada verse 402
Chapter 26, Brahmins (Brāhmaṇavagga) · verses 383–423
“They understand for themselves the end of suffering in this life; with burden put down, detached: that’s who I declare a brahmin.”
Yo dukkhassa pajānāti, idheva khayamattano; Pannabhāraṁ visaṁyuttaṁ, tamahaṁ brūmi brāhmaṇaṁ.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 402 mean?
Verse 402 belongs to chapter 26, Brahmins (Brāhmaṇavagga), which gathers verses 383–423 on the true brahmin. It is filed under wisdom & folly, suffering & grief. Read it with the verses around it: the Dhammapada arranges chapters as short runs, not as isolated lines, so verse 401 and verse 403 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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