..续本文上一页;settha and Bhâradvâga while walking about:

　　 ”How does one become a Brâmana

　　”

　　 The young man Bhâradvâga said: ”When one is noble by birth on both sides, on the mother”s and on the father”s side, of pure conception up to the seventh generation of ancestors, not discarded and not reproached in point of birth, in this way one is a Brâmana.”

　　 The young man Vâsettha said: ”When one is virtuous and endowed with (holy) works, in this way he is a Brâmana.”

　　 Neither could the young man Bhâradvâga convince the young man Vâsettha, nor could the young man Vâsettha convince the young man Bhâradvâga. Then the young man Vâsettha addressed the young man Bhâradvâga: ”O Bhâradvâga, this Samana Gotama, the Sakya son, gone out from the Sakya family, dwells at Ikkhânamkala, in the forest of Ikkhânamkala, and the following good praising words met the venerable Gotama: "And so he is Bhagavat, the venerable, the enlightened, the glorious, let us go, O venerable Bhâradvâga, let us go (to the place) where the Samana Gotama is, and having gone there let us ask the Samana Gotama about this matter, and as the Samana Gotama replies so will we understand it."”

　　 ”Very well, O venerable one;” so the young man Bhâradvâga answered the young man Vâsettha.

　　p. 110

　　 Then the young men Vâsettha and Bhâradvâga went (to the place) where Bhagavat was, and having gone, they talked pleasantly with Bhagavat, and after having had some pleasant and remarkable conversation (with him) they sat down apart. Sitting down apart the young man Vâsettha addressed Bhagavat in stanzas:

　　 1. ”We are accepted and acknowledged masters of the three Vedas[1], I am (a pupil) of Pokkharasâti, and this young man is (the pupil) of Târukkha. (594)

　　 2. ”We are accomplished in all the knowledge propounded by those who are acquainted with the three Vedas, we are padakas (versed in the metre), veyyâkaranas (grammarians

　　), and equal to our teachers in recitation (gappa)[2]. (595)

　　 3. ”We have a controversy regarding (the distinctions of) birth, O Gotama! Bhâradvâga says, one is a Brâmana by birth, and I say, by deeds; know this, O thou clearly-seeing! (596)

　　 4. ”We are both unable to convince each other, (therefore) we have come to ask thee (who art) celebrated as perfectly enlightened. (597)

　　 5. ”As people adoring the full moon worship (her) with uplifted clasped hands, so (they worship) Gotama in the world. (598)

　　 6. ”We ask Gotama who has come as an eye to the world: Is a man a Brâhmana by birth, or is he so

　　[1. Anuññâtapatiññâtâ

　　 Teviggâ mayam asm” ubho.

　　2. Teviggânam[*] yad akkhâtam

　　 Tatra kevalino ”smase,

　　 Padak” asmâ veyyâkaranâ,

　　 Gappe[+] âkariyasâdisâ.

　　*. Teviggânam = tivedânam. Commentator; but compare v. 63.

　　+. Gappe = vede. Commentator.]

　　p. 111

　　by deeds

　　 Tell us who do not know, that we may know a Brâmana.” (599)

　　 7. ”I will explain to you, O Vâsettha,”--so said Bhagavat,--”in due order the exact distinction of living beings according to species, for their species are manifold. (600)

　　 8. ”Know ye the grass and the trees, although they do not exhibit (it), the marks that constitute species are for them, and (their) species are manifold. (601)

　　 9. ”Then (know ye) the worms, and the moths, and the different sorts of ants, the marks that constitute species are for them, and (their) species are manifold. (602)

　　 10. ”Know ye also the four-footed (animals), small and great, the marks that c…

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