He has no attachments - no attachments can be
discovered in him. He has no spiritual doubts due to his right awareness,
He has entered the deathless - Nibbana. I describe him, a true brahmana.

 If any person in this world has travelled beyond
both good and the bad, and the attachments, and if he is without sorrow,
and is bereft of blemishes, and is pure, him I describe as a true
brahmana.

He is like the moon at the full - spotless and
free of blemishes. He is pure, calm, serene and exceptionally tranquil.
He is has got rid of the craving that takes delight in the cycle of
existence. That person I declare a true brahmana.

He has crossed over the quagmire of passion.
He has gone beyond the difficult terrain of blemishes, that is hard
to traverse and has crossed the cycle of existence. He is fully and
totally reached the other shore. He is a meditator and is bereft of
craving. His spiritual doubts are resolved. He is no longer given
to grasping. He is cooled. Such a person I describe as a true brahmana.

Rejecting pleasure, homeless he goes to life’s
journey’s end. Him, I call a Brahmin True.

In this world, he has taken to the life of a
wandering ascetic. He has got rid of the craving to continue the cycle
of existence. I describe that person as a true brahmana.

He has given up the bonds that bind him to humanity.
He has gone beyond the bonds of attachment to life in heaven as well.
This way, he is disengaged from all bonds. I declare such a person
a brahmana.

He has given up lust. He has also given up his
disgust for the practice of meditation. This way, he is both lustful
and lustres. He has achieved total tranquillity. He is devoid of the
blemishes that soil the hand. He has conquered all the world and is
full of effort. I call that person a brahmana.

He knows the death and birth of beings in every
way. He is not attached to either birth or death. He has arrived at
the proper destination. He possesses the knowledge of the essences.
This person I describe as a brahmana.

 Their path, neither gods, nor spirits, nor humans
can fathom. Their taints are totally eradicated. They have attained
the higher spiritual state. This person I declare a brahmana.

Their path, neither gods, nor spirits, nor humans
can fathom. Their taints are totally eradicated. They have attained
the higher spiritual state. This person I declare a brahmana.

He is a great sage as he has
realized the essentials. He has conquered death. He is devoid of blemishes.
He has washed away all evil. He has awakener to the essentials. That person,
I describe as a brahmana.

He knows his former existences. He has the capacity
to see heaven and hell - states of ecstasy and states of woe. He has
ended the cycle of existences. He has his higher awareness. He has
reached the state of a sage. He has achieved the final perfection.
Him I describe as a brahmana.

It is the disciplined animal (elephant or horse)
that is led to a gathering. The king mounts a disciplined horse. Among
men the disciplined one is the greatest. He has endured the harsh
words of the people.

 When well trained, mules are useful. Sindu thoroughbreds
are outstanding among horses. Of great elephants those of the Kunjara
breed are the greatest. But, of all, the best is the person who has
trained himself.

Indeed, not be any means of transport can one
go to the place one has never been before, but by thoroughly taming
oneself, the tamed one can get to that place - Nibbana.

 The elephant, Dhanapala, deep
in rut and uncontrollable did not eat a morsel as he yearned for his native
forest and pined for his parents.

 The stupid one who is lazy, gluttonous, and drowsy,
who just wallows like a well-fed pig, is subjected to repeated births.

In Buddhist literature the image of the elephant
being restrained is used as a parallel to the act of the spiritually
advanced person restraining himself.

Take delight in mindfulness, guard your mind
well. As an elephant stuck in mire pulls itself out, so also pull
yourself out of the mire of moral defilements.

 If you come upon a mature wise companion whose
ways are virtuous, you must associate with him as you can lead a happy
and alert life, overcoming all dangers.

 If you cannot find a wise, mature companion whose
ways are virtuous, you must go about life all alone like a king who,
abandoning his conquered kingdoms, lives in exile, or like the elephant
Matanga who roams the forest living in solitude.

Leading a solitary life is more commendable.
One cannot keep company with ignorant ones. With only a limited number
of needs, let one lead a life of solitude, doing no wrong, like the
elephant Matanga.

 Friends in need are a comfort. Satisfaction with
whatever little you have is a comfort. Merit, at the end of one’s
days, is a comfort. It is a blessing, indeed, to eradicate all suffering.

In this world, motherhood is a blessing. In the
same way, fatherhood, too, is a blessing. Monkhood is a blessing.
Above all, arahathood is a blessing.

 Pursuit of virtue until old age and decay is
a blessing. The acquisition of wisdom is a blessing, It is a blessing
to refrain from unwholesomeness.