#Buddhist

A stuck-up brahmin listening to the Buddha teach is awestruck when the Buddha appears to read his mind. To the surprise of the crowd, he bows and kisses the Buddha’s feet. The Buddha tells him to take his seat, and they exchange verses on the topic of conceit.At Sāvatthī. Now at that time a brahmin named Stuck-Up was residing in Sāvatthī. He didn’t bow to his mother or father, his teacher, or his oldest brother. [Read More]

A brahmin is shabby clothes has been kicked out of his home by ungrateful sons. The Buddha gives him a verse to recite in the village council, comparing his faithless sons to his trusty wooden staff. Ashamed, the sons take back their father, bathe and dress him.At Sāvatthī. Then a certain well-to-do brahmin, shabby, wearing a shabby cloak, went up to the Buddha, and exchanged greetings with him. When the greetings and polite conversation were over, he sat down to one side. [Read More]

The Buddha is ill and sends his attendant monk Upavāṇa to fetch some hot water. A brahmin gives him not just water, but also molasses to ease his stomach. Later the brahmin visits the Buddha to discuss generosity.At Sāvatthī. Now at that time the Buddha was afflicted by winds. Venerable Upavāṇa was his carer. Then the Buddha said to Upavāṇa, “Please, Upavāṇa, find some hot water for me.” “Yes, sir,” replied Upavāṇa. [Read More]

A brahmin complains when the Buddha visits for alms again and again. The Buddha takes the chance to point out that all natural phenomena repeat in cycles, and only an awakened one escapes the cycle.At Sāvatthī. Then the Buddha robed up in the morning and, taking his bowl and robe, went to the home of the brahmin Udaya. Then Udaya filled the Buddha’s bowl with rice. The next day … and the day after that … Udaya filled the Buddha’s bowl with rice. [Read More]

A brahmin farmer criticizes the Buddha for failing to produce food, merely living off the work of others. But the Buddha shows that his true work is spiritual.So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying in the land of the Magadhans in the Southern Hills near the brahmin village of Ekanāḷa. Now at that time the brahmin Bhāradvāja the Farmer had harnessed around five hundred plows, it being the season for sowing. [Read More]

A brahmin is searching for his lost oxen when he sees the Buddha meditating peacefully in the forest. He laments the many sorrows of his life, celebrating the Buddha’s happiness and freedom from such sorrows.At one time the Buddha was staying in the land of the Kosalans in a certain forest grove. Now at that time one of the brahmins of the Bhāradvāja clan had lost fourteen oxen. While looking for them he went to that forest, where he saw the Buddha sitting down cross-legged, with his body straight, and mindfulness established right there. [Read More]

A brahmin conducting a fire sacrifice wishes to offer the sacrificial cake. He sees the Buddha meditating and wants to give it to him, but hesitates when he realizes he is a shaven-headed ascetic. He asks the Buddha’s caste, but the Buddha argues that conduct is the important thing, not caste. The Buddha gives a metaphorical reinterpretation of the elements of brahmanical ritual.At one time the Buddha was staying in the Kosalan lands on the bank of the Sundarika river. [Read More]

A brahmin conducting a fire sacrifice invites the Buddha to accept the blessed milk-rice, claiming that the Buddha is a true brahmin.At one time the Buddha was staying near Rājagaha, in the Bamboo Grove, the squirrels’ feeding ground. Now at that time ghee and milk-rice had been set out for the brahmin Bhāradvāja the Fire-Worshipper, who thought, “I will serve the sacred flame! I will perform the fire sacrifice!” Then the Buddha robed up in the morning and, taking his bowl and robe, entered Rājagaha for alms. [Read More]

The brahmin Suddhika makes the strikingly Buddhist assertion that mere austerities don’t lead to purity; only knowledge and conduct do. At Sāvatthī. Then the brahmin Bhāradvāja the Pure went up to the Buddha, and exchanged greetings with him. When the greetings and polite conversation were over, he sat down to one side, and recited this verse in his presence: “No brahmin in the world is ever purified even though he’s ethical and mortifies himself. [Read More]

A brahmin with matted hair asks the Buddha how we can become disentangled. This short set of verses became one of the most important in all of Theravāda Buddhism when it was used as the cornerstone of the commentarial treatise Visuddhimagga (Path of Purification).At Sāvatthī. Then the brahmin Bhāradvāja of the Matted Hair went up to the Buddha, and exchanged greetings with him. When the greetings and polite conversation were over, he sat down to one side, and addressed the Buddha in verse: “Matted hair within, matted hair without: these people are tangled up in matted hair. [Read More]