buddha daily wisdom image

ud.1.4 Udana

Whiny

So I have heard.
At one time, when he was first awakened, the Buddha was staying near Uruvelā at the goatherd’s banyan tree on the bank of the Nerañjarā River.
There the Buddha sat cross-legged for seven days without moving, experiencing the bliss of freedom.
When seven days had passed, the Buddha emerged from that state of immersion.
Then a certain brahmin of the whiny sort went up to the Buddha and exchanged greetings with him.
When the greetings and polite conversation were over, he stood to one side, and said,
“Master Gotama, how do you define a brahmin? And what are the things that make one a brahmin?”
Then, understanding this matter, on that occasion the Buddha expressed this heartfelt sentiment:
“A brahmin who has banished bad qualities,
—not whiny, not stained, but self-controlled,
a complete knowledge master who has completed the spiritual journey—
may rightly proclaim the brahmin doctrine,
not proud of anything in the world.”