Dhammapada Verses 266 and 267
Annatarabrahmana Vatthu
Na tena bhikkhu so hoti
yavata bhikkhate1 pare
vissam dhammam samadaya
bhikkhu hoti na tavata.
Yo'dha punnanca papanca
bahetva brahmacariyava
sankhaya loke carati
sa ve "bhikkhu" ti vuccati.
Verse 266: He does not become a bhikkhu merely because he stands at the door
for alms. He cannot become a bhikkhu because he acts according to a faith which
is not in conformity with the Dhamma.
Verse 267: In this world, he who lays aside both good and evil, who leads the
life of purity, and lives meditating on the khandha aggregates is indeed called
a bhikkhu.
1. bhikkhate: lit., begs.
The Story of a Brahmin
While residing at the Jetavana monastery, the Buddha uttered Verses (266) and
(267) of this book, with reference to a brahmin.
Once, there was a brahmin who was in the habit of going round for alms. One
day, he thought, "Samana Gotama has declared that one who lives by going
round for alms is a bhikkhu. That being so, I should also be called a
bhikkhu." So thinking, he went to the Buddha and said to him that he (the
brahmin) should also be called a bhikkhu, because he also went round for
alms-food. To him the Buddha replied, "Brahmin, I do not say that you
are a bhikkhu simply because you go round for alms-food. One who professes a
wrong faith and acts accordingly is not to be called a bhikkhu. Only he who
lives meditating on the impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and insubstantiality
of the aggregates is to be called a bhikkhu."
Then the Buddha spoke in verse as follows:
Verse 266: He does not become a bhikkhu merely
because he stands at the door for alms. He cannot become a bhikkhu
because he acts according to a faith which is not in conformity with
the Dhamma.
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Verse 267: In this world, he who lays aside both
good and evil, who leads the life of purity, and lives meditating on
the khandha aggregates is indeed called a bhikkhu.
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