Ud 1.4 - Ud 1:4 Overbearing | Huhuṅka Sutta
Translated by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu
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Copyright: Copyright 2014 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, Revised edition 2017
License notice: Copyright 2014 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, Revised edition 2017 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Unported. To see a copy of this license visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. “Commercial” shall mean any sale, whether for commercial or non-profit purposes or entities. Questions about this book may be addressed to Metta Forest Monastery Valley Center, CA 92082-1409 U.S.A. Additional resources More Dhamma talks, books and translations by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu are available to download in digital audio and various ebook formats at dhammatalks.org. Printed copy A paperback copy of this book is available free of charge. To request one, write to: Book Request, Metta Forest Monastery, PO Box 1409, Valley Center, CA 92082 USA.
Attribution: From Handful of Leaves, Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu; https://www.dhammatalks.org/Archive/Writings/Ebooks/SuttaPitaka_251113.epub. Copyright 2014 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, Revised edition 2017 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Unported. To see a copy of this license visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. “Commercial” shall mean any sale, whether for commercial or non-profit purposes or entities. Questions about this book may be addressed to Metta Forest Monastery Valley Center, CA 92082-1409 U.S.A. Additional resources More Dhamma talks, books and translations by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu are available to download in digital audio and various ebook formats at dhammatalks.org. Printed copy A paperback copy of this book is available free of charge. To request one, write to: Book Request, Metta Forest Monastery, PO Box 1409, Valley Center, CA 92082 USA.
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Ud 1:4 Overbearing (Huhuṅka Sutta)

I have heard that on one occasion, the Blessed One was staying at Uruvelā on the bank of the Nerañjarā River at the root of the Bodhi tree–the tree of awakening–newly awakened. And on that occasion he sat at the root of the Bodhi tree for seven days in one session, sensitive to the bliss of release. At the end of seven days, he emerged from that concentration.

Then a certain overbearing brahman went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, exchanged courteous greetings with him. After an exchange of friendly greetings & courtesies, he stood to one side. As he was standing there, he said to the Blessed One, “To what extent, Master Gotama, is one a brahman? And which are the qualities that make one a brahman?”

Then, on realizing the significance of that, the Blessed One on that occasion exclaimed:

Any brahman
who has banished evil qualities,1
  –not overbearing,
  not stained,
  his mind controlled–
gone to the end of wisdom,2
the holy life completed:3
Rightly would that brahman
speak the holy teaching.
  He has no swelling of pride4
  anywhere in the world.

Notes

1. This line contains a wordplay on the words brāhmaṇa and bāhita (banished)–the same wordplay used in Dhp 388 and Ud 1:5.

2. This line plays with the term vedanta, which can mean “end of wisdom,” “end of the Vedas,” or “supplement to the Vedas.” In the latter two cases, it would be a term referring to a brahman-by-birth who has studied all the Vedas and their supplements, but the Buddha is obviously giving this term a different meaning here.

3. Here and two lines down, the word “holy” translates brahma.

4. See Sn 4:10 and Sn 4:14.