Dhammapada Verse 409
Annataratthera Vatthu
Yo'dha digham va rassam va
anum thulam subhasubham
Joke adinnam nadiyati
tamaham brumi brahmanam.
Verse 409: Him I call a Brahmana, who, in this
world takes nothing that is not given him, be it long or short, big or small,
good or bad.
The Story of a Certain Thera
While residing at the Jetavana
monastery, the Buddha uttered Verse (409) of this book, with reference to a
certain thera.
One day, a brahmin from Savatthi
put his upper garment outside his house to air it. A thera found that garment as
he was going back to the monastery. Thinking that it was a piece of cloth thrown
away by someone and therefore ownerless, the thera picked it up. The brahmin
looking out of his window saw the thera picking up the piece of clothing and
came after the thera, abusing and accusing him. "You shaven head! You are
stealing my clothing", he said; the thera promptly returned the piece of
clothing to the brahmin.
Back at the monastery, the thera
related the above Incident to other bhikkhus, and they made fun of him and
jokingly asked him whether the cloth was long or short, coarse or fine. To this
question the thera answered, "Whether the clothing is long or short, coarse
or fine matters not to me; I am not at all attached to it." Other bhikkhus
then reported to the Buddha that the thera was falsely claiming himself to be an
arahat. To them the Buddha replied, "Bhikkhus! The thera speaks the
truth; an arahat does not take anything that is not given him."
Then the Buddha spoke in verse as
follows:
| Verse 409: Him I call
a Brahmana, who, in this world takes nothing that is not given him, be
it long or short, big or small, good or bad. |