Thus I heard:

On one occasion the Blessed One was living at Icchānaṅgala, in the wood near Icchānaṅgala.

Now on that occasion very many well-known divines were staying at Icchānaṅgala, that is to say, Caṅkī the divine, Tārukkha the divine, Pokkharasāti the divine, Janussoni the divine, Todeyya the divine, and other very well-known divines, great property owners.

Then while the student divines Vāseṭṭha and Bhāradvāja were walking and wandering for exercise, it was being debated between them thus:

“Sir, how is one a divine?”

The student divine Bhāradvāja said: “Sir, when one is well-born on both sides with a pure pedigree as far as the seventh generation back through the mother and through the father, unsullied and unquestioned in the matter of breeding, that is how one is a divine.”

The student divine Vāseṭṭha said: “Sir, when one is virtuous and has perfected the duties, that is how one is a divine.”

But neither could the student divine Bhāradvāja make the student divine Vāseṭṭha perceive, nor could the student divine Vāseṭṭha make the student divine Bhāradvāja perceive.

Then the student divine Vāseṭṭha said to the other Bhāradvāja: “There is the monk Gotama, the son of the Sakyans who went forth from a Sakyan clan, living at Icchānaṅgala, in the wood near Icchānaṅgala. Now a good report of Master Gotama has been spread to this effect: ‘That Blessed One is such since he is Arahant and Fully Enlightened, perfect in true knowledge and conduct, sublime, knower of worlds, incomparable teacher of men to be tamed, teacher of gods and men, enlightened, blessed.’ Let us go to him and ask him the meaning of this and let us remember it according to what he says.”

“Yes, sir,” the other replied.

Then the two student divines went to the Blessed One and exchanged greetings with him, and when the courteous and amiable talk was finished, they sat down at one side. When they had done so, the student divine Vāseṭṭha addressed the Blessed One in stanzas thus:

“We are both conceded, and we claim,
Full knowledge of the Triple Veda
For I am Pokkharasāti’s pupil;
And he was taught by Tārukkha.

“We have attained totality
In all Three-Veda experts tell;
Word-perfect in replies, we match
Our teachers’ dialectic skill.

“Now, Gotama, between us two
Birth is a subject of dispute
Know then, O Seer, that Bhāradvāja
Considers a divine is such
Owing to birth, but I instead
Maintain that it is by his acts.

“Since neither of us so far
Can get the other to perceive
His point of view, we come to ask
One famed for Full Enlightenment.

“For Gotama is like the moon
To whom men turn with palms upraised
And bow in reverence each month
For compensating the past wane.

“So now we ask of Gotama,
The Eye uprisen in the world:
How should we recognize divines:
Or by their birth or their acts?
Explain to us who know it not
How we should recognize divines.”

“I give you then in order due,
Vāseṭṭha,” said the Blessed One
“According to reality
The scheme of birth of breathing things
For many are the kinds of birth.

“Know first the grass and trees; although
They lack knowledge and consciousness:
Their birth is their distinctive mark;
For many are the kinds of birth.

“Next come the moths and butterflies
And so on down as far as ants:
Their birth is their distinctive mark;
For many are the kinds of birth.

“Then know the kinds of quadrupeds
Of varied sorts both small and large:
Their birth is their distinctive mark;
For many are the kinds of birth.

“Know those whose bellies are their feet,
To wit, the long-backed serpent tribe:
Their birth is their distinctive mark;
For many are the kinds of birth.

“Know too the water-dwelling fish
That pasture in the liquid world:
Their birth is their distinctive mark;
For many are the kinds of birth.

“Next know the birds that wing their way
With feathers as they range in space:

Their birth is their distinctive mark;
For many are the kinds of birth.

“While in these births the differences
Of birth make their distinctive mark,
With men instead no differences
Of birth make a distinctive mark.

“Nor in the hairs nor in the head
Nor in the ears nor in the eyes
Nor in the mouth nor in the nose
Nor in the lips nor in the brows.

“Nor in the shoulders or the neck
Nor in the belly or the back
Nor in the buttocks or the breast
Nor in the reproductive organs.

“Nor in the hands nor in the feet
Nor in the fingers or the nails
Nor in the knees nor in the thighs
Nor in appearance or in voice:
Here birth makes no distinctive mark
As with the different kinds of birth.

“In human bodies in themselves
No such distinction can be found
And that which constitutes their kind
Is called the sameness among men.

“Who makes his living among men
By agriculture, you well know,
Vāseṭṭha, is a farmer called,
Not by that is he a divine.

“Who makes his living among men
By varied craftsmanship, you know,
Vāseṭṭha, is a craftsman called,
Not by that is he a divine.

“Who makes his living among men
By merchandise, as you well know,
Vāseṭṭha, is a merchant called,
Not by that is he a divine.

“Who makes his living among men
By serving others, you well know,
Vāseṭṭha, is a servant called,
Not by that is he a divine.

“Who makes his living among men
By the ungiven, you well know,
Vāseṭṭha, is a robber called,
Not by that is he a divine.

“Who makes his living among men
By archery, as you well know,
Vāseṭṭha, is a soldier called,
Not by that is he a divine.

“Who makes his living among men
By priestly craft, as you well know,
Vāseṭṭha, is a chaplain called,
Not by that is he a divine.

“Whoever governs among men
The town and realm, as you well know,
Vāseṭṭha, is a ruler called,
Not by that is he a divine.

“I call not him divine who claims
Womb-born maternal lineage;
If ‘owning’ holds him still, he is
Just one who uses the word ‘sir’.
Who owns no more and clings no more
Of him I use the word ‘divine’.

“When every fetter has been cut
He knows no anguish any more,
With passion overcome, detached:
Of him I use the word ‘divine’.

“When, having cut each strap and trace
And rein and bridle-band as well,
His shaft being lifted, he is wakened:
Of him I use the word ‘divine’.

“And one who suffers with no hate,
Abuse and even torturing,
With strength of patience well arrayed
Of him I use the word ‘divine’.

“One who, unangry, dutiful,
Virtuous, unassuming too,
Subdued, is bearing his last body,
Of him I use the word ‘divine’.

“Who, like the rain on lotus leaves,
Or mustard seed on the point of an awl,
Clings not at all to sense desires,
Of him I use the word ‘divine’.

“Who knows right here and in himself
Exhaustion of all suffering.
With burden lowered, and detached,
Of him I use the word ‘divine’.

“Who with deep understanding, wise,
Can tell the Path from the not-path
And has attained the goal supreme,
Of him I use the word ‘divine’.

“Aloof alike from laity
And those gone into homelessness,
He wanders without home or wish
Of him I use the word ‘divine’.

“Who lays aside the rod at last
Against all beings frail or bold,
And kills them not nor has them killed,
Of him I use the word ‘divine’.

“Who, mid opponents unopposed,
Is quenched among rod-brandishers,
Uncling among those who cling,
Of him I use the word ‘divine’.

“Who drops his lust and drops his hate
And his conceit and his contempt,
Like mustard seed on the point of an awl,
Of him I use the word ‘divine’.

“Who utters speech, which, never hard,
Is ever sensible and true
And cannot damage anyone,
Of him I use the word ‘divine’.

“Who in the world will never take
What is not given, long or short
Or small or big or fair or foul,
Of him I use the word ‘divine’.

“Who has no more existing needs
Regarding this world and the next,
Who lives unneeding and detached,
Of him I use the word ‘divine’.

“Who has no more reliance too,
And no more questions, since he knows
Through having reached the Deathless Sphere,
Of him I use the word ‘divine’.

“Who, by outstripping passion here
About both merit and misdeeds,
Is sorrowless, unsullied, pure,
Of him I use the word ‘divine’.

“Who, pure as the spotless moon,
Is clear and limpid, and in whom
Delight and Being are used up,
Of him I use the word ‘divine’.

“Who has got through the slough, the mire
The round of births, deludedness,
Has crossed, gone to the further shore
And has illumination too,
Is unperturbed, unquestioning
And quenched with lack of clinging’s fuel,
Of him I use the word ‘divine’.

“Who has abandoned sense desires
And wanders here in homelessness
With sense desires and being used up,
Of him I use the word ‘divine’.

“Who has abandoned craving too,
And wanders here in homelessness
With craving too, and being used up,
Of him I use the word ‘divine’.

“Who leaves behind all human bonds
And has outstripped the bonds of heaven,
Detached from all the bonds there are,
Of him I use the word ‘divine’.

“Cooled, he leaves delight and boredom
He has no essentials of existence,
A hero, the whole world transcending:
Of him I use the word ‘divine’.

“Who knows how clutching creatures die
To reappear in many a mode,
Unclutching he, sublime, awake,
Of him I use the word ‘divine’.

“Whose destination is unknown
To gods, to spirits and to men,
An Arahant, with exhausted taints
Of him I use the word ‘divine’.

“Whom owning past, or future, or
Between, no longer holds at all,
Who owns no more and clings no more,
Of him I use the word ‘divine’.

“The herd’s leader, perfected hero
Seeker whose victory is won,
Now unperturbed, bathed and awake:
Of him I use the word ‘divine’.

“Who knows his manifold past life;
And sees the heavens and states of loss,
And finds exhaustion of all birth,
Of him I use the word ‘divine’.

“For name and lineage as conjectured
Are just a usage in the world
That in conventions has its source:
Conjecture applies them here and there.

“Men know not this because wrong views
For long have underlain their hearts,
And they, unknowing of the truth,
Tells us ‘Man is divine by birth’.

“A man is not divine by birth
Nor is he undivine by birth:
A man by actions is divine,
By action he is undivine.

“For men are farmers by their acts,
And by their acts are craftsmen too;
And men are merchants by their acts,
And by their acts are servants too.

“And men are robbers by their acts,
And by their acts are soldiers too
And men are chaplains by their acts,
And by their acts are rulers too.

“So that is how the truly wise,
Seeing Dependent Origin
And skilled in actions’ ripening,
See action as it really is.

“Tis action makes the world go round
As action makes this generation;
Since action clutching-creatures locks
As linch-pins rolling chariot wheels.

“Asceticism, Life divine,
And self-subduing, and restraint:
By these a man becomes divine,
In these supreme divineness lies.

“The sages’ Divinity, Vāseṭṭha,
Their Ruler of Gods, as you well know,
Is One with the Triple Knowledge True
Quieted, renewing no more his being.”

When this was said, the students divines Vāseṭṭha and Bhāradvāja said to the Blessed One: “Magnificent, Master Gotama, sir! Magnificent, Master Gotama, sir! The Dhamma has been made clear in many ways by Master Gotama, as though he were righting the overthrown, revealing the hidden, showing the way to one who was lost, holding up a lamp in the darkness for those with eyesight to see forms.

“We go to Master Gotama for refuge, and to the Dhamma and to the Sangha. From today let Master Gotama remember us as followers who have gone to him for refuge for life.”