Brāhmaṇasutta — Samaṇavagga — the ninth chapter of the Sevens
Setting
None stated in the source
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
A single elided sentence, the third in this chapter's set of eight wordplay discourses
Length
a few seconds to read
A title borrowed and redefined
Brahmin (brāhmaṇa) is not a Buddhist title at all but the priestly caste of the surrounding brahminical tradition; this discourse redefines it by the same sevenfold criterion applied to bhikkhu and samaṇa
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — brief, but conceptually pointed in what title it chooses to redefine
Why this discourse
AN 7.87 gives the third discourse in this set, deriving “brahmin” (brāhmaṇa) from bāhita, “barred out” — taking a title that, outside this context, names a hereditary priestly caste, and redefining it by the same sevenfold criterion applied to bhikkhu and samaṇa.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
It is specifically because of barring out seven things — the same substantialist view, doubt, misapprehension of precepts and observances, greed, hate, delusion, and conceit named in full at AN 7.85 — that one becomes a brāhmaṇa, a brahmin.
A borrowed title, redefined
Unlike bhikkhu (specifically Buddhist) or samaṇa (a general renunciant term), brāhmaṇa names a hereditary priestly caste in the surrounding brahminical tradition, determined by birth rather than practice. Applying this same sevenfold criterion to it makes a pointed claim: what actually constitutes a brahmin, in the sense this discourse cares about, is barring out these seven defilements, not ancestry.
Bāhita: barred out, kept at a distance
The specific verb here, bāhita, suggests actively keeping something at a distance or shutting it out, a slightly more effortful, ongoing image than AN 7.85's breaking or AN 7.86's quelling — each verb in this set offering its own particular shade of meaning for the same underlying removal of the same seven things.
Consistent with this book's wider treatment of the term
Redefining brāhmaṇa by conduct rather than birth is a recurring move across the early Buddhist texts, part of a broader challenge to caste-based claims to spiritual authority; this discourse's brief wordplay carries that same claim in miniature, condensed to a single sentence.
Key terms
brāhmaṇa, bāhita — “brahmin”, “barred out” — the sound-linked pair this discourse's wordplay turns on.
sakkāyadiṭṭhi, vicikicchā, sīlabbataparāmāso — “substantialist view, doubt, misapprehension of precepts and observances” — the first three of the seven items, elided here but given in full at AN 7.85.
rāgo, doso, moho, māno — “greed, hate, delusion, conceit” — the remaining four items, likewise elided in this discourse's own text.
jātibrāhmaṇa — “a brahmin by birth” — not a term used in this discourse's own text, but useful context for the claim this discourse's redefinition implicitly makes against birth-based status.
tatiyaṁ — “the third” — this discourse's own closing ordinal marker in the source text.
The text
The discourse in full, a single elided sentence. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Why one is called a brahmin
§1“Mendicants, it’s because of barring out seven things that you become a brahmin …”
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Self-check quiz
6 questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.
Question 1 of 6
What verb does this discourse connect to “brahmin” (brāhmaṇa)?
Correct: B. An image of actively keeping something at a distance, applied to the same seven defilements.
Question 2 of 6
According to the guide, what does “brāhmaṇa” name outside this discourse's context?
Correct: B. A borrowed title from outside the Buddhist community, redefined here.
Question 3 of 6
What claim does applying this sevenfold criterion to “brahmin” make, according to the guide?
Correct: B. A pointed redefinition by conduct rather than birth.
Question 4 of 6
According to the guide, is this redefinition of “brahmin” by conduct unique to this discourse?
Correct: B. A recognized wider theme, condensed here to a single sentence.
Question 5 of 6
What is this discourse's own closing marker in the source text?
Correct: B. Confirming its place as the third discourse in this set of eight.
Question 6 of 6
How does this discourse's structure compare to AN 7.86's?
Correct: B. The identical compressed form, continuing this set's pattern.
