With Soṇadaṇḍa 20.1-14

20.1

Tena kho pana samayena soṇadaṇḍassa brāhmaṇassa bhāgineyyo aṅgako nāma māṇavako tassaṃ parisāyaṃ nisinno hoti.

Now at that time Soṇadaṇḍa’s nephew, the young student Aṅgaka was sitting in that assembly.

20.2

Atha kho soṇadaṇḍo brāhmaṇo te brāhmaṇe etadavoca:

Then Soṇadaṇḍa said to those brahmins,

20.3

“passanti no bhonto imaṃ aṅgakaṃ māṇavakaṃ amhākaṃ bhāgineyyan”ti?

“Gentlemen, do you see my nephew, the young student Aṅgaka?”

20.4

“Evaṃ, bho”.

“Yes, sir.”

20.5

“Aṅgako kho, bho, māṇavako abhirūpo dassanīyo pāsādiko paramāya vaṇṇapokkharatāya samannāgato brahmavaṇṇī brahmavacchasī akhuddāvakāso dassanāya, nāssa imissaṃ parisāyaṃ samasamo atthi vaṇṇena ṭhapetvā samaṇaṃ gotamaṃ.

“Aṅgaka is attractive, good-looking, lovely, of surpassing beauty. He has divine looks and lustre, remarkable to behold. There’s no one in this assembly so good-looking, apart from the ascetic Gotama.

20.6

Aṅgako kho māṇavako ajjhāyako mantadharo, tiṇṇaṃ vedānaṃ pāragū sanighaṇḍukeṭubhānaṃ sākkharappabhedānaṃ itihāsapañcamānaṃ padako veyyākaraṇo lokāyatamahāpurisalakkhaṇesu anavayo.

Aṅgaka recites and remembers the hymns, and has mastered the three Vedas, together with their vocabularies and ritual performance, their phonology and word classification, and the testaments as fifth. He knows them word-by-word, and their grammar. He is well versed in cosmology and the marks of a great man.

20.7

Ahamassa mante vācetā.

And I am the one who teaches him the hymns.

20.8

Aṅgako kho māṇavako ubhato sujāto mātito ca pitito ca saṃsuddhagahaṇiko yāva sattamā pitāmahayugā akkhitto anupakkuṭṭho jātivādena.

Aṅgaka is well born on both his mother’s and father’s side, stemming from a clean vessel, with irrefutable and impeccable genealogy back to the seventh paternal generation.

20.9

Ahamassa mātāpitaro jānāmi.

And I know his mother and father.

20.10

Aṅgako kho māṇavako pāṇampi haneyya, adinnampi ādiyeyya, paradārampi gaccheyya, musāvādampi bhaṇeyya, majjampi piveyya, ettha dāni, bho, kiṃ vaṇṇo karissati, kiṃ mantā, kiṃ jāti?

But if Aṅgaka were to kill living creatures, steal, commit adultery, lie, and drink liquor, then what’s the use of his appearance, his hymns, or his birth?

20.11

Yato kho, bho, brāhmaṇo sīlavā ca hoti vuddhasīlī vuddhasīlena samannāgato,

It’s when a brahmin is ethical, mature in ethical conduct;

20.12

paṇḍito ca hoti medhāvī paṭhamo vā dutiyo vā sujaṃ paggaṇhantānaṃ.

and he’s astute and intelligent, being the first or second to hold the sacrificial ladle.

20.13

Imehi kho, bho, dvīhaṅgehi samannāgataṃ brāhmaṇā brāhmaṇaṃ paññapenti;

A brahmin must possess these two factors for the brahmins to rightly describe him as a brahmin.”

20.14

‘brāhmaṇosmī’ti ca vadamāno sammā vadeyya, na ca pana musāvādaṃ āpajjeyyā”ti.