The Social Organisation in North-East India in Buddha's Time c8.48

c8.48

"Whether virtue is better than learning—about this I had doubts ; that virtue is better than learning, of this I doubt no more.
Birth and caste cause conceit ; verily, is virtue the highest ; he who does not possess virtue, for him learning also has no value.
A Khattiya who has aimed at vice and a Vessa who acts viciously, both come to grief after they have passed away from the world.
Khattiya, Brâhmaṇa, Vessa, Sudda, Caṇḍâla and Pukkusa will be all equal in the world of the gods, if they have acted virtuously here.
Of no value are the Vedas, of no value is birth or kinsmen for the future world, only one's own pure virtue brings him happiness in the next world."