THE OUTCAST

  WHEN Bhagavat dwelt at Savatthi in the Jetavana, he went out with

his alms-bowl to beg for food and approached the house of a Brahman

priest while the fire of an offering was blazing upon the altar. And

the priest said: "Stay there, O shaveling; stay there, O wretched

samana; thou art an outcast."

  The Blessed One replied: "Who is an outcast? An outcast is the man

who is angry and bears hatred; the man who is wicked and hypocritical,

he who embraces error and is full of deceit. Whosoever is a provoker

and is avaricious, has evil desires, is envious, wicked, shameless,

and without fear to commit wrong, let him be known as an outcast.

Not by birth does one become an outcast, not by birth does one

become a Brahman; by deeds one becomes an outcast, by deeds one

becomes a Brahman."