SN 7.20

Bhikkhakasutta

Sāvatthinidānaṁ. Atha kho bhikkhako brāhmaṇo yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā bhagavatā saddhiṁ sammodi. Sammodanīyaṁ kathaṁ sāraṇīyaṁ vītisāretvā ekamantaṁ nisīdi. Ekamantaṁ nisinno kho bhikkhako brāhmaṇo bhagavantaṁ etadavoca: “ahampi kho, bho gotama, bhikkhako, bhavampi bhikkhako, idha no kiṁ nānākaraṇan”ti?

An Almsman

At Sāvatthī. Then a brahmin almsman went up to the Buddha, and exchanged greetings with him. When the greetings and polite conversation were over, he sat down to one side and said to the Buddha, “Worthy Gotama, both you and I are almsmen. What, then, is the difference between us?”

“Na tena bhikkhako hoti, yāvatā bhikkhate pare; Vissaṁ dhammaṁ samādāya, bhikkhu hoti na tāvatā.

“You don’t become an almsman just by begging alms from others. One who has undertaken domestic duties has not yet become a mendicant.

Yodha puññañca pāpañca, bāhitvā brahmacariyaṁ; Saṅkhāya loke carati, sa ve bhikkhūti vuccatī”ti.

But one living a spiritual life who has banished both merit and evil, and wanders having appraised the world, is said to be a mendicant.”

Evaṁ vutte, bhikkhako brāhmaṇo bhagavantaṁ etadavoca: “abhikkantaṁ, bho gotama, abhikkantaṁ, bho gotama …pe… upāsakaṁ maṁ bhavaṁ gotamo dhāretu ajjatagge pāṇupetaṁ saraṇaṁ gatan”ti.

When he had spoken, the brahmin almsman said to the Buddha, “Excellent, worthy Gotama! Excellent! … From this day forth, may the worthy Gotama remember me as a lay follower who has gone for refuge for life.”