Young Brahmin Vāseṭṭhaperson

Brahmin students Vāseṭṭha and Bhāradvāja ask how one becomes a brahmin; the Buddha teaches that the terms brahmin, aristocrat, peasant, and menial name lineage, while true purity is by ethical conduct and spiritual attainment.

Verses recounting the Buddha's going forth, his encounter with King Bimbisāra, and his teaching on the drawbacks of sensual pleasures and the security of the renunciate life.

After the Buddha teaches Vāseṭṭha the eight-factored sabbath, the layman expresses the wish that his kin and all people everywhere observe it, and the Buddha affirms that its observance would be for the lasting welfare and happiness of the whole world, even of sentient sal trees.

The brahmins Vāseṭṭha and Bhāradvāja, experts in the three Vedas, ask the way to union with Brahmā; the Buddha shows that memorizing mantras without ethics, immersion, and wisdom cannot lead to the Brahmā world or liberation.

The brahmins Vāseṭṭha and Bhāradvāja ask how the classes of society arose; the Buddha recounts the Aggañña legend of the world's evolution and teaches that nobility is by conduct, not birth.