“But brahmin, did the whole world authorize the brahmins to prescribe these four kinds of service?” “No, worthy Gotama.” “It’s as if they were to force a chop on a poor, penniless person, telling them, ‘Eat this meat and pay for it!’ In the same way, the brahmins have prescribed these four kinds of service without the consent of those ascetics and brahmins.

Brahmin, I don’t say that you should serve everyone, nor do I say that you shouldn’t serve anyone. I say that you shouldn’t serve someone if serving them makes you worse, not better. And I say that you should serve someone if serving them makes you better, not worse.

If they were to ask an aristocrat this, ‘Who should you serve? Someone in whose service you get worse, or someone in whose service you get better?’ Answering rightly, an aristocrat would say, ‘Someone in whose service I get better.’

If they were to ask a brahmin … a peasant … or a menial this, ‘Who should you serve? Someone in whose service you get worse, or someone in whose service you get better?’ Answering rightly, a menial would say, ‘Someone in whose service I get better.’ Brahmin, I don’t say that an eminent family makes you a better or worse person. I don’t say that exceptional beauty makes you a better or worse person. I don’t say that exceptional wealth makes you a better or worse person.