“But brahmin, is it possible to set aside one of these five factors and still rightly describe someone as a brahmin?” “It is possible, worthy Gotama. We could leave appearance out of the five factors. For what does appearance matter? A brahmin must possess the remaining four factors for the brahmins to rightly describe him as a brahmin.”

“But brahmin, is it possible to set aside one of these four factors and still rightly describe someone as a brahmin?” “It is possible, worthy Gotama. We could leave the hymns out of the four factors. For what do the hymns matter? A brahmin must possess the remaining three factors for the brahmins to rightly describe him as a brahmin.”