The first sutta of the Dīgha Nikāya. It was preached to the paribbājaka Suppiya and his disciple Brahmadatta. It first explains the sīlā, or moral precepts, in three successive sections cūla (concise), majjhima (medium), and mahā (elaborate) and then proceeds to set out in sixty two divisions various speculations and theories regarding the "soul" (D.i.46). Other names for it are Atthajāla, Dhammajāla, Ditthijāla, and Sangāmavijaya. At the end of the discourse the ten world systems trembled (D.i.46). It is said that once when Pinndapātiya Thera recited this sutta at the Kalyāniya vihāra, his mind concentrated on the Buddha, the earth trembled; the same phenomenon occurred when the Dīghabhānaka Theras recited it at the Ambahtthikā, to the east of the Lohapāsāda (DA.i.131).
The Brahmaj'āla was the first sutta preached in Suvannabhūmi, when Sona and Uttara visited it as missionaries (Mhv.xii.51).
The Sutta is often quoted, sometimes even in the Canon. E.g., S.iv. 286, 287.