The DHAMMAPADA is also from the SUTTA PITAKA but in the KHUDDAKA-NIKAYA. The author of these verses is unknown, although they are believed to be the teachings of the Buddha himself. The text of the DHAMMAPADA was established by the time of the great Buddhist Emperor Ashoka in the third century BC. Frequent references are made to Mara, the one who tempted the Buddha.
1. The Twin-Verses
What we are is the result of what we have thought,
is built by our
thoughts, is made up of our thoughts.
If one speaks or acts with an impure
thought,
suffering follows one,
like the wheel of the cart follows the
foot of the ox.
What we are is the result of what we have thought,
is
built by our thoughts, is made up of our thoughts.
If one speaks or acts with
a pure thought,
happiness follows one,
like a shadow that never
leaves.
"They insulted me; they hurt me;
they defeated me; they
cheated me."
In those who harbor such thoughts,
hate will never
cease.
"They insulted me; they hurt me;
they defeated me; they cheated
me."
In those who do not harbor such thoughts,
hate will cease.
For
hate is never conquered by hate.
Hate is conquered by love.
This is an
eternal law.
Many do not realize that we must all come to an end here;
but
those who do realize this, end their quarrels at once.
Whoever lives only
for pleasures,
with senses uncontrolled,
immoderate in eating, lazy, and
weak,
will be overthrown by Mara,
like the wind throws down a weak
tree.
Whoever lives not for pleasures,
with senses well
controlled,
moderate in eating, has faith and the power of virtue,
will
not be overthrown by Mara,
any more than the wind throws down a rocky
mountain.
Whoever would put on the yellow robe
without having cleansed
oneself from impurity,
disregarding self-control and truth,
is not
deserving of the yellow robe.
But whoever has cleansed oneself from
impurity,
is well grounded in all the virtues,
and is possessed of
self-control and truth,
is deserving of the yellow robe.
Those who
imagine truth in untruth
and see untruth in truth
never arrive at truth
but follow vain desires.
Those who know truth as truth and untruth as
untruth
arrive at truth and follow true desires.
As rain makes its way
into a badly roofed house,
so passion makes its way into an unreflecting
mind.
As rain does not make its way into a well roofed house,
so passion
does not make its way into a reflecting mind.
Wrong-doers grieve in this
world,
and they grieve in the next; they grieve in both.
They grieve and
are afflicted
when they see the wrong they have done.
The virtuous
find joy in this world,
and they find joy in the next; they find joy in
both.
They find joy and are glad
when they see the good they have
done.
Wrong-doers suffer in this world,
and they suffer in the next;
they suffer in both.
They suffer when they think of the wrong they have
done.
They suffer even more when going on the wrong path.
The virtuous
are happy in this world,
and they are happy in the next; they are happy in
both.
They are happy when they think of the good they have done.
They are
even happier when going on the good path.
Even if the thoughtless can
recite many of the scriptures,
if they do not act accordingly,
they are
not living the holy life,
but are like a cowherd counting the cows of
others.
Even if the faithful can recite
only a few of the
scriptures,
if they act accordingly,
having given up passion, hate, and
folly,
being possessed of true knowledge and serenity of mind,
craving
nothing in this world or the next,
they are living the holy life.
2. Awareness
Awareness is the path of immortality;
thoughtlessness is the path of
death.
Those who are aware do not die.
The thoughtless are as if dead
already.
The wise having clearly understood this,
delight in
awareness
and find joy in the knowledge of the noble ones.
These wise
ones, meditative, persevering,
always using strong effort,
attain nirvana,
the supreme peace and happiness.
If a person is awake, aware, mindful,
pure, considerate,
self-restrained, and lives according to duty,
that
person's glory will increase.
By awakening, by awareness, by restraint and
control,
the wise may make for oneself
an island which no flood can
overwhelm.
Fools follow after vanity, are ignorant and careless.
The
wise keep awareness as their best treasure.
Do not follow after vanity
nor
after sensual pleasure nor lust.
Whoever meditates with awareness obtains
great joy.
When the wise conquer thoughtlessness by awareness,
climbing
the terraced heights of wisdom,
free from sadness viewing the sad crowd
below,
they gaze upon the fools, like one on the mountain peak
gazes upon
those standing on the plain.
Aware among the thoughtless, awake among the
sleepy,
the wise advances, like a racehorse leaves behind the slow.
By
awareness Indra rose to become chief of the gods.
People praise awareness;
thoughtlessness is always blamed.
A mendicant who finds joy in
awareness,
who looks with fear on thoughtlessness,
moves about like
fire,
burning all restrictions, small or large.
A mendicant who finds joy
in awareness,
who looks with fear on thoughtlessness,
cannot fall away,
but is close to nirvana.
3. Thought
As fletchers make their arrows straight,
the wise make straight their
wavering and unsteady thought,
which is difficult to guard and difficult to
restrain.
Like a fish taken from its watery home
and thrown on the dry
ground,
our thought quivers all over
in order to escape the dominion of
Mara.
It is good to control the mind,
which is difficult to restrain,
fickle, and wandering.
A tamed mind brings happiness.
Let the wise guard
their thoughts,
which are difficult to perceive, tricky, and
wandering.
Thoughts well guarded bring happiness.
Those who restrain their
mind,
which travels far alone without a body, hiding in a cave,
will be
free from the restrictions of death.
If a person's mind is
unsteady,
if it does not know the true path,
if one's peace of mind is
troubled,
wisdom is not perfected.
There is no fear for the one whose
thought is untroubled,
whose mind is not confused,
who has ceased to think
of good and bad,
who is aware.
Knowing that this body is like a
jar,
and making one's thought strong as a fortress,
attack Mara with the
weapon of wisdom,
protect what is conquered and stay always aware.
Before
long, unfortunately, this body will lie on the earth,
rejected, without
consciousness, like a useless log.
Whatever an enemy may do to an
enemy,
or a hater to a hater,
a wrongly directed mind will do greater
harm.
Neither a mother nor a father
nor any other relative will do so
much;
a well-directed mind will do us greater service.
4. Flowers
Who shall conquer this world
and the world of death and the gods?
Who
shall find the clear path of truth,
as a skillful person finds the
flower?
The wise student will conquer this world
and the world of
death and the gods.
The wise student will find the clear path of truth,
as
a skillful person finds the flower.
Whoever knows that this body is like
foam
and has learned that its nature is a mirage,
will break the
flourishing arrows of Mara
and never see the king of death.
Death
carries off a person who is gathering flowers,
whose mind is
distracted,
like a flood carries off a sleeping village.
Death terminates
a person who is gathering flowers,
whose mind is distracted,
before one is
even satiated in pleasures.
As the bee collects nectar and
departs
without harming the flower or its color or scent,
so let the sage
live in a village.
Not the faults of others
nor their errors of commission
or omission,
but one's own errors and omissions should the sage
consider.
Like a beautiful flower, full of color, but without
scent,
are the fine but fruitless words
of those who do not act
accordingly.
But like a beautiful flower, full of color and full of
scent,
are the fine and fruitful words
of those who do act
accordingly.
As many kinds of garlands
can be made from a heap of
flowers,
so many good works may be achieved by a mortal after birth.
The
scent of flowers does not travel against the wind,
not even that of
sandalwood, rose-bay or jasmine,
but the fragrance of good people
travels
even against the wind.
A good person pervades everywhere.
Sandalwood
or rose-bay or lotus or jasmine---
among these perfumes, the perfume of
virtue is unsurpassed.
Limited is the scent of rose-bay or sandalwood;
but
the perfume of the virtuous
rises up to the gods as the highest.
Mara
never crosses the path of those who are virtuous,
who live without
thoughtlessness,
and who are liberated by true knowledge.
Just as on a
heap of rubbish thrown upon the highway
the lotus will grow sweetly
fragrant, delighting the soul,
so also among those who are like
rubbish
the wise student of the truly enlightened Buddha
shines brightly
with wisdom above the blinded crowd.
5. The Fool
Long is the night to one who is awake.
Long is ten miles to one who is
tired.
Long is the cycle of birth and death
to the fool who does not know
the true path.
If a traveler does not meet with one who is better or
equal,
let one firmly travel alone;
there is no companionship with a
fool.
"These sons belong to me, and this wealth belongs to me;"
with
such thoughts a fool is tormented.
One does not belong to oneself;
how
much less sons and wealth?
The fool who knows one's own folly,
is wise
at least to that extent;
but the fool who thinks oneself wise is really a
fool.
If a fool is associated with a wise person all one's life,
the
fool will not perceive the truth,
any more than a spoon will taste the
soup.
If an intelligent person is associated with a wise person
for
only one minute, one will soon perceive the truth,
just as the tongue does
the taste of soup.
Fools of little understanding are their own worst
enemies,
for they do wrong deeds which bear bitter fruits.
That action is
not well done, which having been done,
brings remorse, whose result one
receives crying with tears.
But that action is well done, which having been
done,
does not bring remorse,
whose result one receives gladly and
cheerfully.
As long as the wrong action does not bear fruit,
the fool
thinks it is like honey;
but when it bears fruit, then the fool suffers
grief.
Let a fool month after month
eat food with the tip of kusha
grass;
nevertheless one is not worth one-sixteenth
of those who have
understood the truth.
A wrong action, like newly drawn milk, does not
turn soon;
smoldering, like fire covered by ashes, it follows the
fool.
When the wrong action, after it has become known,
turns to sorrow
for the fool,
then it destroys one's brightness and splits the
head.
Let the fool wish for reputation,
for precedence among the
mendicants,
for authority in the convents,
for veneration among the
people.
"Let both the householders and the mendicants
think that this
is done by me.
Let them always ask me
what should be done and what should
not be done."
Such is the wish of the fool
of increasing desire and
pride.
One road leads to wealth; another road leads to nirvana.
Let the
mendicant, the disciple of Buddha, learn this,
and not strive for honor but
seek wisdom.
6. The Wise
If you see a wise person who shows you your faults,
who shows what is to
be avoided,
follow that wise person
as you would one who reveals hidden
treasures;
you will be better not worse for following that one.
Let one
admonish; let one teach; let one forbid the wrong;
and one will be loved by
the good and hated by the bad.
Do not have wrong-doers for friends;
do
not have despicable people for friends;
have virtuous people for
friends;
have for friends the best people.
Whoever drinks in the
truth
lives happily with a serene mind.
The wise are joyful in the
truth
revealed by the noble ones.
Engineers of canals guide the
water;
fletchers make the arrow straight;
carpenters shape the
wood;
the wise mold themselves.
As a solid rock is not shaken by the
wind,
so the wise are not shaken by blame and praise.
As a deep lake is
clear and calm,
so the wise become tranquil after they listened to the
truth.
Good people walk on regardless of what happens to them.
Good
people do not babble on about their desires.
Whether touched by happiness or
by sorrow,
the wise never appear elated or depressed.
Whoever for
one's sake or for another's,
does not wish for a son or wealth or
power,
and if one does not wish for success by unfair means,
that one
certainly is virtuous, wise, and holy.
Few are those people who reach the
farther shore;
the other people here run along this shore.
But those who,
when the truth has been taught to them,
follow the truth, will pass over the
dominion of death,
however difficult to cross.
Leaving behind the path
of darkness
and following the path of light,
let the wise person go from
home to a homeless state,
in retirement looking for enjoyment
where
enjoyment seemed difficult.
Letting go of all pleasures, calling nothing
one's own,
let the wise cleanse oneself
from all the troubles of the
mind.
Those whose minds are well grounded
in the elements of
enlightenment,
who without clinging to anything
find joy in freedom from
attachment,
whose appetites have been conquered,
and who are full of
light,
they are free in this world.
7. The Saint
There is no suffering for the one
who has completed the journey,
who is
freed from sorrow,
who has freed oneself on all sides,
who has thrown off
all chains.
The thoughtful exert themselves;
they do not delight in a
home;
like swans who have left their lake,
they leave their house and
home.
Those who have no accumulations, who eat properly,
who have
perceived release and unconditioned freedom,
their path is difficult to
understand,
like that of birds in the sky.
Those whose passions are
stilled,
who are indifferent to pleasure,
who have perceived release and
unconditioned freedom,
their path is difficult to understand,
like that of
birds in the sky.
Even the gods admire one whose senses are
controlled,
like horses well tamed by the driver,
who is free from pride
and free from appetites.
Such a dutiful one who is tolerant like the
earth,
who is firm like a pillar,
who is like a lake without mud:
no
new births are in store for this one.
One's thought is calm;
calm is
one's word and one's action
when one has obtained freedom by true
knowledge
and become peaceful.
The one who is free from
gullibility,
who knows the uncreated, who has severed all ties,
removed
all temptations, renounced all desires,
is the greatest of people.
In
a village or in a forest, in a valley or on the hills,
wherever saints live,
that is a place of joy.
Forests are delightful; where others find no
joy,
there the desireless will find joy,
for they do not seek the
pleasures of the senses.
8. The Thousands
Better than a thousand meaningless words
is one sensible word if hearing
it one becomes peaceful.
Better than a thousand meaningless verses
is one
word of verse if hearing it one becomes peaceful.
Better than reciting one
hundred verses of meaningless words
is one poem if hearing it one becomes
peaceful.
If a person were to conquer in battle
a thousand times a
thousand people,
if another conquers oneself,
that one is the greatest
conqueror.
Conquering oneself is better than conquering other
people;
not even a god, a spirit, nor Mara with Brahma,
could turn into a
defeat the victory
of one who always practices the discipline of
self-control.
If a person month after month for a hundred years
should
sacrifice with a thousand offerings,
and if but for one moment that person
paid reverence
to one whose soul is grounded in knowledge,
better is that
reverence than a hundred years of sacrifices.
If a person for a hundred
years
should worship Agni in the forest,
and if but for one moment that
person paid reverence
to one whose soul is grounded in knowledge,
better
is that reverence than a hundred years of worship.
Whatever a person
sacrifices in this world
as an offering or as an oblation
for a whole year
in order to gain merit,
the whole of it is not worth a quarter.
Reverence
shown to the virtuous is better.
To the one who always reveres and respects
the aged,
four things increase: life, health, happiness, and
power.
Better than a hundred years
lived in vice and
unrestrained
is living one day if a person is virtuous and
contemplative.
Better than a hundred years
lived in ignorance and
unrestrained
is living one day if a person is wise and
contemplative.
Better than a hundred years
lived in idleness and
weakness
is living one day if a person courageously makes
effort.
Better than a hundred years
of not perceiving how things arise
and pass away
is living one day if a person
does perceive how things arise
and pass away.
Better than a hundred years
of not perceiving
immortality
is living one day if a person does perceive
immortality.
Better than a hundred years
of not seeing the supreme
path
is living one day if a person does see the supreme path.
9. Good and Bad
A person should hurry toward the good
and restrain one's thoughts from the
bad.
If a person is slow in doing good,
one's mind will find pleasure in
wrong.
If a person does what is wrong, let one not do it again.
Let
one not find pleasure in wrong.
Painful is the accumulation of bad
conduct.
If a person does what is good, let one do it again.
Let one
find joy in it.
Happiness is the result of good conduct.
Even a
wrong-doer sees happiness
as long as one's wrong action does not
ripen;
but when the wrong action has ripened,
then does the wrong-doer see
bad.
Even a good person sees bad
as long as one's good action does not
ripen;
but when one's good action has ripened,
then the good person sees
the good.
Let no one underestimate evil,
thinking, "It will not come
near me."
Even a water-pot is filled by the falling of drops of water.
A
fool becomes full of evil
even if one gathers it little by little.
Let
no one underestimate good,
thinking, "It will not come near me."
Even a
water-pot is filled by the falling of drops of water.
A wise person becomes
full of goodness
even if one gathers it little by little.
Let a person
avoid wrong actions, as a merchant,
who has few companions and carries much
wealth,
avoids a dangerous road;
as a person who loves life avoids
poison.
Whoever has no wound on one's hand
may touch poison with that
hand;
poison does not affect one who has no wound;
nor does evil one who
does no wrong.
Whoever does wrong to an innocent person
or to one who
is pure and harmless,
the wrong returns to that fool
just like fine dust
thrown against the wind.
Some people are born again in the
womb;
wrong-doers go to hell;
the good go to heaven;
those free from
worldly desires attain nirvana.
Neither in the sky nor in the middle of
the ocean
nor by entering the caves of mountains
is there known a place on
earth
where a person can escape from a wrong action.
Neither in the
sky nor in the middle of the ocean
nor by entering the caves of
mountains
is there known a place on earth
where a person can escape from
death.
10. Punishment
Everyone trembles at punishment; everyone fears death.
Likening others to
oneself,
one should neither kill nor cause killing.
Everyone trembles
at punishment; everyone loves life.
Likening others to oneself,
one should
neither kill nor cause killing.
Whoever seeking one's own
happiness
inflicts pain on others who also want happiness
will not find
happiness after death.
Whoever seeking one's own happiness
does not
inflict pain on others who also want happiness
will find happiness after
death.
Do not speak anything harsh.
Those who are spoken to will
answer you.
Angry talk is painful, and retaliation will touch you.
If you
make yourself as still as a broken gong,
you have attained nirvana, for anger
is not known to you.
Just as a cowherd with a staff
drives the cows
into the pasture,
so old age and death drive the life of living
beings.
A fool committing wrong actions does not know
that the stupid
person burns through one's own deeds,
like one burned by fire.
Whoever
inflicts punishment
on those who do not deserve it
and offends against
those who are without offense
soon comes to one of these ten states:
cruel
suffering, infirmity, injury of the body, fearful pain,
or mental loss, or
persecution from the ruler,
or a fearful accusation, loss of relations,
or
destruction of possessions,
or lightning fire burning one's houses,
and
when one's body is destroyed the fool goes to hell.
Neither nakedness nor
matted hair nor mud
nor fasting nor lying on the ground
nor rubbing with
dust nor sitting motionless
purify a mortal who is not free from doubt and
desire.
Whoever though dressed in fine clothes, lives peacefully,
is
calm, controlled, restrained, pure,
and does not hurt any other
beings,
that one is holy, an ascetic, a mendicant.
Is there in the
world anyone
who is so restrained by modesty
that they avoid blame like a
trained horse avoids the whip?
Like a trained horse when touched by a
whip,
be strenuous and eager, and by faith, by virtue, by energy,
by
meditation, by discernment of the truth
you will overcome this great
sorrow,
perfected in knowledge, behavior, and mindfulness.
Engineers
of canals guide the water;
fletchers make the arrow straight;
carpenters
shape the wood;
good people mold themselves.
11. Old Age
Why is there laughter, why is there joy
while this world is always
burning?
Why do you not seek a light,
you who are shrouded in
darkness?
Consider this dressed-up lump covered with wounds,
joined
with limbs, diseased, and full of many schemes
which are neither permanent
nor stable.
This body is wearing out, a nest of diseases and frail;
this
heap of corruption falls apart; life ends in death.
What pleasure is
there
for one who sees these white bones
like gourds thrown away in the
autumn?
A fortress is made out of the bones,
plastered over with flesh and
blood,
and in it lives old age and death, pride and deceit.
The
glorious chariots of the kings wear out;
the body also comes to old
age;
but the virtue of good people never ages;
thus the good teach each
other.
People who have learned little grow old like an ox;
their flesh
grows, but their knowledge does not grow.
I have run through a course of
many births
looking for the maker of this dwelling and did not find
it;
painful is birth again and again.
Now you are seen, the builder of the
house;
you will not build the house again.
All your rafters are broken;
your ridgepole is destroyed;
your mind, set on the attainment of
nirvana,
has attained the extinction of desires.
People who have not
practiced proper discipline
who have not acquired wealth in their
youth,
pine away like old cranes in a lake without fish.
People who have
not practiced proper discipline,
who have not acquired wealth in their
youth,
lie like broken bows, sighing after the past.
12. Self
If a person holds oneself dear,
let one watch oneself carefully.
The
wise should be watchful
during at least one of the three watches.
Let
each person first direct oneself to what is right;
then let one teach others;
thus the wise will not suffer.
If a person makes oneself as one teaches
others to be,
then being well-controlled, that one might guide
others,
since self-control is difficult.
Self is the master of
self;
who else could be the master?
With self well-controlled
a person
finds a master such as few can find.
The wrong done by oneself, born of
oneself,
produced by oneself, crushes the fool,
just as a diamond breaks
even a precious stone.
The one whose vice is great brings oneself down
to
that condition where one's enemy wishes one to be,
just as a creeper
overpowers the entangled sala tree.
Bad actions and actions harmful to
ourselves are easy to do;
what is beneficial and good, that is very difficult
to do.
The fool who scorns the teaching of the saintly,
the noble, and
the virtuous, and follows wrong ideas,
bears fruit to one's own
destruction,
like the fruits of the katthaka reed.
By oneself is wrong
done; by oneself one suffers;
by oneself is wrong left undone; by oneself is
one purified.
Purity and impurity come from oneself;
no one can purify
another.
Let no one neglect one's own duty
for the sake of another's,
however great;
let a person after one has discerned one's own duty,
be
always attentive to this duty.
13. The World
Do not follow a bad law.
Do not live in thoughtlessness.
Do not follow
wrong ideas.
Do not be attached to the world.
Arise; do not be
thoughtless.
Follow the path of virtue.
The virtuous rest in bliss in this
world and in the next.
Follow the path of virtue; do not follow the wrong
path.
The virtuous rest in bliss in this world and in the next.
Look
upon the world as a bubble;
look on it as a mirage.
Whoever looks thus
upon the world
is not seen by the sovereign of death.
Come, look at this
world resembling a painted royal chariot.
The foolish are immersed in
it,
but the wise are not attached to it.
The one who formerly was
thoughtless
and afterwards became conscientious
lights up this world like
the moon when freed from a cloud.
The one whose wrong actions are eradicated
by good conduct
lights up this world like the moon when freed from a
cloud.
This world is blinded; only a few can see here.
Like birds
escaped from the net, a few go to heaven.
The swans go on the path of the
sun;
miraculously they fly through the sky.
The wise are led out of this
world,
when they have conquered Mara and the tempter's armies.
Whoever
violates the one law, who speaks lies,
and scoffs at another world,
there
is no wrong that one will not do.
Misers do not go to the world of the
gods;
only fools do not praise liberality;
the wise find joy in
generosity,
and because of it become blessed in the other
world.
Better than sovereignty over the earth,
better than going to
heaven,
better than dominion over all the worlds
is the reward of reaching
the stream.
14. The Awakened
The one whose conquest cannot be conquered again,
into whose conquest no
one in this world enters,
by what track can you lead that one,
the
awakened, the omniscient, the trackless?
The one whom no desire
with
its snares and poisons can lead astray,
by what track can you lead that
one,
the awakened, the omniscient, the trackless?
Even the gods
emulate those who are awakened and aware,
who are given to meditation, who
are wise,
and who find joy in the peace of renunciation.
It is
difficult to be born as a human being;
difficult is the life of
mortals;
difficult is the hearing of the true path;
difficult is the
awakening of enlightenment.
Not to do wrong, to do good, and to purify
one's mind,
that is the teaching of the awakened ones.
The awakened call
patience the highest sacrifice;
the awakened declare nirvana the highest
good.
The one who strikes others is not a hermit;
one is not an
ascetic who insults others.
Not to blame, not to strike,
to live
restrained under the law,
to be moderate in eating, to live alone,
and to
practice the highest consciousness---
this is the teaching of the awakened
ones.
There is no satisfying lusts,
even by a shower of gold
pieces.
Whoever knows that lusts have a short taste
and cause pain is
wise.
Even in heavenly pleasures one finds no satisfaction;
the disciple
who is fully awakened
finds joy only in the destruction of all
desires.
People driven by fear go for refuge
to mountains and forests,
to sacred groves and shrines.
That is not a safe refuge; that is not the best
refuge.
After having got to that refuge,
a person is not delivered from
all pains.
Whoever takes refuge with the awakened one,
the truth, and
the community,
who with clear understanding perceives the four noble
truths:
namely suffering, the origin of suffering,
the cessation of
suffering, and the eightfold holy way
that leads to the cessation of
suffering,
that is the safe refuge; that is the best refuge;
having gone
to that refuge,
a person is delivered from all pains.
A person of true
vision is not easy to find;
they are not born everywhere.
Wherever such a
sage is born, the people there prosper.
Blessed is the arising of the
awakened;
blessed is the teaching of the truth;
blessed is the harmony of
the community;
blessed is the devotion of those who live in
peace.
Whoever gives reverence to those worthy of reverence,
whether
the awakened or their disciples,
those who have overcome the army
and
crossed the river of sorrow,
whoever gives reverence to such as have found
deliverance
and are free of fear,
their merit cannot be measured by
anyone.
15. Joy
Let us live in joy, not hating those who hate us.
Among those who hate us,
we live free of hate.
Let us live in joy,
free from disease among those
who are diseased.
Among those who are diseased, let us live free of
disease.
Let us live in joy, free from greed among the greedy.
Among those
who are greedy, we live free of greed.
Let us live in joy, though we possess
nothing.
Let us live feeding on joy, like the bright gods.
Victory
breeds hate, for the conquered is unhappy.
Whoever has given up victory and
defeat
is content and lives joyfully.
There is no fire like lust, no
misfortune like hate;
there is no pain like this body;
there is no joy
higher than peace.
Craving is the worst disease;
disharmony is the
greatest sorrow.
The one who knows this truly
knows that nirvana is the
highest bliss.
Health is the greatest gift;
contentment is the
greatest wealth;
trusting is the best relationship;
nirvana is the highest
joy.
Whoever has tasted the sweetness
of solitude and
tranquillity
becomes free from fear and sin
while drinking the sweetness
of the truth.
The sight of the noble is good;
to live with them is always
joyful.
Whoever does not see fools will always be happy.
Whoever
associates with fools suffers a long time.
Being with fools, as with an
enemy, is always painful.
Being with the wise, like meeting with family,
is joyful.
Therefore, one should follow the wise, the intelligent,
the
learned, the patient, the dutiful, the noble;
one should follow the good and
wise,
as the moon follows the path of the stars.
16. Pleasure
Whoever gives oneself to distractions
and does not give oneself to
meditation,
forgetting true purpose and grasping at pleasure,
will
eventually envy the one who practices meditation.
Let no one cling to
what is pleasant or unpleasant.
Not to see what is pleasant is painful,
as
it is to see what is unpleasant.
Therefore do not become attached to
anything;
loss of what is loved is painful.
Those who have neither likes
nor dislikes have no chains.
From pleasure comes grief; from pleasure
comes fear.
Whoever is free from pleasure knows neither grief nor
fear.
From attachment comes grief; from attachment comes fear.
Whoever
is free from attachment knows neither grief nor fear.
From greed comes
grief; from greed comes fear.
Whoever is free from greed knows neither grief
nor fear.
From lust comes grief; from lust comes fear.
Whoever is free
from lust knows neither grief nor fear.
From craving comes grief; from
craving comes fear.
Whoever is free from craving knows neither grief nor
fear.
Whoever has virtue and insight,
who is just, truthful, and does
one's own work,
the world will love.
The one in whom a desire for the
ineffable has arisen,
whose mind is satisfied
and whose thoughts are free
from desires
is called one who ascends the stream.
Family, friends,
and well-wishers welcome a person
who has been away long and returns safely
from afar.
Similarly, one's good actions receive the good person
who has
gone from this world to the other,
as family receive a friend who is
returning.
17. Anger
Give up anger; renounce pride;
transcend all worldly attachments.
No
sufferings touch the person
who is not attached to name and form,
who
calls nothing one's own.
Whoever restrains rising anger like a chariot gone
astray,
that one I call a real driver;
others merely hold the
reins.
Overcome anger by love; overcome wrong by good;
overcome the
miserly by generosity, and the liar by truth.
Speak the truth; do not yield
to anger;
give even if asked for a little.
These three steps lead you to
the gods.
The wise who hurt no one, who always control their body,
go
to the unchangeable place,
where, once they have gone, they suffer no
more.
Those who are always aware, who study day and night,
who aspire for
nirvana, their passions will come to an end.
This is an old saying,
Atula, not just from today:
"They blame the person who is silent;
they
blame the person who talks much;
they also blame the person who talks in
moderation;
there is no one on earth who is not blamed."
There never was,
nor ever will be, nor is there now
anyone who is always blamed or anyone who
is always praised.
But the one whom those who discriminate
praise
continually day after day as without fault,
wise, rich in knowledge
and virtue,
who would dare to blame that person,
who is like a gold coin
from the Jambu river?
That one is praised even by the gods, even by
Brahma.
Be aware of bodily anger and control your body.
Let go of the
body's wrongs
and practice virtue with your body.
Be aware of the
tongue's anger and control your tongue.
Let go of the tongue's wrongs
and
practice virtue with your tongue.
Be aware of the mind's anger and
control your mind.
Let go of the mind's wrongs
and practice virtue with
your mind.
The wise who control their body,
who control their
tongue,
the wise who control their mind are truly well controlled.
18. Impurity
You are now like a withered leaf;
the messengers of death have come near
you.
You stand at the threshold of your departure.
Have you made provision
for your journey?
Make yourself an island; work hard; be wise.
When
your impurities are purged and you are free from guilt,
you will enter into
the heavenly world of the noble ones.
Your life is coming to an
end;
you are in the presence of death.
There is no rest stop on the
way,
and you have made no provision for your journey.
Make yourself an
island; work hard; be wise;
when your impurities are purged and you are free
from guilt,
you will not again enter into birth and old age.
As a
smith removes the impurities from silver,
so let the wise remove the
impurities from oneself
one by one, little by little, again and
again.
Just as rust from iron eats into it
though born from
itself,
so the wrong actions of the transgressor
lead one to the wrong
path.
Dull repetition is the impurity of prayers;
lack of repair is
the impurity of houses;
laziness is the impurity of personal
appearance;
thoughtlessness is the impurity of the watcher.
Bad conduct is
the impurity of a woman;
stinginess is the impurity of the giver;
wrong
actions are the impurity of this world and the next.
The worst impurity of
all is the impurity of ignorance.
Mendicants, throw off that impurity
and
become free of all impurities.
Life seems easy for one who is
shameless,
who is a crowing hero, a mischief-maker,
an insulting,
impudent, and corrupt person.
But life seems difficult for one who is
modest,
who always looks for what is pure,
who is detached, quiet, clear,
and intelligent.
Whoever destroys life, whoever speaks
falsely,
whoever in this world takes what is not given to them,
whoever
goes to another person's spouse,
and whoever gives oneself to drinking
intoxicating liquors,
even in this world they dig up their own roots.
Know
this, human, that the unrestrained are in a bad way.
Do not let greed and
wrong-doing bring you long suffering.
People give according to their
faith
or according to their pleasure.
Thus whoever worries about food and
drink given to others
will find no peace of mind day or night.
Whoever
destroys that feeling, tearing it out by the root,
will truly find peace of
mind day and night.
There is no fire like lust, no chain like
hate;
there is no snare like folly, no torrent like craving.
The faults of
others are easy to see;
our own are difficult to see.
A person winnows
others' faults like chaff,
but hides one's own faults
like a cheater hides
bad dice.
If a person is concerned about the faults of others
and is
always inclined to be offended,
one's own faults grow, and one is far from
removing faults.
There is no path in the sky;
one does not become an
ascetic outwardly.
People delight in worldly pleasures;
the perfected ones
are free from worldliness.
There is no path in the sky;
one does not
become an ascetic outwardly.
No creatures are eternal,
but the awakened
ones are never shaken.
19. The Just
Whoever settles a matter by violence is not just.
The wise calmly
considers what is right and what is wrong.
Whoever guides others by a
procedure
that is nonviolent and fair
is said to be a guardian of truth,
wise and just.
A person is not wise simply because one talks
much.
Whoever is patient, free from hate and fear,
is said to be
wise.
A person is not a supporter of justice
simply because one talks
much.
Even if a person has learned little,
whoever discerns justice with
the body
and does not neglect justice is a supporter of justice.
A
person is not an elder
simply because one's head is gray.
Age can be ripe,
but one may be called "old in vain."
The one in whom there is
truth,
virtue, nonviolence, restraint, moderation,
whoever is free from
impurity and is wise,
may be called an elder.
Mere talk or beauty of
complexion does not make
an envious, greedy, dishonest person become
respectable.
The one in whom all these are destroyed,
torn out by the very
root,
who is free from hate and is wise, is called respectable.
Not by
a shaven head does one who is undisciplined
and speaks falsely become an
ascetic.
Can a person be an ascetic
who is still enslaved by desire and
greed?
Whoever always quiets wrong tendencies, small or large,
is called
an ascetic, because of having quieted all wrong.
A person is not a
mendicant
simply because one begs from others.
Whoever adopts the whole
truth is a mendicant,
not the one who adopts only a part.
Whoever is above
good and bad and is chaste,
who carefully passes through the world in
meditation,
is truly called a mendicant.
A person does not become a
sage by silence,
if one is foolish and ignorant;
but the wise one, who,
holding a scale,
takes what is good and avoids what is bad,
is a sage for
that reason.
Whoever in this world weighs both sides
is called a sage
because of that.
A person is not a noble,
because one injures living
beings.
One is called noble,
because one does not injure living
beings.
Not only by discipline and vows,
not only by much
learning,
nor by deep concentration nor by sleeping alone
do I reach the
joy of release which the worldly cannot know.
Mendicant, do not be
confident
until you have reached the extinction of impurities.
20. The Path
Best of the paths is the eightfold,
best of the truths the four;
best
of the virtues is freedom from attachment;
best of the people is the one who
sees.
This is the path;
there is no other that leads to the purifying of
insight.
Follow this path, and Mara will be confused.
If you follow
this path, you will end your suffering.
This path was preached by me
when
I became aware of the removal of the thorns.
You yourself must make the
effort.
The perfected ones are only preachers.
Those who enter the path
and practice meditation
are released from the bondage of Mara.
"All
created things perish."
Whoever realizes this transcends pain;
this is the
clear path.
"All created things are sorrow."
Whoever realizes this
transcends pain;
this is the clear path.
"All forms are
unreal."
whoever realizes this transcends pain;
this is the clear
path.
Whoever does not rise when it is time to rise,
who, though young
and strong, is lazy,
who is weak in will and thought,
that lazy and idle
person will not find the path of wisdom.
Watching one's speech,
restraining well the mind,
let one not commit any wrong with one's
body.
Whoever keeps these three roads of action clear,
will make progress
on the path taught by the wise.
Through meditation wisdom is
gained;
through lack of meditation wisdom is lost.
Whoever knows this
double path of progress and decline,
should place oneself so that wisdom will
grow.
Cut down the forest of desires, not just a tree;
danger is in
the forest.
When you have cut down the forest and its undergrowth,
then,
mendicants, you will be free.
As long as the desire, however small,
of
a man for women is not destroyed,
so long is his mind attached,
like a
sucking calf is to its mother.
Cut out the love of self,
like an
autumn lotus, with your hand.
Cherish the path of peace.
Nirvana has been
shown by the Buddha.
"Here I shall live in the rain,
here in winter
and summer."
Thus thinks the fool, not thinking of death.
Death comes and
carries off that person
who is satisfied with one's children and
flocks,
whose mind is distracted,
like a flood carries off a sleeping
village.
Sons are no help, nor a father, nor relations;
for one who is
seized by death, there is no safety in family.
Understanding the meaning of
this, the wise and just person
should quickly clear the path that leads to
nirvana.
21. Miscellaneous
If by giving up a small pleasure,
one sees a great pleasure,
the wise
will let go of the small pleasure
and look to the great one.
Whoever
by causing pain to others
wishes to obtain pleasure for oneself,
being
entangled in the bonds of hate,
is not free from hate.
By neglecting
what should be done
and doing what should not be done,
the desires of the
unrestrained and careless increase.
But those whose awareness is always alert
to the body,
who do not follow what should not be done,
who firmly do what
should be done,
the desires of such aware and wise people come to an
end.
A holy person goes unscathed,
though having killed father and
mother and two noble kings
and destroyed a kingdom with all its
subjects.
A holy person goes unscathed,
though having killed father
and mother
and two holy kings and an eminent person also.
The
disciples of Gautama are always well awake;
their thought is always, day and
night, set on the Buddha.
The disciples of Gautama are always well
awake;
their thought is always, day and night, set on the truth.
The
disciples of Gautama are always well awake;
their thought is always, day and
night, set on the community.
The disciples of Gautama are always well
awake;
their thought is always, day and night, set on the body.
The
disciples of Gautama are always well awake;
their mind, day and night, finds
joy in abstaining from harm.
The disciples of Gautama are always well
awake;
their mind, day and night, finds joy in meditation.
It is hard
to leave the world as a recluse
and hard to enjoy the world.
It is also
hard to live at home as a householder.
Living with the unsympathetic is
painful.
The life of a wanderer is painful.
Therefore do not be a wanderer
and be free of suffering.
A person of faith,
who is virtuous,
well-known, and successful,
is respected wherever one may be.
Good people
shine from far away, like the Himalaya mountains,
but the bad are not seen,
like arrows shot at night.
Whoever can sit alone, rest alone,
act
alone without being lazy, and control oneself alone
will find joy near the
edge of the forest.
22. The Downward Course
Whoever says what is not goes to hell,
also whoever having done something
says, "I did not do it."
After death both are equal,
being people with
wrong actions in the next existence.
Many who wear the yellow robe
are
ill-behaved and unrestrained.
Such wrong-doers by their wrong actions go to
hell.
It would be better for a bad, unrestrained person
to swallow a ball
of red-hot iron
than to live off the charity of the land.
A reckless
person who wants another's wife
gains four things:
fault, bad sleep,
thirdly blame, and finally hell.
There is fault and the wrong path;
there
is brief pleasure
of the frightened in the arms of the frightened,
and
heavy penalty from the ruler.
Therefore do not run after another's
wife.
As a blade of grass wrongly handled cuts the hand,
so also
asceticism wrongly practiced leads to hell.
An act carelessly performed, a
broken vow,
unwilling obedience to discipline---
all these bring no great
reward.
If anything is to be done, let one do it vigorously.
A careless
recluse only bespatters oneself
with the dust of desires.
A wrong
action is better left undone,
for a wrong action causes suffering later.
A
good action is better done,
for it does not cause suffering.
Like a
frontier fort
that is well guarded inside and outside,
so guard
yourself.
Not a moment should escape,
for those who allow the right moment
to pass
suffer pain when they are in hell.
Those who are ashamed
of
what they should not be ashamed of
and are not ashamed of
what they
should be ashamed of,
such people, following false doctrines, enter the wrong
path.
Those who fear what they should not fear
and do not fear what
they should fear,
such people, following false doctrines, enter the wrong
path.
Those who discern wrong where there is no wrong
and see nothing
wrong in what is wrong,
such people, following false doctrines, enter the
wrong path.
Those who discern wrong as wrong
and what is not wrong as
not wrong,
such people, following true doctrines, enter the good path.
23. The Elephant
I shall endure painful words
as the elephant in battle endures arrows shot
from the bow;
for most people are ill-natured.
They lead a tamed elephant
into battle;
the king mounts a tamed elephant.
The tamed are the best
of people,
who endure patiently painful words.
Mules are good, if
tamed,
and noble Sindhu horses and elephants with large tusks;
but whoever
tames oneself is better still.
For with these animals no one reaches the
untrodden country
where a tamed person goes on one's own tamed
nature.
The elephant called Dhanapalaka is hard to control
when his
temples are running with pungent sap.
He does not eat a morsel when
bound;
the elephant longs for the elephant grove.
If one becomes lazy
and a glutton,
rolling oneself about in gross sleep,
like a hog fed on
grains,
that fool is born again and again.
This mind of mine used to
wander
as it liked, as it desired, as it pleased.
I shall now control it
thoroughly,
as the rider holding the hook controls the elephant in
rut.
Do not be thoughtless; watch your thoughts.
Extricate yourself
from the wrong path,
like an elephant sunk in the mud.
If you find an
intelligent companion
who will walk with you,
who lives wisely, soberly,
overcoming all dangers,
walk with that person in joy and
thoughtfulness.
If you find no intelligent companion
who will walk
with you,
who lives wisely and soberly,
walk alone like a king who has
renounced a conquered kingdom
or like an elephant in the forest.
It is
better to live alone;
there is no companionship with a fool.
Let a person
walk alone with few wishes, committing no wrong,
like an elephant in the
forest.
Companions are pleasant when an occasion arises;
sharing
enjoyment is pleasant.
At the hour of death it is pleasant to have done
good.
The giving up of all sorrow is pleasant.
Motherhood is pleasant
in this world;
fatherhood is pleasant.
Being an ascetic is
pleasant;
being a holy person is pleasant.
Virtue lasting to old age
is pleasant;
faith firmly rooted is pleasant;
attainment of wisdom is
pleasant;
avoiding wrong is pleasant.
24. Craving
The craving of a thoughtless person grows like a creeper.
That one runs
from life to life,
like a monkey seeking fruit in the forest.
Whoever
is overcome by this fierce poisonous craving
in this world has one's
sufferings increase
like the spreading birana grass.
Whoever overcomes
this fierce craving,
difficult to control in this world,
sufferings fall
off, like water drops from a lotus leaf.
This beneficial word I tell you,
"Do you,
as many as are gathered here, dig up the root of craving,
as one
digs up the birana grass to find the usira root,
so that Mara may not destroy
you again and again,
just as the river crushes the reeds."
As a tree,
even though it has been cut down,
grows again if its root is strong and
undamaged,
similarly if the roots of craving are not destroyed,
this
suffering returns again and again.
The one whose thirty-six
streams
are flowing strongly towards pleasures of sense,
whose thoughts
are set on desires,
the waves carry away that misguided person.
The
streams flow everywhere;
the creeper of craving keeps springing up.
If you
see that creeper springing up,
cut its root by means of wisdom.
The
pleasures of creatures
are wide-ranging and extravagant.
Embracing those
pleasures and holding on to them,
they undergo birth and decay again and
again.
Driven by lust, people run around like a hunted hare;
bound in
chains they suffer for a long time again and again.
Driven by lust,
people run around like a hunted hare;
therefore let the mendicant wishing to
conquer lust
shake off one's own craving.
Whoever having got rid of
the forest of desires,
gives oneself over to that forest-life,
and who,
when free from the forest runs back into the forest,
look at that person,
though free, running back into bondage.
Wise people do not call that a
strong chain
which is made of iron, wood, or rope,
stronger is the
attachment to jewelry, sons, and a wife.
Wise people call strong this
chain
which drags down, yields, and is difficult to undo;
after having cut
this, people renounce the world,
free from cares, leaving pleasures of sense
behind.
Those who are slaves to desires follow the stream,
as a spider
the web it has made for itself.
Wise people when they have cut this,
go on
free from care leaving all sorrow behind.
Give up what is in front; give
up what is behind;
give up what is in the middle,
passing to the farther
shore of existence.
When your mind is completely free,
you will not again
return to birth and old age.
If a person is disturbed by doubts,
full
of strong desires,
and yearning for what is pleasurable,
craving will grow
more and more,
and one makes one's chains stronger.
Whoever finds joy
in quieting one's thoughts,
always reflecting, dwelling on what is not
pleasurable,
will certainly remove and cut the chains of death.
Whoever
has reached the goal, who is fearless,
who is without craving and without
wrong,
has broken the thorns of existence;
this body will be their
last.
Whoever is without craving, without greed,
who understands the
words and their meanings,
who knows the order of letters
is called a great
sage, a great person.
This is their last body.
"I have conquered all;
I know all;
in all conditions of life I am free from impurity.
I have
renounced all,
and with the destruction of craving I am free.
Having
learned myself, whom shall I indicate as teacher?"
The gift of truth
surpasses all gifts;
the sweetness of the truth surpasses all
sweetness;
joy in the truth surpasses all pleasures;
the destruction of
craving overcomes all sorrows.
Riches destroy the foolish, not those who seek
beyond.
By craving for riches the fool destroys oneself,
as one destroys
others.
Weeds harm the fields; lusts harm humanity;
offerings given to
those free from lusts bring great reward.
Weeds harm the fields; hate
harms humanity;
offerings given to those free from hate bring great
reward.
Weeds harm the fields; vanity harms humanity;
offerings given
to those free from vanity bring great reward.
Weeds harm the fields;
desire harms humanity;
offerings given to those free from desire bring great
reward.
25. The Mendicant
Control of the eye is good; good is control of the ear;
control of the
nose is good; good is control of the tongue.
Control of the body is good;
good is control of speech;
control of thought is good; good is control of all
things.
A mendicant controlled in all things is freed from
sorrow.
Whoever controls one's hand, whoever controls one's
feet,
whoever controls one's speech, whoever is well-controlled,
whoever
finds inner joy, who is collected,
who is alone and content they call a
mendicant.
The mendicant who controls one's tongue,
who speaks wisely
and calmly, who is not proud,
who illuminates the meaning of the
truth,
that one's words are sweet.
Whoever lives in the truth, who
finds joy in the truth,
meditates on the truth, follows the truth,
that
mendicant does not fall away from the truth.
Let one not despise what one
has received
nor envy others.
A mendicant who envies others does not find
peace.
A mendicant, who, though receiving little,
does not despise what
one has received,
even the gods praise, if one's life is pure and not
lazy.
Whoever never identifies with name and form
and whoever does not
grieve from not having anything
is called a mendicant.
The mendicant
who lives in friendliness
with confidence in the doctrine of the
Buddha
will find peace, the blessed place where existence ends.
Empty
the boat, mendicant;
when emptied it will go quickly.
Having cut off
desire and hate, you will go to freedom.
Cut off the five; get rid of the
five; master the five.
A mendicant who has freed oneself from the five
chains
is called "one who has crossed the flood."
Meditate, mendicant;
do not be careless.
Do not think of pleasures
so that you may not for your
carelessness
have to swallow the iron ball,
so that you may not cry out
when burning, "This is painful!"
There is no meditation for one without
wisdom,
no wisdom for one without meditation;
whoever has wisdom and
meditation is close to nirvana.
A mendicant who with a peaceful
heart
has entered an empty house,
has more than human joy when seeing the
truth clearly.
When one has comprehended
the origin and destruction of the
elements of the body,
one finds happiness and joy
which belong to those
who know the eternal.
This is the beginning here for a wise
mendicant:
control of the senses, contentment,
living according to the
moral law,
associating with friends
who are noble, pure, and not
lazy.
Let one live in love;
let one be adept in one's duties;
then
joyfully one will see the end of sorrow.
As the jasmine sheds its withered
flowers,
people should shed desire and hate, mendicants.
A mendicant
is said to be calm
who has a calm body, calm speech, and a calm mind,
who
has mastered oneself
and rejected the baits of the world.
Lift up your
self by yourself;
examine your self by yourself.
Thus self-protected and
attentive
you will live joyfully, mendicant.
For self is the master of
self;
self is the refuge of self.
therefore tame yourself,
like a
merchant tames a noble horse.
Joyful and faithful in the doctrine of the
Buddha,
the mendicant finds peace,
the joy of ending natural
existence.
Whoever, even as a young mendicant,
applies oneself to the path
of the Buddha
illuminates this world,
like the moon when free from
clouds.
26. The Holy One
Cut off the stream energetically, holy one;
leave desires
behind.
Knowing the destruction of all that is created,
you know the
uncreated, holy one.
When the holy one has reached the other shore
in
meditation and contemplation,
all bonds vanish for the one who
knows.
For the one I call holy
there is neither this shore nor that
shore nor both,
who is free from fear and free from shackles.
The one I
call holy is thoughtful, detached, settled,
accomplished, desireless, and has
attained the highest goal.
The sun shines by day; the moon lights up the
night;
the warriors shine in their armor;
the holy one shines in
meditation;
but the awakened shines radiantly all day and
night.
Because a person has put aside wrong, one is called
holy.
Because one lives serenely, one is called an ascetic.
Because one
gets rid of impurities, one is called a pilgrim.
No one should hurt a
holy one,
but no holy one should strike back.
Woe to the one who hurts a
holy one;
more woe to the one who strikes back.
It is no small gain to
a holy one
if one holds one's mind back from the pleasures of life.
The
sooner the wish to injure disappears,
the sooner all suffering will
stop.
The one I call holy does not hurt by body, speech, or mind,
and is
controlled in these three things.
Whoever has understood the law of
justice
as taught by the well awakened one,
should revere the
teacher,
as the priest worships the sacrificial fire.
Not by matted
hair, not by lineage,
not by caste does one become holy.
One is holy in
whom there is truth and virtue;
that one is blessed.
What is the use
of matted hair, fool?
What is the use of clothes of goat-skins?
Inside you
are full of craving; the outside you make clean.
The one I call holy wears
thrown-away clothes,
is lean with veins showing,
and meditates alone in
the forest.
I do not call one holy because of one's family or
mother.
If one has property, one is called superior.
The one I call holy
is free of property and all attachment.
The one I call holy has cut all
chains, never trembles,
has passed beyond attachments and is
independent.
The one I call holy has cut the strap, the thong,
and the
chain with all their encumbrances,
has removed the bar and is
awakened.
The one I call holy, though having committed no
offense,
patiently bears reproach, ill-treatment, and imprisonment,
has
endurance for one's force and strength for one's army.
The one I call
holy is free from anger, faithful to vows,
virtuous, free from lust,
controlled,
and has received one's last body.
The one I call holy does
not cling to pleasures,
like water on a lotus leaf
or a mustard seed on
the point of a needle.
The one I call holy
even here knows the end of
suffering,
has laid down one's burden, and is detached.
The one I call
holy has deep wisdom and knowledge,
discerns the right way and the
wrong,
and has attained the highest end.
The one I call holy
keeps
away from both householders and the homeless,
rarely visits houses, and has
few desires.
The one I call holy
does not hurt any creatures, weak or
strong,
and neither kills nor causes death.
The one I call holy is
tolerant with the intolerant,
peaceful with the violent,
and free from
greed among the greedy.
The one I call holy
has let go of anger, hate,
pride, and hypocrisy,
like a mustard seed falls from the point of a
needle.
The one I call holy speaks true words
that are useful and not
harsh so that no one is offended.
The one I call holy
does not take
anything in the world
that is not given one,
be it long or short, small or
large, good or bad.
The one I call holy
has no desires for this world
or the next,
is free from desires and is independent.
The one I call
holy has no longings,
in knowledge is free from doubt,
and has reached the
depth of the eternal.
The one I call holy here
has passed beyond the
attachments of good and bad,
is free from sorrow, free from desire, free from
impurity.
The one I call holy is bright like the moon,
pure, serene,
undisturbed,
in whom pleasure is extinguished.
The one I call
holy
has gone beyond this muddy road of rebirth and delusion,
so difficult
to pass,
has crossed over and reached the other shore,
is thoughtful, not
agitated,
not doubting, not attached, and calm.
The one I call holy in
this world,
giving up all desires, travels around without a home,
in whom
all desire for existence is extinguished.
The one I call holy in this
world,
giving up all craving, travels around without a home,
in whom all
craving for existence is extinguished.
The one I call holy,
letting go
of attachment to humans,
rises above attachment to gods,
and is
independent from all attachments.
The one I call holy
gives up what is
pleasurable and what is not pleasurable,
is cool and free from any seeds of
renewal,
the hero who has conquered all the worlds.
The one I call
holy
knows the destruction and the return of beings everywhere,
is free
from attachment, living well, and is awakened.
The one I call
holy,
whose path is not known by gods nor spirits nor humans,
whose
desires are extinct, is a saint.
The one I call holy calls nothing one's
own,
whether it be in front, behind, or between,
is poor and free from
attachment.
The one I call holy is fearless, noble, heroic,
all-wise,
ever-pure, all-conquering,
has accomplished the goal and is
awakened.
The one I call holy knows one's former lives,
perceives
heaven and hell,
has reached the end of births,
is a sage whose knowledge
is perfect,
having accomplished complete perfection.