THE BUDDHA'S PATH OF VIRTUE
A TRANSLATION OF THE DHAMMAPADA
BY
F.L. WOODWARD, M.A.
WITH A FOREWORD BY
SIR PONNAMBALAM ARUNACHALAM, M.A. (Cantab.)
THEOSOPHICAL PUBLISHING HOUSE
MADRAS--LONDON
1921
TO H.S.O.
CONTENTS
Foreword
Translator's Preface
I. The Pairs
II. Heedfulness
III. The Mind
IV. Flowers
V. Fools
VI. The Wise
VII. The Arahat--The Worthy
VIII. The Thousands
IX. Evil
X. Punishment
XI. Old Age
XII. The Self
XIII. The World
XIV. The Awakened One
XV. Happiness
XVI. Affections
XVII. Anger
XVIII. Impurity
XIX. The Just
XX. The Path
XXI. Divers Verses
XXII. The Evil Way
XXIII. The Elephant
XXIV. Craving
XXV. The Mendicant
XXVI. The Brahmana
FOREWORD
The Dhammapada, of which a metrical translation by Mr. Woodward is here
presented, is a precious Buddhist Scripture which deserves to be widely
known. The Theosophical Society is to be congratulated on securing so
competent and sympathetic a translator and on publishing it in a popular
form.
The _Dhammapada_ is a part of the _Khuddaka Nikāya_ of the Buddhistic
Canon and consists of about 420 stanzas in the _sloka_ metre. Every
fully ordained _bhikkhu_[1] is expected to know the book by heart, and
its verses are often on the lips of pious laymen. The beginner of
Buddhist studies can have no better introduction to Buddhism and must go
back to it again and again to enter into the spirit of Buddha and his
apostles.
The Scriptures of the Buddhist Canon are known collectively as the
_Ti-piṭaka_ (Sansk. _Tri-piṭaka_), "the Three Baskets or
Treasuries". These divisions correspond to the two Testaments of the
Christian Bible and contain (excluding repetitions) more than twice as
much matter. They are known separately as the _Vinaya piṭaka_, _Sutta
piṭaka_ and _Abhidhamma piṭaka_, the Basket of Discipline, the
Basket of Discourses and the Basket of Metaphysics. These scriptures are
regarded with the utmost veneration by Buddhists as containing the word
of Buddha (_Buddha-vacanam_), and are reputed to have been recited at
the first Council held, according to tradition, at Rājagaha immediately
after Buddha's death _circa_ 540 B.C.
It seems more probable that they grew up gradually and did not receive
their final shape till about three centuries later, at the Council held
under the auspices of the Emperor Asoka at Pāṭaliputra _circa_ 247
B.C. The account given of the First Council in the closing chapter of
the _Culla vagga_ seems to indicate that the Basket of Metaphysics was
then unknown or unrecognised, and that the scriptures were then a
_Dvi-piṭaka_ (Two Baskets) rather than a _Ti-piṭaka_ (Three
Baskets).
If the _Culla vagga_ account is accepted, it would appear that at this
Council, expressly held by the Emperor for the consecrative settlement
of the holy texts, the five Nikāyas or divisions which constitute the
second Basket formed the subject of discussion between the President
Kassappa and Buddha's favourite pupil Ānanda. The _Dhammapada_ is a book
of the fifth Nikāya. The _Mahāvansa_ (Ch. v, 68) carries it back a few
years earlier than the Council, to the time of the Emperor's conversion
to the Buddhist faith, for on that occasion his teacher, Nigrodha, is
said to have explained to him the _Appamāda-vagga_, which is the second
chapter of the work. It was therefore known in the middle or early part
of the third century B.C.
It seems to be an Anthology, prepared for the use of the faithful, of
verses believed to be the real words of Buddha, short improvisations in
which he expressed striking thoughts and embellished his preaching.
They were current among the early Buddhists, and have been culled from
the other scriptures as of high ethical and spiritual value. The
importance of the _Dhammapada_ for a critical study of Buddhism is thus
considerable.
For a thorough understanding of the work and of the orthodox Buddhist
view of it, it should be studied with the valuable commentary of
Buddhaghosa. Buddhism owes a profound debt to this great man, and has
recognised it in the name by which he is known in the Buddhist world.
Says the _Mahāvansa_ (Ch. xxxvii, 174): "Because he was as profound in
his eloquence (_ghosa_) as Buddha himself, they conferred on him the
appellation of _Buddha-ghosa_ (the Voice of Buddha), and throughout the
world he became as renowned as Buddha." He was an Indian Brahmana and a
great Vedic scholar and apostle. On his conversion to Buddhism he became
a not less ardent champion of the new Faith. He came to Ceylon from the
cradle of Buddhism, "the terrace of the great Bo-tree" in Buddha Gāya,
in the beginning of the fifth century, _i.e._, nearly a thousand years
after Buddha's death. He came in search of the old commentaries on the
Tripiṭakas. The commentaries had been brought to Ceylon by the
Emperor Asoka's son, the apostle Mahinda, and by him translated into
Sinhalese. They continued to be orally transmitted until reduced to
writing, in the reign of the Ceylon king, Vaṭṭāgamini (88-76
B.C.), at a convocation of learned _bhikkhus_ at the cave-temple of Alu
Vihāre in the Matale district.
The original Pali version having perished in India, Buddhaghosa, during
his residence in the Mahā-vihāre at Anuradhapura, re-translated it from
Sinhalese to Pali. His version supplanted the Sinhalese (since lost) and
is now the only record remaining of the ancient tradition. He also wrote
elaborate commentaries (_Aṭṭha kathā_)[2] on almost every part of
the Tri-piṭaka and composed the _Visuddhi magga_, an extensive and
systematic treatise on Buddhist doctrine, a veritable cyclopædia of
Buddhist theology. His writings are regarded as absolute authorities in
the interpretation of the Buddhist scriptures, and he is regarded as the
second founder of Buddhism in Ceylon. He is held in high reverence also
in Burma as the founder of Buddhism in that country (450 of the
Christian era), having taken the Buddhist scriptures there from Ceylon.
Buddhaghosa's commentary on the _Dhammapada_ mentions the occasions on
which, and the audiences to whom, most of the verses were addressed by
Buddha when, as an itinerant preacher, he went with his followers
through the land--mid-Ganges valley and sub-Himalayan tract in the
modern provinces of Agra, Oude and Behar; his watchwords--not wealth,
fame or dominion, but peace, happiness, deliverance from the burden of
sorrow and death, and his message: "Open ye your ears, the deliverance
from death is found."[3]
When he first attained enlightenment under the Bodhi-tree (at Buddha
Gāya), a descendant of which still flourishes in Anuradhapura, the
oldest historical tree in the world, Buddha is said to have broken out
into a song of triumph which is included in the anthology of the
_Dhammapada_ (153-4) and has been spiritedly rendered by Mr. Woodward:
Through many a round of birth and death I ran,
Nor found the builder that I sought. Life's stream
Is birth and death and birth with sorrow filled.
Now house-holder, thou'rt seen! no more shalt build!
Broken are all thy rafters, split thy beam!
All that made up this mortal self is gone;
Mind hath slain craving. I have crossed the stream!
The way that he claimed to have discovered is known as the Middle Way
(_Majjhimā Paṭipadā_), equally removed from an ignoble life of
pleasure and a gloomy life of mortification, and consists in a
realisation of the Four Great Truths (_cattāri ariya saccāni_) of
suffering, its origin, its end and the path thereto. All existence, he
declares, is suffering, its origin is desire, its end is the extinction
of desire, to be attained by the Eightfold Path (_aṭṭhangiko
maggo_) of right belief, right resolve, right speech, right act, right
occupation, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration and
tranquillity.[4] The exposition and illustration of the Truths and the
Way fill numerous tomes of the Buddhist scriptures.
It is these ideals of self-control, self-culture and heroic endeavour,
the graces of wisdom, purity and love, the eternal law of _Karma_, or
causality and moral retribution--under which every deed, good or bad,
comes back most to the doer and yields fruit, helping or marring his
progress--that are enshrined in the _Dhammapada_ in luminous, pithy
verse which lingers in the memory as a fountain of noble inspiration.
They are almost too ethereal for human nature's daily food, and it is
granted to few to realise in actual life these counsels of perfection
unaided.
Buddha failed to make allowance for the weakness of humanity. His stoic
agnosticism and self-reliant courage ignored God, denied the soul,
repudiated worship and prayer and made man the master of his fate. This
line of thought was not new to India, however stamped with his own
personality. But human needs and aspirations have asserted themselves,
and Buddhism has been compelled to absorb elements of doctrine and
practice which he condemned. This has happened, especially, in the
countries where the doctrine of the Mahāyāna (the Great Vehicle)
prevails.
In China, Amitābha (Boundless Light), of whom Gautama Buddha is held to
be an incarnation, and Kwanyin the Goddess of mercy, have laid great
hold on the affections of the Buddhist population. Kwanyin (Sansk.
_Kanyā_, the Virgin) is the gracious _Sakti_ (Cosmic Power) of the
Hindus,
Mother of millions of world-clusters,
Yet Virgin by the Vedas called.
In Japan, Amitābha is the Eternal one who is the Light, the Way, and the
Life, and took human form to open the door of salvation to all. Kwanyin
shares with him the sovereignty of Heaven. In Tibet are worshipped these
and other emanations of heavenly beings--Manju Sri, the personification
of wisdom, Avalokitesvara, "the Lord who looketh down" on the world
with mercy to help and protect, Vajrapāna, and others, with a host of
minor deities.
In Ceylon, which claims to belong to the purer faith, Buddhism is
interwoven with the worship of, the popular gods of the Hindus and with
animism and demonology. Under Mahāyānist influence Buddha has become a
God, greater than others, but worshipped less fervently, for (as Robert
Knox[5] found during his twenty years' residence in the island in the
seventeenth century) the popular mind looks to Buddha for the soul, to
the gods for the things of this world. His own doctrine remains a dream
of philosophers.
Fifty years ago Buddhism was at one of the lowest ebbs in its history in
the Island. The arrival of Madame Blavatsky and Colonel Olcott, the
founders of the Theosophical Society, and their zealous propaganda,
materially helped the efforts of the saintly Sri Sumangala to stem the
tide, and there arose a renaissance which has had far-reaching effects.
Colonel Olcott by his speech and writings did much to remove the
prevailing ignorance and indifference, and recalled Buddhists to a sense
of the value of their Faith.[6] He laid the foundation of that
educational activity which has filled many parts of the Island with
Buddhist schools and colleges.
Mr. Woodward is one of the noble band of Theosophists who have carried
on Colonel Olcott's mission in Ceylon, and is perhaps the greatest of
them all. Not being a Theosophist or Buddhist, I can speak of him more
freely. Self-sacrificing zeal and devotion are commonplace words to use
of him. They are often said of men, good and zealous in their way, who
have had the compensations of good incomes and creature comforts,
congenial friends and efficient fellow-workers. Mr. Woodward (or, to
call him by his Sanskrit name, _Vanapāla_) was little favoured in these
respects. His was a life of ascetic simplicity and self-denial and
strenuous well-doing. An English gentleman of the best type, he combined
in a rare degree the culture of the West and Bast, combined also the
active spirit of the West with the mysticism of the East. He belongs to
the roll of the great apostles of Mahayānist Buddhism who carried its
message and its culture over the mountains and deserts of Asia to the
Pacific Ocean. The Mahinda College, Galle, of which he was the mainstay
for nearly twenty years, is a shining memorial of him. But who can
estimate the gracious influence of his personality? The memory of it
will be a cherished possession to his friends, young and old, and an
inspiration to them all, and their gratitude and good wishes follow him
unstintingly to his Tasmanian home.
P. ARUNACHALAM
_Ponklar, Colombo_
October, 1921.
[1] Usually but erroneously translated "priest," ignoring a fundamental
difference between Buddhism and other religions. Buddhism recognises no
priesthood. By "priest" one understands a mediator between God and man,
a vehicle of divine grace, a person with delegated authority from God to
administer the sacraments of religion, to admit into the faith or eject
from it, to absolve from sin, etc. Such an institution can have no place
in Buddhism. _Bhikkhu_, (literally, a "beggar" and etymologically the
same word) is one of a brotherhood of men trying to live as Buddha
lived, to purify and discipline themselves, earnest pilgrims on the road
reaching unto deliverance (_Nirvāna_). The layman demands from the
_bhikkhu_ no assistance in heavenly, no interference in worldly,
affairs, but only that he should live as becomes a follower of the great
Teacher. The nearest English equivalent of _bhikkhu is_ "mendicant
friar".
[2] Sansk. _Artha Kathā_.
[3] _Mahā-vagga_, i, 6-10 _seq._ The message continues: "I teach you, I
preach the Norm. If ye walk according to my teaching, ye shall be
partakers, in a short time, of that for which noble youths leave their
homes and go into homelessness, the highest end of religious effort: ye
shall even in the present life apprehend the Truth itself and see it
face to face."
[4] (1) Sammā diṭṭhi, (2) Sammā sankappo, (3) Sammā vāca, (4) Sammā
kammanto, (5) Sammā ājīvo, (6) Sammā vāyāmo, (7) Sammā sati, (8) Sammā
samādhi.
[5] Shipwrecked off Trincomalee in 1660, he remained an unwilling but
favoured guest of King Raja Sinha II for twenty years. Escaping to
Europe, he wrote his excellent _Historical Relation of the Island of
Ceylon_, published 1681.
[6] It was uphill work for Colonel Olcott, but his magnificent courage
and enthusiasm prevailed over every obstacle. I was then a Magistrate in
the Kalutara district of the Western Province, and remember that
well-known Buddhists, appearing as witnesses, would not acknowledge
their Faith and swore on the Bible rather than affirm. The Portuguese
and Dutch Governments had persecuted them, and the English Government,
though it did not persecute, continued for years many disabilities.
TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE
I made this translation of the _Dhammapada_, intending it to be a simple
memorial text-book for my pupils, at intervals some seven or eight years
ago, when reading the Pāli as a lesson in religion with my senior class
in Ceylon. Its publication has been held up for several years owing to
various causes, and, having left Ceylon in 1919, I was unable owing to
distance to correct the proofs. My thanks are due to Mr. Fritz Kunz,
B.A., of Adyar, Madras, for seeing the book through the press. The
rather long list of alterations[1] is due to the fact that I saw no
proofs till the whole was printed off, and had meanwhile desired to
recast certain verses. The use of metre of course often prohibits the
exact translation of certain philosophical and technical terms, but I
have kept as close to the original as was possible. I have followed the
Pāli text of Fausböll (1900), and have been much helped by Dr. Dines
Andersen's _Glossary of the Words of the Dhammapada_. The Pāli Text
Society's edition of the text (by Sūriyogoḍa Sumaṅgala Thero)
appeared just after I had finished, and I have made several alterations
in accordance with the readings of that edition.
F.L. WOODWARD
_Chartley, West Tamar,_
_Tasmania_
1921.
[1] transcribers' note--all alterations of the list mentioned have been
duely incorporated in the text following, and the list itself has been
omitted in this e-book.
Glory to Him, the Blessed Saint, the All-Enlightened one.
The Buddha's Path of Virtue.
CHAPTER ONE.
THE PAIRS.
1.
All states arising have mind for their causing,
Mind for their master, of mind are the offspring.
He who with foul mind speaks or does action--
Him pain pursues as the wheel dogs the ox-hoof.
2.
All states arising have mind for their causing,
Mind for their master, of mind are the offspring.
He who with pure mind speaks or does action--
Him bliss pursues, to him clings like his shadow.
3.
"This man abused me: he beat me and conquered,
Conquered and plundered." Cherishing in such thoughts,
Never appeased is the hatred of such men.
4.
"This man abused me, he beat me and conquered,
Conquered and plundered." Not having such thoughts,
Quickly appeased is the hatred of such men.
5.
Never by hatred is hatred appeaséd
Nay! but by kindness; that's the old-time Norm.[1]
6.
Others don't grasp this--"We men are mortals".[2]
Men who can grasp this soon end their quarrels.
7.
Looking for fair sights, unchecked in his senses,
In food uncontrolled, slack, inert, without vigour,
Death overwhelms him, as winds uproot weak trees.
8.
He who lives sense-restrained, heedless of fair sights,
Who in food keeps the mean, is trusty and sturdy,
Death cannot shake him: winds cannot move mountains.
9-10.
Without doffing his faults who would don the monk's yellow,[3]
Void of truth and of training, deserves not the monk's robe.
If he doff all his faults and be versed in the virtues,
In the training and truth firm, he merits the monk's robe.
11-12.
In the false seeing truth, and in truth seeing falsehood,
Men touch not the truth, but are fed on illusion.
But in truth seeing truth and falsehood in falsehood,
Men touch the truth ever, feeding on right thoughts.
13-14.
As the rain through the roof of a house that is ill-thatched,
Lust leaks through the mind not composed by the training:
As rain never leaks through the roof that is well-thatched,
So through the mind well-trained lust leaketh never.
15.
Here he grieves and grieves hereafter: doubly grieves the evil-doer,
Grieves and suffers anguish when he sees the foulness of his deeds.
16.
Happy here, he's happy after: doing good he's doubly glad:
Glad, exceeding happy, when he sees the pureness of his deeds.
17.
Here he suffers, suffers after: doubly suffer evil-doers:
Thoughts of ill-deeds torture, much more torture when they enter hell.[4]
18.
He rejoices here and after: doing good he's doubly glad:
Thoughts of good deeds comfort, much more comfort when they enter heaven.
19.
Though reciting many verses,[5] if they do not what they preach,
Sluggards, counting others' cattle, cannot share the Brotherhood.
20.
Practising the Norm he preaches, though he utter verses few,
Quit of anger, lust and folly, truly wise, with thoughts set free,
Caring nought for this or that world, he hath part in brotherhood.
^$/
[1] _Dhammo sanantano_ (Skt. _sanātāna dharma_). _comm._ _porānako
dhammo_, the doctrine of the early tradition.
[2] See "Psalms of the Brethren," p. 177, trans. Mrs. C.A. Rhys Davids.
"People can really never understand That we are here but for a little
spell."
'Others' means all except the wise.
[3] A play on words, _anikkasāvo_ (one who has not removed the
_āsava's_, taints of lust, anger, delusion) and _kāsāvam_, the yellow
robe. See note to v.21 re the use of the word 'monk'
[4] 'hell': '_duggatiṁ_, 'the evil path or destiny', a purgatorial state
of rebirth.
[5] Texts of the sacred books, learned by heart by the Brahmins.
CHAPTER TWO.
HEEDFULNESS.
21.
Heedfulness leads to the Deathless;[1] heedlessness leads unto Death!
Heedful men live on for ever; they who heed not are as dead.
22.
Knowing this full surely, wise men take delight in heedfulness;
Heedfully they range with joy the pastures[2] of the Worthy Ones.
23.
Meditative, persevering, ever with strong might endowed,
Wise men reach the Blissful Haven, reach Security Supreme.[3]
24.
Heedful men's good name increaseth, if they strive with mind subdued
Pure in deed, with thoughts well-guarded, well-controlled of lawful lives.
25.
Let the wise man, striving, heedful, well-controlled and temperate,
Make himself an island which the flood shall never sweep away.
26.
Heedlessness the foolish follow, men of small intelligence;
As the best of treasures wise men guard the prize of Heedfulness.
27.
Cleave not thou to Heedlessness, cleave not thou to Passion's snares;
Strenuous and meditative, wisdom winneth widespread bliss.
28.
Lo! the sage that drives away the cloud of sloth by Heedfulness,
Climbing up the heights of wisdom, sorrowless looks down upon
All the miserable beings, as a hillman on the plains.[4]
29.
Strenuous amid the heedless, 'mid the sleepers wide awake,
As a racer beats the weak jade, so the wise outstrips the fools.
30.
Maghavā by Heedfulness attained the kingship of the gods;[5]
Heedfulness is praised for ever; Heedlessness is ever blamed.
31.
Monks[6] whom Heedfulness delighteth, seeing fear in Heedlessness,
As the fire blazeth onwards, burn their fetters great and small.
32.
Monks whom Heedfulness delighteth, seeing fear in Heedlessness,
Cannot fall into destruction; they are near Nibbāna's shore.
[1] '_amata-padaṁ_, 'the immortal lot', or simply 'the Ambrosial
(nibbaṇa): the word 'immortality' in Buddhism does not imply 'a
deathless Ego'.
[2] 'the sphere or range, _gocara_'.
[3] _Nibbāna_.
[4] 'literally,' as one standing on a mountain looks down on those
standing on the level'.
[5] _Maghavā_, a name of Indra, the "sky-god," Jupiter. Human beings by
great _tapas_, will power exercised, can attain this office.
[6] _"Monks"_ does not convey the real meaning of _bhikkhu_, a mendicant
ascetic wearer of the yellow robe.
CHAPTER THREE.
THE MIND.
33.
The fugitive, flickering mind,
Hard to guard and hard to bind,
The wise men train as they choose,
As a fletcher fashions a shaft to his use.
34.
Like a fish flung out on the bank;
Drawn from its watery home in a tank,[1]
Flutters this fugitive mind
To leave the realm of Māra behind.[2]
35.
Impalpable, hard to seize,
Eagerly rushing wherever it please,
Good is the taming of mind;
A mind well-tamed is a treasure to find.
36.
Invisible, subtle indeed,
Eagerly rushing its passions to feed,
Let the wise man guard this mind;
A guarded mind is a treasure to find.
37.
Wandering, dwelling apart,
Bodiless there in the cave of the heart,[3]
They who subdue this mind
Leave all the fetters of Māra behind.
38.
If he know not the Doctrine Pure,
If he waver in faith and be not sure,
If his mind be not strong-willed,
The cup of his wisdom is never fulfilled.
39.
If his mind be free from desire,
If his thought be free from anger's fire,
If evil and good he forsake,
There is no fear in the man that's awake.
40.
"Body's a vessel of clay;
Mind must be made like a fort," if he say,
Let him give battle to Mara, arrayed
In the weapons of wisdom, unafraid
Let him conquer and guard him and passionless stay.
41.
Soon, ah! soon on the earth
Will this body lie, a thing of no worth,
Neglected, void of the six
Workings of sense, a mere bundle of sticks.
42.
Whatever the ill that a foe
Doth a foe, whatever the grudge he may owe.
Greater by far will he find
The ill that is done by an ill-trained mind.
43.
Nay, not a father or mother
Could do so much; not a kinsman or other;
Greater by far will he find
The good that is done by a well-trained mind.
[1] _The tank_ is earthly existence. The watery home is the world of
desires.
[2] _Māra_--death, the personification of evil, rules the six highest
desire-heaven-worlds: other great Gods are _Mahābrahma_ and _Sakka_
(Indra). _Yama_ also, death, is the lord of the under-world. We may
compare the Greek Gods, Zeus, Poseidon, and Pluto, who divide the rule
of the manifested universe.
[3] Cp. v. 374, _suññāgāra_.
CHAPTER FOUR.
FLOWERS.
44.
Who shall discern this earth aright
And the Realm of Death and the World of Light?
Who shall choose out the Way
Of righteousness well displayed,
As a skilled hand chooseth a flower gay?
45.
The disciple[1] discerneth this earth aright
And the Realm of Death and the World of Light;
The disciple chooseth the Way
Of Righteousness well displayed,
As a skilled hand chooseth a flower gay.
46.
Seeing this body as like unto foam,
Illusive, by insight of wisdom alone,
Scattering Death's flower-tipp'd shafts,
He shall pass to a realm where Death is unknown.
47.
Culling life's blossoms here and there,
With his mind entangled by pleasures' delay,
Death comes and carries him off,
As a flood sweeps a slumbering village away.
48.
Culling life's blossoms here and there,
With his mind entangled by pleasures' delay,
Insatiate in desire,
Death makes him his bondsman and takes him away.
49.
As a bee on the wing flits from flower to flower,
Not harming the scent or the blossom's hue,
And is gone taking only the taste,
Let the sage his way through the village pursue.
50.
Not with other men's faults and other men's failings,
Nor the things they have done, nor the things left undone,
Should the wise man be concerned;
Let him look to his own things done and undone.
51.
Fair is the flow'r with its hue and its colour;
But if it lack odour its beauty is hollow.
So fair are the words well-spoken,
But how empty the words which deeds do not follow.
52.
Fair is the flow'r with its hue and its colour;
But if it have odour its beauty's not hollow;
So fair are the words well-spoken;
Well-spoken indeed are the words which deeds follow.
53.
As one from a heap of gathered flowers
Makes many a garland, many a crown;
So by a mortal being
Many a seed of good may be sown.
54.
The odour of flowers cannot prevail
'Gainst the wind, nor of sandal and _tagara_[2] fair;
'Gainst the wind goes the odour of saints;
The odour of saints goeth everywhere.
55.
Sweet is the sandal and sweet is the _tagara_,
And sweet of the lily the odour faint;
But of all sweet-savoured things
Sweetest by far is the scent of the saint.
56.
How small a thing is the odour of wood
Of the sandal or jasmine! How poor is their scent!
Yet the odour of saints prevails
E'en 'mongst the gods, most excellent.
57.
Men who live righteously, men who live heedfully,
Perfect in wisdom, rebirth have transcended:
Though he search for the prints of their feet,
Death cannot find them:[3] their journey is ended.
58-9.
On a heap of dung by the high road hurled,
As a lily may bloom and grow,
Delighting the mind with its fragrance pure:
So, lit by the wisdom of those who know,
'mid those who on the dung-hill grow[4]
A disciple shines out in the darkened world.
[1] "Disciple," _sekho_, one who has entered the Path, but has not
become Arahat, who is _asekho_, Master.
[2] _Tagara_, an aromatic shrub.
[3] An Arahat at death leaves no _skandhas_ or basis for another birth.
Death, _Māra_, is pictured as hunting for a man's "rebirth
consciousness". Cf. _The Book of the Kindred Sayings_ p. 152 (Pali Text
Translation Series).
[4] cf. Shakespeare, Henry V, I,1, 60.
'The strawberry grows underneath the nettle, And wholesome berries
thrive and ripen best, Neighbour'd by fruit of baser quality'.
CHAPTER FIVE.
FOOLS.
60.
Long is the night to him that is waking,
Long is a league to the traveller worn,
Long is the coil of births
For fools that know not the truth of the Norm.
61.
If one find not a comrade to join him in travel.
Either like unto self or better than self,
It is safer to push on alone;
What fellowship can there be with a fool?
62.
"I am father of sons! I am owner of wealth!"
Thinks the fool in his folly and thereat is troubled.
He himself is not owner of self;
Much less is he owner of sons and of wealth.
63.
Wise indeed is he that knoweth his folly;
Fool indeed is the fool that thinks himself wise.
64.
Tho' a fool in his folly sit all his life long
By the side of a wise man, he never gets wiser,
For he knows not the Norm and its worth,
As the spoon never knoweth the taste of the broth.
65.
But a wise man that sits by the wise but a minute,
Quickly learns of the Norm and its worth,
As the tongue quickly savours the taste of the broth.
66.
Fools fare up and down with themselves for their foe,
And work evil deeds whose fruit will be bitter;
67.
Ill-done is the deed that brings sorrow in doing,
Whose fruit they will meet with tears and annoy;
68.
Well done is the deed that brings pleasure in doing,
Whose fruit they will welcome with gladness and joy.
69.
"O! how sweet!" thinks the fool, ere his wicked deed ripens.
When his wicked deed ripens he knows what is sorrow.
70.
Tho' month after month with the blade of a sword-grass[1]
The fool eats his rice grain by grain,
Not one fourth of a quarter of good doth he gain
Such as those who are stablished in Dhamma obtain.
71.
Now an ill deed, like milk, doth not change into curds,
But it burneth the fool--a live coal 'neath the ashes.
72.
Since his knowledge is born to a fool all in vain,
His good luck is lost to him wholly;
On his own head it falls; he is crushed by his folly.
73-4.
If a fool long for credit that is not his due,
Chief seats in the monks' hall,[2] respect from the Order,
And worship from laymen desiring;
"Let the monks and the laymen my deeds hold in honour
And in all things obey me, whate'er I may will--"
If such be the thoughts of the fool,
His pride and his longing increase in him still.
75.
"Success here is one thing, Nibbāna another:"
When a monk, the Buddha's disciple, is sure
Of this truth, he delights not in honour, eschews
The ways of the world and lives a recluse.
[1] An ascetic way of eating, supposed to be meritorious.
[2] Cf. N.T. "chief seats in the synagogue."
CHAPTER SIX.
THE WISE.
76.
If thou see a man of wisdom,
Like a guide to treasure-trove,
Pointing out thy faults and failings,
Follow him; such company
Brings prosperity, not woe.
77.
He who gives advice and teaching,
And restrains thy feet from wrong,
By the righteous is beloved,
But the wicked love him not.
78.
Have no fellowship with evil;
Make no friends among the vile;
Make the virtuous thy companions;
Follow thou the Perfect Men.
79.
They who drink the Good Norm's nectar
Live in bliss with tranquil mind;
In the Norm by saints expounded
Wise men ever take delight.
80.
Irrigators guide the waters,
Fletchers straighten out the shaft,
Carpenters unwarp the timber,
But the wise subdue themselves.
81.
As the solid rock for ever
Rests unshaken by the wind,
Wise men rest unwavering,
Troubled not by praise or blame.
82.
As a deep clear pool of water
Lies unruffled by the wind,
To the Good Norm listening
Wise men reach tranquillity.
83.
When the good men go about,
Sensual babble is not theirs;
They, when touched by pain or pleasure,
Show a calm untroubled face.
84.
Not for self and not for others
Do they long for sons or wealth,
Not for rule, nor by injustice
Self-advancement to attain;
Righteous, wise and just are they.
85.
Few are they among us mortals
Who have reached the further shore
Over yonder. But we others
On this side fare up and down.
86.
They who hold fast to the teaching
Of the Norm expounded well
They shall reach the shore and pass
The realm of Death so hard to cross.
87-8.
Giving up the state of darkness,
Let the wise embrace the pure;
Giving up home for the homeless
Loneliness, where joys are rare,
Let him long for bliss unbounded
Casting all desire aside,
Owning naught, and, firm in wisdom,
Cleanse his heart from passion's stain.
89.
They whose mind is rightly tempered
In the Wisdom's seven ways,[1]
Who have left desire behind them,
Void of clinging, they rejoicing
Passionless and all-resplendent,
Even in this world are freed.[2]
[1] The seven limbs of the Bodhi are:--_Sati_, concentration;
_Dhammavicaya_, examination of mental processes or of nature; _Viriya_,
energy; _Pīti_, zest; _Passaddhi_, calmness; _Samādhi_, mental balance;
_Uṗekhā_, equanimity.
[2] _Parinibbutā_, let free from rebirth by having attained the state of
_Nibbāna_, "gone out."
CHAPTER SEVEN.
THE ARAHAT--THE WORTHY.
90.
He for whom life's journey's over, free from sorrow, free from pain
Who has all the knots unfastened, suffering knows not again.
91.
Household life for them no joys hath; striving and intent in mind
As the swan deserts the marshes, every home they leave behind.
92.
They who gather up no treasure, feeding on the food that's known,[1]
They who range in mind the Void, the unconditioned formless Space,
As the bird's path in the ether, so their ways are hard to trace.
93.
They whose taints are all evanished, independent of support,
They who range in mind the Void, the unconditioned, formless Space,
As the bird's path in the ether, so their tracks are hard to trace.
94.
He whose senses now are tranquil, like a horse by trainer tamed
(Pride struck off, the taints[2] evanished), to the very gods is famed.[3]
95.
Like the solid ground unshaken, like the threshold of a door,
Like a pool by mud unsullied, such a saint is born no more.
96.
Calm the mind of such a being, calm his thoughts and words and deeds,
Set free by the perfect knowledge, liberated from life's needs.
97.
Self-dependent, self-sufficing, knower of the Uncreate[4]
Who hath loosed the bonds of action, from the chain of births set free,
All desires are fallen from him, noblest of all beings he.
98.
In the village or the forest, on the water or the ground,
Where the worthy ones are dwelling, there the earth's delights are found.
99.
Ah! delightful are the forests! where the worldling finds no joy,
There the passionless find pleasure, whom the senses do not cloy.
[1] literally, 'whose food is thoroughly understood' (as to its
properties, qualities and purpose).
[2] The taints, _āsava's_, are three:--_kama_, desire; _bhava_, love of
life; _avijjā_, ignorance. A fourth, _ditthi_, the holding of heretical
views, is sometimes added. The gods are supposed to be still bound by
these, and to envy the emancipated man.
[3] 'famed', literally 'by the gods is envied'.
[4] _Akataññu_, knowing the Unborn, the Eternal, the state of
'_Nibbāṇa_', as in v.3 83:, but possibly here the context requires
'ungrateful', _i.e._, not bound by ties of gratitude to anybody.
CHAPTER EIGHT.
THE THOUSANDS.
100.
Tho' one's speech be a thousand words,
Vain words all strung together,
Better a single phrase
Which calms the one that hears.
101.
Tho' a song have a thousand words,
Vain words all strung together,
Better a single verse
Which calms the one that hears.
102.
Tho' one utter a hundred songs,
Vain words all strung together,
Better one verse of the Norm
Which brings peace to the hearer.
103.
Tho' one conquer a thousand times
A thousand men in battle,
Who conquers self alone
Is the best of conquerors.
104.
Tis better to conquer self
Than all this multitude;
If one be self-subdued
And ever self-controlled,
105.
Not the gods or demi-gods[1]
Nor the Lord of the world below[2]
Nor the God Supreme[3] have power
To undo his victory.
106.
Tho' one for a hundred years
Month after month should pray
With a thousand offerings,
Yet if for a moment's space
He worship the feet of one
Whose self is self-subdued,
His worship is better far
Than his age-long offerings.
107.
Tho' a hundred years in the woods
One tend the sacred fire,[4]
Yet if for a moment's space
He worship the feet of one
Whose self is self-subdued;
Such worship is better far
Than his age-long offerings
108.
Not all the sacrifice
That is offered in all the world
For a year, with a view to gain,
Is worth a single quarter
Of the worship that is paid
To the upright holy man.
109.
Whoso hath reverence
For those advanced in years,
Four blessings thrive for him,
Life, beauty, bliss and strength.
110.
Tho' one live a hundred years,
Immoral, uncontrolled,
'Tis better to live for a day,
Moral and well controlled.
111.
Tho' one live a hundred years
Foolish and uncontrolled,
'Tis better to live for a day
Wisely and well controlled.
112.
Tho' one live a hundred years
Listless and lacking zeal,
'Tis better to live for a day
While striving manfully.
113.
Tho' one live a hundred years
Blind to the rise and fall,[5]
'Tis better to live for a day
Seeing the rise and fall.
114.
Tho' one live a hundred years
And see not the Deathless State,[6]
'Tis better to live for a day
And see the Deathless State.
115.
Tho' one live a hundred years
And see not the Norm Supreme,
'Tis better to live for a day
And see the Norm Supreme.
[1] _Gandhabbo_, Skt. _gandharva_, those who preside over music and
attend on the Four Great Kings.
[2] _Māra_, the Pluto of the Greeks, or Death-Lord.
[3] _Brahmā_, the Supreme Personal God or Zeus of Buddhism.
[4] _Aggihutam_, Skt. _agnihotra_.
[5] _Udaya-vyayaṁ_, the law of _anicca_, impermanence.
[6] _Amatapadaṁ_, "the eternal lot," _Nibbāṇa_: see n. to v. 21.
CHAPTER NINE.
EVIL.
116.
Haste to do good; thy thoughts from ill restrain;
Sloth in good deeds makes one for evil fain.
117.
If thou do ill, cease, and thy sin forgo;
Take not delight therein; ill deeds bring woe.
118.
If thou do good, thy life in good employ;
Take thou delight therein; good deeds bring joy.
119.
Sinners see bliss while their ill deeds are green;
When the sin ripens, sorrow then is seen.
120.
Good men see ill while their good deeds are green;
When the good ripens, happiness is seen.
121.
Think not of ill: "It cannot be my fate";
As drop by drop the water fills the pot,
So slowly good men good accumulate.
122.
Think not of good: "It cannot be my fate";
As drop by drop the water fills the pot,
So slowly bad men woes accumulate.
123.
Just as the lord of some rich caravan,
Whose guard is scanty, fears the highwayman;
As one who loves his life must poison shun,
Be wise and guard 'gainst evil deeds begun.
124.
Thou mayest poison handle if thy palm
Contain no wound; whole skin no poison fears;
There is no ill for him that doth no harm.
125.
Who on a harmless creature worketh pain,
In whom no fault, in whom no ill is found,
Upon that fool his evil deeds rebound
As fine dust cast i' the wind falls back again.
126.
Some men by birth a life on earth attain;
The wicked go to hell, the good to heaven;
But holy saints are never born again.
127.
Not in the air nor middle of the sea,
Nor entering a mountain cave to hide,
Nor anywhere on earth can'st thou abide
Where from thy ill deeds thou can'st set thee free.
128.
Not in the air nor middle of the sea,
Nor entering a mountain cave to hide,
Nor anywhere on earth can'st thou abide
Where death shall not pursue and conquer thee.
CHAPTER TEN.
PUNISHMENT.
129.
All beings fear the rod, all fear to die;
Regard them as thyself; strike not nor slay.
130.
All beings fear the rod; all love their life;
Regard them as thyself; strike not nor slay.
131.
Whoso treats pleasure-loving creatures ill,
When he seeks bliss for self he shall not find it.
132.
Whoso treats pleasure-loving creatures well,
When he seeks happiness for self shall find it.
133.
Use not harsh speech; when harshly spoken to
Men may retort; painful are quarrellings,
And punishment may follow thy harsh words.
134.
If thou can'st keep thy tongue from wagging oft,
Silent as some cracked gong, thou hast thereby
Nibbāna won; no brawling is in thee.
135.
As with a stick the herdsman drives his kine,
So death and age compel the lives of men.
136.
The fool in doing ill knows not his folly;
His own deeds, like a fire, the fool consume.
137.
He who offends the harmless innocent
Soon reaches one of these ten states of woe;
138.
Sharp pain, disease, or bodily decay,
Grievous disaster, or a mind distraught;
139.
Oppression by the king, or calumny,
Loss of relations, loss of all his wealth,
140.
His house burned by a thunderbolt or fire;
At death, poor fool, he finds rebirth in hell.
141.
Not nakedness, nor matted hair nor filth,
Not fasting long, nor lying on the ground,
Not dust and dirt, nor squatting on the heels.
Can cleanse the mortal that is full of doubt.
142.
But one that lives a calm and tranquil life,
Though gaily decked, if tamed, restrained, he live
Walking the holy path in righteousness,
Laying aside all harm to living things,
True mendicant, ascetic, Brāhmin he!
143.
Who in this world is so restrained by shame
That, like a thoroughbred flicked by the whip.
He can think lightly of the lash of blame?
144.
By faith and virtue, energy, and mind
In perfect balance, searching of the Norm,
Perfect in knowledge and good practices,
Perfect in concentration of your thoughts,
Ye shall strike off this multitude of woes.
145.
As cultivators guide the water-course,
As fletchers straighten out the arrow-shaft,
As carpenters warp timber to their needs,
So righteous men subdue and train themselves.
CHAPTER ELEVEN.
OLD AGE.
146.
Laugh ye, rejoice ye, when this world is burning?
O wrapped in darkness, will ye not seek light?
147.
Behold this body decked, a mass of sores,
Sickly and swayed by multitudinous thoughts.
Impermanent, unstable, uncomposed!
148.
Poor worn-out carcase, home of sicknesses,
Fragile, corrupting mass, mere life in death!
149.
What joy to look upon these bleached bones,
Like useless gourds in autumn thrown aside!--
150.
A township built of bones and plastered o'er
With flesh and blood, the home and dwelling-place
Of age and death, pride and hypocrisy!
151.
Just as a royal chariot gaily decked
Falls to decay, so grows this body old;
But Truth and Norm old age cannot assail,
The holy ones indeed know no decay.
152.
Just like an ox, the witless man grows old;
His flesh grows, but his wits do not increase.
153-4.
Thro' many a round of birth and death I ran,
Nor found the builder that I sought. Life's stream
Is birth and death and birth, with sorrow filled.
Now, housebuilder, thou'rt seen! No more shalt build!
Broken are all thy rafters, split thy beam!
All that made up this mortal self is gone;
Mind hath slain craving; I have crossed the stream![1]
155.
They who in youth have never trod the way
Of righteousness, nor garnered wisdom's store.
Like herons in a fishless pool decay.
156.
They who in youth have never trod the way
Of righteousness, nor garnered wisdom's store.
Like broken bows, lie weeping their lost day.
[1] The triumphant words of the Buddha, when at last He attained
enlightenment, Nibbāna, beneath the Bo-tree.
CHAPTER TWELVE.
The Self.
157.
Hast thou regard for self? Then keep thyself well guarded.
Be wise and keep good watch for one of the three watches.[1]
158.
First ground thyself in fitness; next, another teach.
Thus shalt thou wisdom gain and suffer no reproach.
159.
First carry out thyself whate'er thou teachest others.
Self-tamed, thou'lt tame another; but self is hard to tame.
160.
Self is the lord of self; who else could be the lord?
By taming self one gains a lord most hard to gain.
161.
The evil done by self, self-born and self-begotten,
Crushes the senseless fool, as a bolt the jar of stone.[2]
162.
He who is choked by sins, as a creeper chokes a tree,
Doth to himself what e'en his foes would have him do.
163.
Easy is ill to do and harmful to oneself;
But what is good and wholesome, that is hard to do.
164.
Whose rejects the words of noble righteous saints
On his own head brings ruin by his perversity,
As bamboo trees put forth their fruit and die away.
165.
By self is evil done; by self is one defiled;
Ill deeds not done by self to self bring purity;
Each for himself is pure; each for himself impure;
Thou can'st not cleanse another man's impurity.
166.
Mind thy affairs, not others', however great they be;[3]
Right knowledge of one's own brings more prosperity.
[1] The night is divided into three watches of three hours each. Some
regard this passage as referring to childhood, youth and age.
[2] This may be translated, "as a diamond crushes the stony gem".
[3] Cf. _Bhagavad Gītā_: "Better one's own _dharma_, however
ill-performed, than others' _dharma_, well-performed tho' it be."
CHAPTER THIRTEEN.
THE WORLD.
167.
Follow not the way unworthy;
Live not thou in slothfulness;
Let not doctrines false allure thee;
Turn thy thoughts from worldliness.
168-9.
Stand! Arise! Throw sloth away;
Follow the path of righteousness;
Happy he who walks aright,
Here and in the world to come.
170.
As a bubble on the water,
As a phantom of the sands,
Him who thus the world despiseth,
Death the king[1] cannot behold.
171.
Lo! this world in all its splendour,
Like a royal car adorned,
Wherein many a fool is seated,[2]
Hath no power to bind the wise.
172.
He who formerly was slothful,
But is slothful now no more,
Lighteth up the world with splendour,
As the moon from clouds released.
173.
He who, having once done evil,
Covers up his ill with good,
Lighteth up the world with splendour,
As the moon from clouds released.
174.
All this world is wrapped in darkness;
Few be they that are not blind;
Like the birds that 'scape the fowler,
Few be they that go to heaven.
175.
Lo! the swans fly on the sun's path,[3]
Fly by magic through the air;
Wise men from the world departing
Conquer Death and all his hosts.
176.
He who by false words transgressing
Breaks one tittle of the Norm;[4]
He who future life renounceth
Every wicked deed will do.
177.
Those who covet reach not heaven;
Fools care not for charity;
He who charity approveth
Reacheth heavenly joy thereby.
178.
Rule on earth and joy in heaven,
Sovreignty of all the worlds--
These are all by him transcended
Who hath entered on the stream.[5]
[1] _Maccurāja._
[2] Reading _nisīdanti_ for _visīdanti_ ("are immersed").
[3] _Hamsā adicca-pathe yanti._ In Hinduism the _paramahamsa_, "the
swan," is the mystic name for the liberated being (Cf. _Bhagavad Gītā_)
who goes to the sun (_āditya_ Skt.), and is reborn no more; also in
_Chāndogya Upanishad_, VIII, 7-5, we read: "When mind ceases to act, he
attains the sun. That is the way to the region above. It is open to the
learned, but closed to the ignorant." Those who are reborn are said to
go on the path of the moon. In Buddhism, the _Arahants_, Saints, have
the power (_iddhi_) of flying through the air even physically, by
self-levitation. Cf. V. 91.
[4] Cf. N.T.: "For whosoever shall keep the whole Norm, and yet offend
in one point, he is guilty of all."
[5] One who has "entered on the stream" is an Initiate, _Solāpanno_, and
is saved, _i.e._, after seven more births, he reaches the state of
_Arahat_ and _Nibbāna_ and is free from birth.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN.
THE AWAKENED ONE.
179.
The Awakened One, unconquered Conqueror,
Whose conquest naught in this world can undo.
Who ranges o'er His boundless sphere untraced.
By what tracks can ye lead Him to rebirth?[1]
180.
Free from the snares of passion's outspread net,
The Awakened One, whom longing cannot draw,
Who ranges o'er His boundless sphere untraced.
By what tracks can ye lead Him to rebirth?
181.
Those sages who, to meditation given,
Delight in freedom's bliss, with mind controlled,
Gods envy Them, Those All-Awakened Ones.[2]
182.
To gain a birth as man is hard indeed;
'Tis hard to get one's living in the world;
Hard is the hearing of the doctrine true;[3]
Hardest to be an All-Awakened One.
183.
"Refrain thyself from every evil deed;
Stablish thyself in good; cleanse thine own thoughts"--
This is the message of the Awakened Ones.
184.
Long-sufferance is the best austerity;
Nibbāna, say the Awakened Ones, is best.
185.
"Revile not, harm not, live by rule restrained;
Of food take little; sleep and sit alone;
In meditation keep thy thoughts controlled"--
This is the message of the Awakened Ones.
186.
"Lust is not sated, tho' it rain gold coins;
Brief is the pleasure, great the pains of lust"--
Whoso saith this and knows it, he is wise.
187.
He finds no pleasure e'en in heaven's delights;
He finds his joy in slaying all desire,
That follower of the All-Awakened Ones.
188.
To many a refuge frightened mortals flee,
Mountains and forests, groves and sacred trees;
189.
These are no refuge safe, no sure retreat,
By these we are not from all woe released.
190.
He who takes refuge in the Awakened One,
The Doctrine and the Brotherhood, beholds
By right insight the Fourfold Noble Truths,
191.
Sorrow and sorrow's cause and sorrow's ceasing,
The Noble Eightfold Path that leads thereto--
192.
This is the refuge safe, the sure retreat;
This only from our woes can us release.
193.
Hard is that one of noble birth to find;
Not born in every land is He; the race
Wherein that Sage is born is prosperous.[4]
194.
Blest is the rising of the Awakened Ones;
Blest is Their teaching of the Doctrine True;
Blest is the union of the Brotherhood;
And blest to dwell together in unity.