The Awakened Ones and they that follow Them,
Worthy to be adored, have conquered all
The hosts of evil, crossed the flood of sorrow.
196.
Whoso shall worship Them, the worthy Ones,
In whom desires are quenched and fear allayed,
None can declare the merits of that man.
[1] _Padam_, "track, footstep," may here refer to the _khandhās_, basis,
or occasions of rebirth, destroyed by Arahants, cf. vv. 92-3.
[2] These verses may refer to any man who is "awakened," who has found
"_Nibbāna_."
[3] This might mean, "it is hard to get a hearing of it".
[4] All _Buddha's_ must be born in India, the sacred land.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN.
Happiness[1].
197.
O happily we live
Angerless amid the angry!
O happily we spend our days
Amid the angry angerless!
198.
O happily we live
In health amid the sickly ones!
O happily we spend our days
Amid the sickly ones in health!
199.
O happily we live
Free from greed amid the greedy!
O happily we spend our days
Amid the greedy free from greed!
200.
O happily we live
Who have not anything at all!
Like ever-radiant gods above,
Our food immortal joys shall be.
201.
Hate follows victory;
Conquered ones sit sorrowing.
But the calm live blissfully,
Renouncing conquest and defeat.
202.
There is no fire like lust;
No sin brings such ill-luck[3] as hate;
No pains so great as body's pains;
No bliss is like the perfect Calm.[4]
203.
Hunger's the greatest plague,
Embodied life the greatest woe;
Whoso knows this in truth, can say:
"Nibbāna is the Bliss Supreme."
204.
Health is the greatest gain;
Contentment is the greatest wealth;
Best kinsman is the trusty friend;
Nibbāna is the Bliss Supreme.
205.
Who tastes the savour sweet
Of solitude, who drinks of calm,
Is free from terror, free from sin,
Draining the nectar of the Norm.
206.
'Tis good to see the saints;
To dwell with them is blessedness;
If he should never fools behold,
A man could dwell in happiness.
207.
The company of fools
Ne'er fails to bring distress.
To live with fools brings suffering,
As living with an enemy,
But wise men's company brings bliss,
As being with dear relatives.
208.
If one be good and wise,
Well-versed in lore profound,
Long-suffering, dutiful, a saint,
Righteous and wise; if such there be,
Follow his footsteps, as the moon
Follows the path of the stars.
[1] This chapter applies especially to those who have retired from the
world.
[3] Ill-luck, _kali_, the unlucky throw in playing dice.
[4] _Nibbāna._
CHAPTER SIXTEEN.
AFFECTIONS.
209.
He who applies his mind unworthily,
Neglecting discipline,
Forsakes the goal and clings to things beloved,
Then envies those to meditation given.
210.
Join not thyself to things beloved or loathed.
To lack dear company,
To be with those we loathe, brings misery.
211.
Seek not for love; things loved when lost bring woe;
Both are impermanent.
They have no bonds who dwell indifferent.
212.
Sorrow and fear are born of things beloved.
From things beloved set free,
How canst thou sorrow? fearful how canst be?
213.
From things held dear, sorrow and fear are born.
Set free from things held dear,
How canst thou sorrow have? how canst have fear?
214.
Sorrow and fear are children born of pleasure.
No longer pleasure's slave,
How canst thou sorrow, fear how canst thou have?
215.
Sorrow and fear are children of desire.
From all desire set free,
How canst thou sorrow? fearful how canst be?
216.
Sorrow and fear are things of longing born.
From longing if thou part,
Thou hast no fear nor sorrow in thine heart.
217.
Upright and Norm-abiding, speaking truth,
Who minds his own affair,[1]
That is the man whom every one holds dear.
218.
In whom is longing for the Nameless[2] born,
Whose mind It hath enthralled,
Whose thoughts no longer are by passion torn,
That man "a Climber of the Stream" is called.[3]
219.
As when a dweller in some far-off land
Safe home returns at last,
Kin, friends and lovers waiting to greet him stand;
220.
So, when a man on earth good deeds hath done,
When he hath passed beyond,
All his good deeds like kin, await that one.
[1] _Attano kamma kubbānam_, as in v. 166. Attends to his own spiritual
progress without dictating to others how they should forward their
evolution.
[2] "The unborn, uncreate, undeclared" state of _Nibbāna_.
[3] _Uddhamsoto._ (Skt. _Urdhamsrotas_) a name for the _anāgāmin_
"non-returner."
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.
ANGER.
221.
Conquer anger, banish pride;
Every fetter cast aside;[1]
Clinging not to Name and Form,[2]
Him who calleth nought his own
Sorrow never shall betide.
222.
He who rising wrath restrains,
As one checks a whirling team,
Him a driver true I deem;
Others only hold the reins.
223.
Wrath with kindliness allay,
To the stingy freely give;
Conquer lying words with truth;
Evil deeds with good repay.
224.
Speak the truth nor vexed be;
Give, however scantily.
Following these maxims three,
Thou the blessed gods shalt see.
225.
Sages harm no living thing;
Self-restraint accomplishing
Such men reach the Deathless Lot,[3]
Where all sorrow is forgot.
226.
Ever watchful, night and day
Learning wisdom never cease;
In the one who strives for Peace[4]
All the cravings die away.[5]
227.
There is a saying, Atula,
Of old, not of to-day:
"They blame the man who silent sits,
Or whose tongue wags alway;
And blame the man who keeps the mean;
None in the world is blameless seen."
228.
There never was, nor will be, sure,
Nor lives now among men,
A being blamed exclusively,
Nor one entirely praised.
229-30.
But one whom men of wisdom praise,
Watching him day by day,
Of faultless life, of holy ways,
Thoughtful and wise, like Jambu gold,[6]
Who to blame such a saint is bold?
Neither the gods, nor e'en Brahmā,
From him their praise withhold.
231.
'Gainst angry deeds be on thy guard;
In body be composed;
All bodily misdeeds discard;
With body tread the Way.
232. 'Gainst angry words be on thy guard;
In speech be thou composed;
All wrongful ways of speech discard;
In speech follow the Way.
233. 'Gainst angry thoughts be on thy guard;
In thought be thou composed;
All wrongful ways of thought discard;
In thoughts follow the Way.
234.
In body sages are controlled;
In thoughts as well as speech;
And they are Sages truly called
Who are controlled in each.
[1] The Fetters, _saññojanāni_, are ten. These are cast off at different
stages of the Path, until perfection is reached.
[2] _Nāma-rūpa_, "abstract and concrete," the five constituents of
personality, _viz._, mind and its factors with the four, body, feeling,
perception, and mental functions.
[3] _Nibbāna_, 'the changeless, _accutaṁ_'.
[4] idem.
[5] idem.
[6] A precious gold from the Jambu river; others say, like rose apple in
colour.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.
IMPURITY.
235.
Lo! Thou art now a pale and withered leaf;
Death's messengers are close at hand;
Thou in the very gate of Death dost stand,
And yet hast no provision for the way.
236.
Then make thyself an island of defence;
Strive quick; be wise; when all the taints
Of dirt and dust are blown away, the saints
Shall greet thee entering the Happy Land.
237.
Thy life has run its course; thou art come nigh
The King of Death;[1] for thine abode
Thou hast no resting-place upon the road,
And yet hast no provision for the way.
238.
Then make thyself an island of defence;
Strive quick; be wise; blow off the dust
And stains of travel; wipe away the rust;
So shalt thou see no more birth and decay.
239.
The wise and thoughtful man attacks his faults
One after other, momently,
In order due, and rubs them all away,
E'en as a smith blows off the silver's dross,
240.
Just as the iron rust accumulates
Self born; and eats itself away;
So with the man who sinneth; day by day
His own deeds to destruction lead him on,
241.
Texts not repeated oft are soon forgot;
The house neglected soon decays;
Sloth is the bane of beauty; heedless ways
Bring ruin unto him that keepeth watch.
242.
The taint of woman is impurity,
And gifts by stinginess are spoiled,
And mortal man by oft transgression soiled
Finds ruin here, loss in the life to come.
243.
Yet there's a taint far worse than any other.
What is that taint? 'tis ignorance.[2]
Make yourselves free from this, O mendicants!
Wipe off this stain and be ye undefiled.
244.
Life seems an easy thing to him that lives
Wanton and shameless as a crow,
A fault-finder, who through this life doth go
Immodest, insolent, and full of sins.
245.
But life's no easy thing for one restrained
By shame, who seeks to walk aright,
All unattached, withdrawn from vulgar sight;
Who liveth purely and hath eyes to see.
246-7.
He who takes life; whose mouth is full of lies;
Who steals, and fouls another's wife;
A slave to drink, he even in this life
The root of his own fortunes undermines.[3]
248.
O man I know this: "Not easy of control
Are evil ways." Let not thy greed
And wickedness (of misery the seed)
Become thy masters, lest thou suffer long.
249.
According to their trust and faith men give.
Whoso regards with discontent
And jealousy the food for others meant
Cannot get peace of mind by night or day.[4]
250.
But whoso disregards what others get,
Whose heart of jealousy is void,
In whom the root of envy is destroyed,
He gaineth peace of mind by night and day.
251.
There is no fire that burneth like desire;
No beast like hatred can devour;
No snare like folly to entrap hath power;
No river-flood can carry off like greed.
252.
'Tis easy to perceive another's faults;
Hard are one's own faults to descry;
A man will winnow others' faults like chaff;
But as the cheating gambler hides the die,
His own faults he conceals right carefully.
253.
Whoso is watchful for another's faults,
Testy and quick to take offence,
In him his passions will increase, and thence
Further is he from cleansing of his sins.
254.
The sky-path shows no tracks; no outward signs
The treader of the Path betray;[5]
The multitude in outward shows delay;
They who have won the Goal are free from all.[6]
255.
The sky-path shows no tracks; no outward signs
The treader of the Path betray;
Nought lasts; all things embodied pass away;[7]
But nought can shake the All-Awakened Ones.
[1] _Yama_, Pluto.
[2] _Avijjā_, the first of the twelve links of the chain of causation
and the last of the Fetters to be broken.
[3] Those are the five Precepts of Buddhism.
[4] _Bhikkhus_, mendicants, have to beg their daily meal.
[5] _Samano n'atthi bāhiro._ This verse is generally translated, "There
is no true disciple outside the pale of Buddhism," and the commentary
(P.T.S. text, vol. 3. p. 378) so translates these words, which the
Buddha spoke to Subhadda just before His passing away. The context here
seems to require the meaning "outward." Cf. v. 92 and vv. 179-80. The
perfect leave no traces. "Sky-path," _ākāsa_, space.
[6] _Tathāgatā._ The epithet of the Buddha by which He usually describes
Himself (cf. N.T. "He who was for to come"). See Sir (now Lord) Robert
Chalmer's valuable pamphlet for the meaning of this much discussed
epithet (J.R.A.S., Jan. 1898). _Nippapañcā Tathāgatā_, lit, "is free
from the delays of human failings".
[7] _Saṁkārā_, all compounding factors of entities, persons.
CHAPTER NINETEEN.
THE JUST.
256.
He is not just who arbitrates by will.
He who by weighing right and wrong decides.
He is a just man called.
257.
Not by his will, but with impartial mind
Keeping the Norm, thoughtful, who others guides,
He is a just man called.
258.
One is not wise because his speech is long.
Long-suffering and harmless, free from fear,
He is a wise man called.
259.
Not by much talk doth one uphold the Norm.
Who sees the Norm in action,[1] tho' he be
Of little learning, strenuous in the Norm,
'Tis he upholds the Norm.
260.
Grey hairs do not a man an elder[2] make.
Tho' ripe in years, if all his age be vain,
He may be dotard called.
261.
True, virtuous, harmless, moderate, restrained,
Wise and washed clean of all impurities,
He is an elder called.
262.
Not by mere talk nor beauty of his form,
If he be grudging, greedy, fraudulent,
Is any reverend called.
263.
In whom these faults are cut down, rooted out,
Who hath cast off his sins, who meditates,
That man is reverend called.
264.
A shaven crown makes not the Samana.[3]
If such a one, lying and unrestrained,
Be full of lust and craving, how can he
A Samana be called?
265.
But if he calm his faults, both great and small,
Since he all evil ways hath quieted,
He is a Samana.
266.
He is no mendicant who begs his food.[4]
Not he who begs but he who keeps the Norm,
He is a mendicant.
267.
He who hath good and evil laid aside,
Who wisely in this world walks righteously,
He is a mendicant.
268.
He is no Muni who refrains from speech,[5]
If he be foolish and have wandering wits.
But he who holds the balance, grasps the real,
Who's wise to choose the good and leave the bad,
Who in this world sees both sides, is thereby
A Muni truly called.
270. He is no Worthy One who creatures harms.[6]
By harmlessness to every living thing
A man is Worthy called.
271-2
Not by mere goodness nor by ceremonies,
Not by vast knowledge nor by ecstasy,
Nor by a life retired,
Nor sleeping lonely, do I touch the Bliss
Of freedom which no worldly one can know.
By killing all desire, the mendicant[7]
Attaineth confidence.
[1] _Kāyena_, bodily action, may mean all the faculties combined.
[2] _Thero_, a "mendicant" of ten years standing in ordination is so
called in the Buddhist "church".
[3] _Samana_, "ascetic," a title originally contemptuously applied to
the Buddha and His disciples by the Brāhmaṇas. The word is
etymologically derived from V. _sam_--to tame or quiet. Hence the
reference in v. 265.
[4] _Bhikkhu_, "beggar," the name given by the Buddha to His ordained
disciples.
[5] _Muni_, "sage, silent one." The Buddha was called Sakyamuni--"the
sage of the Sakya clan."
[6] _Ariya_, "the noble, the worthy."
[7] Reading _vissāsam āpādi_. This verse is important as showing the
Buddhist ideal in a nutshell. _Nibbāna_ is the dying out of craving, the
root of all evil.
CHAPTER TWENTY.
THE PATH.
273.
Best is the Eightfold Path: of truths, the four;[1]
Dispassion in the best of states sublime.
Blest is he of human beings, who hath eyes to see.
274.
This is the way; no other way can lead ye
To purify the mind and see the truth.
Walk this Way and free yourselves from Māra's host of ills.
275.
Tread ye this Path, and make an end of sorrow.
Tread ye this Path for I myself have shown it.
Shown it after learning how to pluck away the thorns.[2]
276.
Strive ye yourselves; Buddha's but preach the way
To them that strive. To meditation given
They who walk this Way are free from Māra's every bond.
277.
_"All things compounded are impermanent"_;
Whoso sees this with opened inner eye
Wearies soon of sorrow. 'Tis the Path of Purity.
278.
_"All things compounded are of sorrow made"_;
Whoso sees this with opened inner eye,
Wearies soon of sorrow. 'Tis the Path of Purity.
279.
_"All states compounded are without a self"_;[3]
Whoso sees this with opened inner eye,
Wearies soon of sorrow. 'Tis the Path of Purity.
280.
Whoso strives not when it is time to strive,
Tho' young and strong, to sloth and folly prone,
Weak in will and thought, to knowledge never finds the way.
281.
Who guardeth speech and mind, who doth no wrong
With body, making pure the triple way,[4]
He shall tread the Path of Wisdom by the sages shown.
282.
Wisdom is born of meditation deep,
But lost by mind's distraction; knowing these
Two paths of loss and gain, so let him live,
Let him so direct his life that wisdom may increase.
283.
Cut down trees and undergrowth, and from desire be free![5]
For from this jungle fear of danger's born;
Cut it down, O mendicants, and from desire be free!
284.
If but a trace there be, however small,
Of lust of man for woman, as a calf
Clingeth to its dam, the mind in bondage will be held.
285.
Pluck out the love of self with thine own hand,
Just as the hand an autumn lily plucks;
Tread the Way of Peace declared by Him who hath it trod.
286.
"Here in the rainy season will I dwell;
And here in heat and cold." So thinks the fool,
Little recking of the dangers that may him befall.
287.
Care-stricken, with his thoughts of sons and flocks,
Attached to life, Death comes and seizes him,
As a sleeping village by a flood is swept away.[6]
288.
Not all his sons have power to guard that man;
No sire, no kinsman can protect him now;
How can kinsmen aught avail him in the grasp of Death?
289.
The wise man, when he sees the truth of this,
Restrained by righteous living in the Norm,
Soon will clear the path that leadeth unto Perfect Bliss.
[1] _The Eightfold Path_ is;--Right Views, Right Thought, Right Speech,
Right Action, Right Living, Right Effort, Right Concentration, Right
Mental Balance.
The _Four Noble Truths_ are:--Ill, the cause of Ill, the ceasing of Ill,
the Path.
[2] The _thorns_ are the stings and torments of desire.
[3] These three _dicta_ are the essence of the Buddha's teaching.
[4] The second, third and fourth steps of the Path.
[5] 'desire', _viz._: '_nibbanā hotha_, 'be ye free from the jungle (or
forest) of desire (_nir-vanā_, a pun on the word _nirvāṇa_), cf. v.344,
_vanamutto_'.
[6] Cf. V. 47.
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.
DIVERS VERSES.
290.
If in giving up slight pleasure
Thou a greater bliss discern,
Leave the lesser gain and wisely
To the greater profit turn.
291.
He who causeth pain to others,
Seeking his own selfish bliss,
By the bonds of hate encumbered
Hatred never can dismiss.
292. Those who disregard their duty,[1]
Doing what should not be done,
Insolent and negligent in evil-doing
More and more corrupt become.
293.
They who mounting guard on body,
Ceaseless watch and ward preserve;
They who others' things neglecting,
From their duty never swerve;
They who, self-controlled, aspire,
Concentrate in every nerve,
Reach destruction of desire.
294.
Slaying father, slaying mother,
With two kings of warrior fame,
And a realm with all its subjects,[2]
Brāhmana's go free from blame.
295.
Slaying father, slaying mother,
With two kings of saintly name,
And a fifth pre-eminent,[3]
Brāhmana's go free from blame.
* * * * *
296.
They who, watchful night and day,
On the Buddha meditate,
Are followers of Gotama.
297.
They who watchful night and day,
On the Dhamma meditate,
Are followers of Gotama.
298.
They who, watchful night and day,
On the Sangha meditate,
Are followers of Gotama.
299.
They who, watchful night and day,
On the body meditate,
Are followers of Gotama.
300.
They who, watchful night and day,
Take delight in harmlessness,
Are followers of Gotama.
301.
They who, watchful night and day,
Take delight in ecstasy,
Are followers of Gotama.
* * * * *
302.
O 'tis hard to give the world up,
Yet the lonely life is hard;
Painful 'tis to dwell in houses
With the uncongenial;
Painful travelling to and fro;
Cease to be a traveller.[4]
Cease to be beset with pain!
303.
Faithful and of good repute,
Full of honour and renown,
He is reverenced and honoured,
Whereso'er he choose to dwell.
304.
Holy saints are far-resplendent
Like the peaks Himalayan;
Like the shaft that flies in darkness,
Wicked men are never seen.
305.
Lonely sitting, lying lonely,
Act alone and strenuous;
Taming self alone, rejoice thee
In the ending of desire.
[1] _Kiccam_ "minding one's own business."
[2] The Brahmins used to claim that a "twice-born" saint was blameless,
whatever his bodiless actions might be. The Buddha here speaks
mystically. _Father_ is ignorance, _Mother_ is craving; the _two kings_
are the great heresies of non-causation and nihilism. _The Kingdom and
its subjects_ are the six organs of sense (mind being the sixth); and
the six objects of sense (form, sound, sight, smell, taste, thoughts),
conquest of all these brings liberation from embodied existence.
[3] _veyyaggha-pañcamaṁ_, lit. 'a tiger-like man, as a fifth'. The
Commentator explains this to mean the fifth of the Five Hindrances
(lust, malice, sloth, pride, doubt) which beset the Path.
[4] _A traveller_ is one who runs up and down the paths of rebirth.
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO.
THE EVIL WAY.[1]
306.
The liar reaches hell, and he who says
He did not what he did;
Both are the same hereafter, men of crooked ways.
307.
And many a one the yellow gown who wears,
Wicked and uncontrolled,
By reason of his evil deeds in hell appears.
308.
Better for him who lives unworthily
A red-hot ball to swallow,
Than eat the food the country gives in charity.
309.
Four states of ill to reckless men I tell
Who seek the wives of others--
Ill-luck, a restless bed, an evil name and hell.
310.
Ill-luck, the Evil Way, short-lived delight
Of fearful man with timid woman spent,
And from the king a grievous punishment--
Let these four evils all adulterers affright.
311.
Just as a blade of grass not handled well
Will cut the hand that grasps,
So doth the ascetic's life ill-handled lead to hell.
312.
Deeds done with sluggishness, the broken vow,
The saintly life befouled--
Such evil deeds as these small recompense bestow.
313.
Act thou with energy, if act thou must:
The careless mendicant
Doth but stir up a denser cloud of passion's dust.
314.
Leave evil deeds which afterwards bring pain;
Better to do the good;
For when 'tis done that deed no sorrow brings again.
315.
Just as a frontier town that's guarded well,
Which ramparts well defend on every side,
So guard thyself, let not a moment slide;
Time-wasters suffer sorrow when consigned to hell.
316.
They who feel shame, where shame there should be none,
Shameless, where shame should be,
Embracing doctrines false, down the Ill Path have gone.
317.
They who feel fear, where fear there should be none,
Fearless, when they should fear,
Embracing doctrines false, down the Ill Path have gone.
318.
They who see sin, where sin there can be none,
Who see no harm in sin,
Embracing doctrines false, down the Ill Path have gone.
319. They who know sin as sin, and right as right,
Embracing doctrines true,
Those beings enter on the Path of True Delight.
[1] _Niraya_, the Evil Path, the downward course to destruction,
_duggati_, as opposed to _su-gati_ the happy way or state of heaven.
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE.
THE ELEPHANT.
320.
As an elephant in battle bears the arrows at him hurled,
I must bear men's bitter tongues, for very evil is the world.
321.
Tamed, they lead him into battle; tamed, the king his back ascends;
Tamed is he the best of beings, whom no bitter speech offends.
322.
Good are well-tamed mules, and good are Scindian steeds of lineage famed;
Good indeed the mighty tusker; best of all the man self-tamed.
323.
Yet such mounts can nought avail us, cannot be Nibbāna's guide;
We can only reach The Pathless[1] on the self-tamed self astride.
324.
With the must from temples streaming, mighty Dhanapālako[2]
Captive, tastes no food, but longeth to the Nāga-grove to go.
325.
Sluggish, gluttonous and sleepy, wallowing idly to and fro,
Like a huge and grain-fed hog, a fool again to birth must go.
326.
Once this mind roamed as it listed, as it pleaded a-wandering went.
As the holder of the _ankus_ checks the furious elephant,
Now with wisdom I'll restrain it, guide it wholly to my bent.
327.
Take delight in earnestness; watch thy thoughts and never tire;
Lift thee from the Path of Evil, like the tusker sunk in mire.
328.
Hast thou found a fellow-traveller, upright, firm, intelligent?[3]
Leaving all thy cares behind thee, gladly walk with him intent.
329.
Hast thou found no fellow-traveller, upright, firm, intelligent?
As a king deserts his borders, by the enemy pursued,
Like the tusker in the forest, go thy way in solitude.
330.
Better is the lonely life, for fools companions cannot be;
Live alone and do no evil, live alone with scanty needs,
Lonely, as the mighty tusker in the forest lonely feeds.
331.
Sweet are friends when need ariseth, sweet is joy whate'er it be;
Sweet the blessing of life's ending, sweet to be from sorrow free.
332.
Sweet it is to be a mother, sweet the lot of fatherhood,
Sweet the life of holy hermits, sweet the life of Brāhmans good.
333.
Sweet is growing old in goodness, sweet is faith established,
Sweet to gain the prize of wisdom when desire for sin is dead.
[1] _Nibbāna._
[2] A favourite beast of the king of Benares. The elephant, to the East,
typifies wisdom, strength and endurance.
The Buddha is called _Mahā-nāga_, "mighty elephant"; The _nāga-grove_ is
_Nibbāna_. Those who wander in the jungle are those still bound by the
fetters of rebirth.
[3] Cf. verse 61.
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR.
CRAVING.