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Chapter VIII
The Thousands
100.
Even though a speech be a thousand (of words), but made up of
senseless words, one word of sense is better, which if a
man hears, he
becomes quiet.
101. Even though a Gatha (poem) be a thousand (of words), but made up
of senseless
words, one word of a Gatha is better, which if a man
hears, he becomes quiet.
102. Though a man recite a hundred
Gathas made up of senseless words,
one word of the law is better, which if a man hears, he becomes quiet.
103. If
one man conquer in battle a thousand times thousand men, and
if another conquer himself, he is the greatest of conquerors.
104,
105. One's own self conquered is better than all other people;
not even a god, a Gandharva, not Mara with Brahman could
change into
defeat the victory of a man who has vanquished himself, and always
lives under restraint.
106. If
a man for a hundred years sacrifice month after month with a
thousand, and if he but for one moment pay homage to a man
whose soul
is grounded (in true knowledge), better is that homage than sacrifice
for a hundred years.
107. If
a man for a hundred years worship Agni (fire) in the forest,
and if he but for one moment pay homage to a man whose soul
is
grounded (in true knowledge), better is that homage than sacrifice for
a hundred years.
108. Whatever a man
sacrifice 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 (a farthing); reverence shown to the righteous is
better.
109. He who always greets and constantly
reveres the aged, four things
will increase to him, viz. life, beauty, happiness, power.
110. But he who lives a
hundred years, vicious and unrestrained, a
life of one day is better if a man is virtuous and reflecting.
111. And
he who lives a hundred years, ignorant and unrestrained, a
life of one day is better if a man is wise and reflecting.
112.
And he who lives a hundred years, idle and weak, a life of one
day is better if a man has attained firm strength.
113.
And he who lives a hundred years, not seeing beginning and end, a
life of one day is better if a man sees beginning and
end.
114. And he who lives a hundred years, not seeing the immortal place,
a life of one day is better if a man
sees the immortal place.
115. And he who lives a hundred years, not seeing the highest law, a
life of one day is
better if a man sees the highest law.
Chapter IX
Evil
116. If a man would hasten towards the good, he
should keep his
thought away from evil; if a man does what is good slothfully, his
mind delights in evil.
117.
If a man commits a sin, let him not do it again; let him not
delight in sin: pain is the outcome of evil.
118. If
a man does what is good, let him do it again; let him delight
in it: happiness is the outcome of good.
119. Even
an evil-doer sees happiness as long as his evil deed has not
ripened; but when his evil deed has ripened, then does the
evil-doer
see evil.
120. Even a good man sees evil days, as long as his good deed has not
ripened; but when his
good deed has ripened, then does the good man
see happy days.
121. Let no man think lightly of evil, saying in his
heart, It will
not come nigh unto me. Even by the falling of water-drops a water-pot
is filled; the fool becomes
full of evil, even if he gather it little
by little.
122. Let no man think lightly of good, saying in his heart,
It will
not come nigh unto me. Even by the falling of water-drops a water-pot
is filled; the wise man becomes
full of good, even if he gather it
little by little.
123. Let a man avoid evil deeds, as a merchant, if he has few
companions
and carries much wealth, avoids a dangerous road; as a man
who loves life avoids poison.
124. He who has no wound
on his hand, may touch poison with his hand;
poison does not affect one who has no wound; nor is there evil for one
who
does not commit evil.
125. If a man offend a harmless, pure, and innocent person, the evil
falls back upon that
fool, like light dust thrown up against the wind.
126. Some people are born again; evil-doers go to hell; righteous
people
go to heaven; those who are free from all worldly desires
attain Nirvana.
127. Not in the sky, not in the midst
of the sea, not if we enter into
the clefts of the mountains, is there known a spot in the whole world
where death could
not overcome (the mortal).
Chapter X
Punishment
129. All men tremble at punishment, all men fear death;
remember that
you are like unto them, and do not kill, nor cause slaughter.
130. All men tremble at punishment,
all men love life; remember that
thou art like unto them, and do not kill, nor cause slaughter.
131. He who seeking
his own happiness punishes or kills beings who
also long for happiness, will not find happiness after death.
132.
He who seeking his own happiness does not punish or kill beings
who also long for happiness, will find happiness after
death.
133. Do not speak harshly to anybody; those who are spoken to will
answer thee in the same way. Angry speech
is painful, blows for blows
will touch thee.
134. If, like a shattered metal plate (gong), thou utter not, then
thou
hast reached Nirvana; contention is not known to thee.
135. As a cowherd with his staff drives his cows into the stable,
so
do Age and Death drive the life of men.
136. A fool does not know when he commits his evil deeds: but the
wicked
man burns by his own deeds, as if burnt by fire.
137. He who inflicts pain on innocent and harmless persons, will soon
come
to one of these ten states:
138. He will have cruel suffering, loss, injury of the body, heavy
affliction, or loss
of mind,
139. Or a misfortune coming from the king, or a fearful accusation, or
loss of relations, or destruction
of treasures,
140. Or lightning-fire will burn his houses; and when his body is
destroyed, the fool will go to hell.
141.
Not nakedness, not platted hair, not dirt, not fasting, or lying
on the earth, not rubbing with dust, not sitting motionless,
can
purify a mortal who has not overcome desires.
142. He who, though dressed in fine apparel, exercises tranquillity,
is
quiet, subdued, restrained, chaste, and has ceased to find fault
with all other beings, he indeed is a Brahmana, an ascetic
(sramana),
a friar (bhikshu).
143. Is there in this world any man so restrained by humility that he
does not
mind reproof, as a well-trained horse the whip?
144. Like a well-trained horse when touched by the whip, be ye active
and
lively, and by faith, by virtue, by energy, by meditation, by
discernment of the law you will overcome this great pain
(of reproof),
perfect in knowledge and in behaviour, and never forgetful.
145. Well-makers lead the water (wherever
they like); fletchers bend
the arrow; carpenters bend a log of wood; good people fashion
themselves.
Chapter
XI
Old Age
146. How is there laughter, how is there joy, as this world is always
burning? Why do you not
seek a light, ye who are surrounded by
darkness?
147. Look at this dressed-up lump, covered with wounds, joined
together,
sickly, full of many thoughts, which has no strength, no
hold!
148. This body is wasted, full of sickness, and frail;
this heap of
corruption breaks to pieces, life indeed ends in death.
149. Those white bones, like gourds thrown
away in the autumn, what
pleasure is there in looking at them?
150. After a stronghold has been made of the bones,
it is covered with
flesh and blood, and there dwell in it old age and death, pride and
deceit.
151. The brilliant
chariots of kings are destroyed, the body also
approaches destruction, but the virtue of good people never approaches
destruction,--thus
do the good say to the good.
152. A man who has learnt little, grows old like an ox; his flesh
grows, but his knowledge
does not grow.
153, 154. Looking for the maker of this tabernacle, I shall have to
run through a course of many
births, so long as I do not find (him);
and painful is birth again and again. But now, maker of the
tabernacle,
thou hast been seen; thou shalt not make up this
tabernacle again. All thy rafters are broken, thy ridge-pole is
sundered;
the mind, approaching the Eternal (visankhara, nirvana), has
attained to the extinction of all desires.
155. Men
who have not observed proper discipline, and have not gained
treasure in their youth, perish like old herons in a lake
without
fish.
156. Men who have not observed proper discipline, and have not gained
treasure in their youth,
lie, like broken bows, sighing after the
past.
Chapter XII
Self
157. If a man hold himself dear, let
him watch himself carefully;
during one at least out of the three watches a wise man should be
watchful.
158.
Let each man direct himself first to what is proper, then let him
teach others; thus a wise man will not suffer.
159.
If a man make himself as he teaches others to be, then, being
himself well subdued, he may subdue (others); one's own self
is indeed
difficult to subdue.
160. Self is the lord of self, who else could be the lord? With self
well
subdued, a man finds a lord such as few can find.
161. The evil done by oneself, self-begotten, self-bred, crushes
the
foolish, as a diamond breaks a precious stone.
162. He whose wickedness is very great brings himself down to
that
state where his enemy wishes him to be, as a creeper does with the
tree which it surrounds.
163. Bad deeds,
and deeds hurtful to ourselves, are easy to do; what
is beneficial and good, that is very difficult to do.
164.
The foolish man who scorns the rule of the venerable (Arahat), of
the elect (Ariya), of the virtuous, and follows false
doctrine, he
bears fruit to his own destruction, like the fruits of the Katthaka
reed.
165. By oneself the evil
is done, by oneself one suffers; by oneself
evil is left undone, by oneself one is purified. Purity and impurity
belong
to oneself, no one can purify another.
166. Let no one forget his own duty for the sake of another's, however
great;
let a man, after he has discerned his own duty, be always
attentive to his duty.
Chapter XIII
The World
167.
Do not follow the evil law! Do not live on in thoughtlessness! Do
not follow false doctrine! Be not a friend of the world.
168.
Rouse thyself! do not be idle! Follow the law of virtue! The
virtuous rests in bliss in this world and in the
next.
169. Follow the law of virtue; do not follow that of sin. The virtuous
rests in bliss in this world and in
the next.
170. Look upon the world as a bubble, look upon it as a mirage: the
king of death does not see him who
thus looks down upon the world.
171. Come, look at this glittering world, like unto a royal chariot;
the foolish
are immersed in it, but the wise do not touch it.
172. He who formerly was reckless and afterwards became sober,
brightens
up this world, like the moon when freed from clouds.
173. He whose evil deeds are covered by good deeds, brightens
up this
world, like the moon when freed from clouds.
174. This world is dark, few only can see here; a few only
go to
heaven, like birds escaped from the net.
175. The swans go on the path of the sun, they go through the ether
by
means of their miraculous power; the wise are led out of this world,
when they have conquered Mara and his train.
176.
If a man has transgressed one law, and speaks lies, and scoffs at
another world, there is no evil he will not do.
177.
The uncharitable do not go to the world of the gods; fools only
do not praise liberality; a wise man rejoices in liberality,
and
through it becomes blessed in the other world.
178. Better than sovereignty over the earth, better than going
to
heaven, better than lordship over all worlds, is the reward of the
first step in holiness.
Chapter XIV
The
Buddha (The Awakened)
179. He whose conquest is not conquered again, into whose conquest no
one in this world enters,
by what track can you lead him, the
Awakened, the Omniscient, the trackless?
180. He whom no desire with its snares
and poisons can lead astray, by
what track can you lead him, the Awakened, the Omniscient, the
trackless?
181.
Even the gods envy those who are awakened and not forgetful, who
are given to meditation, who are wise, and who delight
in the repose
of retirement (from the world).
182. Difficult (to obtain) is the conception of men, difficult is
the
life of mortals, difficult is the hearing of the True Law, difficult
is the birth of the Awakened (the attainment
of Buddhahood).
183. Not to commit any sin, to do good, and to purify one's mind, that
is the teaching of (all)
the Awakened.
184. The Awakened call patience the highest penance, long-suffering
the highest Nirvana; for he is
not an anchorite (pravragita) who
strikes others, he is not an ascetic (sramana) who insults others.
185. Not to
blame, not to strike, to live restrained under the law, to
be moderate in eating, to sleep and sit alone, and to dwell
on the
highest thoughts,--this is the teaching of the Awakened.
186. There is no satisfying lusts, even by a shower
of gold pieces; he
who knows that lusts have a short taste and cause pain, he is wise;
187. Even in heavenly pleasures
he finds no satisfaction, the disciple
who is fully awakened delights only in the destruction of all desires.
188.
Men, driven by fear, go to many a refuge, to mountains and
forests, to groves and sacred trees.
189. But that is
not a safe refuge, that is not the best refuge; a man
is not delivered from all pains after having gone to that refuge.
190.
He who takes refuge with Buddha, the Law, and the Church; he who,
with clear understanding, sees the four holy truths:--
191.
Viz. pain, the origin of pain, the destruction of pain, and the
eightfold holy way that leads to the quieting of pain;--
192.
That is the safe refuge, that is the best refuge; having gone to
that refuge, a man is delivered from all pain.
193.
A supernatural person (a Buddha) is not easily found, he is not
born everywhere. Wherever such a sage is born, that race
prospers.
194. Happy is the arising of the awakened, happy is the teaching of
the True Law, happy is peace in the
church, happy is the devotion of
those who are at peace.
195, 196. He who pays homage to those who deserve homage,
whether the
awakened (Buddha) or their disciples, those who have overcome the host
(of evils), and crossed the flood
of sorrow, he who pays homage to
such as have found deliverance and know no fear, his merit can never
be measured by
anybody.
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