{ "name": "buddha", "lang": "eng", "title": "Buddha", "description": "A col­lec­tion of sayings of the Bud­dha tak­en from the Dham­ma­pa­da", "sample-verse": "3.", "books": [ { "title": "Pairs", "sections": [ { "paragraphs": [ { "verses": [ { "ref": "1.", "translation": "Our life is shaped by our mind: itʼs ruled by our mind, itʼs made by our mind. If one speaks or acts with an evil mind, suf­fer­ing follows him, as the wheel follows the foot of the ox that draws the cart." }, { "ref": "2.", "translation": "If one speaks or acts with a pure mind, hap­pi­ness follows him, like a shad­ow that nev­er leaves him." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "3.", "translation": "“He insulted me, hit me, defeated me, robbed me.” In those who har­bor such thoughts, ha­tred will nev­er cease." }, { "ref": "4.", "translation": "In those who donʼt har­bor such thoughts, ha­tred will cease." }, { "ref": "5.", "translation": "For ha­tred nev­er ceases by ha­tred. Ha­tred ceases by love." }, { "ref": "6.", "translation": "Some donʼt re­al­ize that we all must die, but those who do re­al­ize it cease their quarrels at once." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "7.", "translation": "Just as the wind throws down a weak tree, so will the temp­ter over­throw him who fo­cus­es on­ly on pleasures, his sen­ses un­con­trolled, im­mod­er­ate in his food, i­dle, and weak." }, { "ref": "8.", "translation": "Just as the wind can­not throw down a rocky moun­tain, so the temp­ter will not over­throw him who does not fo­cus on pleasures, his sen­ses well con­trolled, mod­er­ate in his food, faith­ful and strong." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "9.", "translation": "He who puts on the monkʼs yel­low robe with­out hav­ing cleansed him­self from sin, who dis­re­gards self-control and truth, is un­wor­thy of the robe." }, { "ref": "10.", "translation": "But he who has cleansed him­self from sin, is well grounded in vir­tues, and regards self-control and truth, is in­deed wor­thy of the robe." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "11.", "translation": "They who mis­take the triv­i­al for the es­sen­tial, and the es­sen­tial for the triv­i­al, nev­er ar­rive at the es­sen­tial, but fol­low vain desires." }, { "ref": "12.", "translation": "They who know the es­sen­tial as es­sen­tial, and the triv­i­al as triv­i­al, ar­rive at the es­sen­tial, and fol­low true desires." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "13.", "translation": "Just as rain seeps through a poor­ly tha­tched house, pas­sion seeps through an un­de­vel­oped mind." }, { "ref": "14.", "translation": "Just as rain can­not seep through a well tha­tched house, pas­sion can­not seep through a well de­vel­oped mind." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "15.", "translation": "The evil­do­er grieves in both this world and the next. He grieves and suffers when he sees the evil of his own work." }, { "ref": "16.", "translation": "The vir­tu­ous man delights in both this world and the next. He delights and rejoices when he sees the pu­ri­ty of his own work." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "17.", "translation": "The evil­do­er suffers both in this world and the next. He suffers when he thinks of the evil he has done. He suffers more when go­ing to the next world." }, { "ref": "18.", "translation": "The vir­tu­ous man is hap­py both in this world and the next. He is hap­py when he thinks of the good he has done. He is hap­pi­er still when go­ing to the next world." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "19.", "translation": "The thought­less man, if he recites many scrip­tures, but does­nʼt do what they say, has no share in the blessings of the ho­ly life, but is like a cow­herd counting the cows of others." }, { "ref": "20.", "translation": "He who recites on­ly a few scrip­tures, but does what they say, hav­ing for­sak­en lust and ha­tred and de­lu­sion, possesses true knowl­edge and se­ren­i­ty of mind, car­ing for noth­ing in this world or that to come, he shares in the blessings of the ho­ly life." } ] } ] } ] }, { "title": "Vigilance", "sections": [ { "paragraphs": [ { "verses": [ { "ref": "21.", "translation": "Vig­i­lance is the path to sal­va­tion. Care­less­ness is the path to death. Those who are vig­i­lant donʼt die. Those who are care­less are as if dead al­ready." }, { "ref": "22.", "translation": "The wise, hav­ing un­der­stood this clear­ly, de­light in vig­i­lance, and re­joice in the knowl­edge of the no­ble ones." }, { "ref": "23.", "translation": "These wise peo­ple, meditative, stead­fast­ly per­se­ver­ing, at­tain to sal­va­tion, the highest hap­pi­ness." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "24.", "translation": "If a vig­i­lant per­son is en­er­get­ic, if he is mind­ful, if his deeds are pure, if he acts with con­sid­er­a­tion, if he has self-control, and is right­eous, then his glo­ry will in­crease." }, { "ref": "25.", "translation": "By ef­fort, by vig­i­lance, by dis­ci­pline and self-control, the wise man may make for him­self an is­land which no flood can over­whelm." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "26.", "translation": "The fool­ish and ig­no­rant in­dulge in care­less­ness. The wise man keeps vig­i­lance as his great­est treas­ure." }, { "ref": "27.", "translation": "Donʼt give way to care­less­ness or to the en­joy­ment of sen­su­al pleasures. He who is vig­i­lant and meditative, obtains am­ple joy." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "28.", "translation": "When the wise man drives a­way care­less­ness by vig­i­lance, he climbs the tow­er of wis­dom and looks down up­on the fools. With­out suf­fer­ing, he looks at the suf­fer­ing crowd, as one that stands on a moun­tain looks at them that stand on the ground be­low." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "29.", "translation": "Vig­i­lant a­mong the care­less, a­wake a­mong the sleep­ing, the wise man ad­vanc­es like a fast horse, leav­ing the weak be­hind." }, { "ref": "30.", "translation": "Vig­i­lance is al­ways praised; care­less­ness is al­ways de­spised." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "31.", "translation": "The monk who delights in vig­i­lance, who looks with fear at care­less­ness: moves about like fire, burn­ing all fetters, small and large;" }, { "ref": "32.", "translation": "can­not fall a­way. He is close to sal­va­tion." } ] } ] } ] }, { "title": "Mind", "sections": [ { "paragraphs": [ { "verses": [ { "ref": "33.", "translation": "Just as a fletch­er straight­ens his ar­row, a wise man straight­ens his trem­bling and un­steady mind, which is dif­fi­cult to guard, dif­fi­cult to re­strain." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "34.", "translation": "Just as a fish quivers when tak­en from its home in the wa­ter and thrown on land, our mind trem­bles all over to es­cape the in­flu­ence of the temp­ter." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "35.", "translation": "Itʼs good to tame the mind, which is dif­fi­cult to tame and flighty, rush­ing wher­ev­er it wants. A tamed mind brings hap­pi­ness." }, { "ref": "36.", "translation": "Let the wise man guard his mind, for itʼs sub­tle and e­lu­sive, and it rushes wher­ev­er it wants. A guard­ed mind brings hap­pi­ness." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "37.", "translation": "The mind wanders far, moves about a­lone, is with­out a body, and hides in the ca­ve of the heart. Those who bri­dle it are free from the bonds of the temp­ter." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "38.", "translation": "If a manʼs mind is un­steady, if he does­nʼt know the true law, and if his faith is troubled, then his knowl­edge will nev­er be per­fect." }, { "ref": "39.", "translation": "If a manʼs mind is free from pas­sion, if his mind is free from ill will, if heʼs un­af­fect­ed by good and evil, then thereʼs no dan­ger for him." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "40.", "translation": "Know­ing that this body is frag­ile like a clay pot, and securing this mind like a for­tress, at­tack the temp­ter with the sword of knowl­edge. Then guard what is won with­out feel­ing at­tach­ment to it." }, { "ref": "41.", "translation": "Soon, this body will lie on the ground, dis­carded, with­out con­scious­ness, like a use­less log." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "42.", "translation": "What­ev­er an en­e­my might do to an en­e­my, or a foe to a foe, a wrong­ly di­rect­ed mind can do to you e­ven worse." }, { "ref": "43.", "translation": "What­ev­er a moth­er, a fa­ther, or any oth­er rel­a­tive might do for you, a well di­rect­ed mind can do for you e­ven more." } ] } ] } ] }, { "title": "Flowers", "sections": [ { "paragraphs": [ { "verses": [ { "ref": "44.", "translation": "Who will over­come this earth, and the world of the dead, and the world of the gods? Who will choose the well taught path of vir­tue, as an ex­pert flo­rist chooses the right flow­er?" }, { "ref": "45.", "translation": "A dis­ci­ple will." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "46.", "translation": "Know­ing that this body is like froth, and learn­ing that it is in­sub­stan­tial like a mi­rage, you will re­move the flower-tipped ar­rows of the temp­ter, and nev­er see the king of death." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "47.", "translation": "As a flood sweeps a­way a sleep­ing vil­lage, so death sweeps a­way a man who is im­mersed in gath­er­ing flowers, his mind dis­tract­ed." }, { "ref": "48.", "translation": "Death subdues a man who is im­mersed in gath­er­ing flowers, his mind dis­tract­ed, be­fore heʼs sa­ti­at­ed in his pleasures." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "49.", "translation": "As a bee collects nec­tar and departs with­out dam­ag­ing the flow­er or its col­or or its scent, so should a sage col­lect alms in a vil­lage." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "50.", "translation": "Donʼt no­tice the faults of others, their sins of com­mis­sion or o­mis­sion, but no­tice your own mis­con­duct and neg­li­gence." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "51.", "translation": "Like a beau­ti­ful flow­er, full of col­or but with­out scent, are fair but fruit­less words of him who does­nʼt prac­tice them." }, { "ref": "52.", "translation": "But, like a beau­ti­ful flow­er, full of col­or and full of scent, are fair and fruit­ful words of him who practices them." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "53.", "translation": "Just as many wreaths can be made from a heap of flowers, so can many good things be done by a mor­tal." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "54.", "translation": "The scent of flowers does­nʼt trav­el against the wind, not e­ven that of san­dal­wood, tagara, or jas­mine; but the rep­u­ta­tion of the vir­tu­ous does trav­el against the wind. The rep­u­ta­tion of the vir­tu­ous pervades eve­ry place." }, { "ref": "55.", "translation": "A­mong the scent of san­dal­wood, tagara, lo­tus, and jas­mine, the scent of vir­tue is un­sur­passed." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "56.", "translation": "The scent that co­mes from tagara and san­dal­wood is faint. The scent of the vir­tu­ous is best, it rises up to the gods." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "58.", "translation": "On a gar­bage heap by the roadside, a lo­tus grows full of sweet per­fume and de­light." }, { "ref": "59.", "translation": "Like­wise, on a gar­bage heap of blind mortals, a true dis­ci­ple of the Bud­dha shines forth in wis­dom." } ] } ] } ] }, { "title": "The Fool", "sections": [ { "paragraphs": [ { "verses": [ { "ref": "60.", "translation": "The night is long to the sleep­less; a mile is long to the tired; life is long to the fool­ish who donʼt know the true law." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "61.", "translation": "If a trav­el­er does­nʼt meet a com­pan­ion who is his bet­ter or his e­qual, let him firm­ly keep to his sol­i­tary jour­ney. There is no com­pan­ion­ship with a fool." }, { "ref": "62.", "translation": "He worries, “I have sons and wealth,” but he him­self is not his own, how much less sons and wealth?" } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "63.", "translation": "A fool who knows his own fool­ish­ness is wise to that ex­tent. But a fool who thinks he is wise is a fool in­deed." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "64.", "translation": "E­ven if a fool as­so­ci­ates with a wise man all his life, he will per­ceive the truth no more than a spoon perceives the fla­vor of soup." }, { "ref": "65.", "translation": "If an in­tel­li­gent man as­so­ci­ates with a wise man for on­ly one min­ute, he will soon per­ceive the truth as the tongue perceives the taste of soup." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "66.", "translation": "Fools of lit­tle un­der­stand­ing are their own enemies, for they do evil deeds that bear bit­ter fruit." }, { "ref": "67.", "translation": "That deed is poor­ly done if a man must re­pent af­ter­ward and its re­ward is cry­ing and a tear­ful face." }, { "ref": "68.", "translation": "That deed is well done if a man does not re­pent af­ter­ward and its re­ward is de­light and hap­pi­ness." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "69.", "translation": "As long as an evil deed does­nʼt bear fruit, the fool thinks itʼs like hon­ey. But when it ripens, then the fool suffers grief." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "70.", "translation": "E­ven if a fool, month af­ter month, eats his food like an as­cet­ic with the tip of a blade of grass, he is­nʼt worth e­ven one six­teenth of those who have un­der­stood the truth." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "71.", "translation": "An evil deed, like fresh­ly drawn milk, does­nʼt sour im­me­di­ate­ly; it follows the fool, smol­der­ing, like fire cov­ered by ash­es." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "73.", "translation": "The fool wishes for a false rep­u­ta­tion, for prec­e­dence a­mong monks, for au­thor­i­ty in the mon­as­teries, for hon­or a­mong oth­er peo­ple." }, { "ref": "74.", "translation": "“May both laymen and monks think that I did it. Let them o­bey me in eve­ry­thing, great and small.” Such is the mind of the fool, and thus his de­sire and pride in­crease." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "75.", "translation": "One road leads to wealth, an­oth­er road leads to sal­va­tion. If the monk, a dis­ci­ple of Bud­dha, has learn­ed this, he wonʼt yearn for hon­or, heʼll strive for sep­a­ra­tion from the world." } ] } ] } ] }, { "title": "The Wise", "sections": [ { "paragraphs": [ { "verses": [ { "ref": "76.", "translation": "If you find a wise man who points out faults, and who reproves, fol­low that wise man as one would fol­low a guide to hid­den treas­ure. Itʼll be bet­ter, not worse, for those who fol­low him." }, { "ref": "77.", "translation": "Let him ad­mon­ish, let him teach, let him re­strain you from whatʼs im­prop­er. The good will love him. The bad will hate him." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "78.", "translation": "Donʼt have evildoers as companions, donʼt have vile peo­ple as friends. Have vir­tu­ous peo­ple as companions, have the best as friends." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "79.", "translation": "He who drinks in the law lives hap­pi­ly with a se­rene mind. The wise man rejoices al­ways in the law, as preached by the no­ble ones." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "80.", "translation": "Irrigators guide the wa­ter. Fletchers straight­en the ar­row. Carpenters shape the wood. The wise con­trol them­selves." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "81.", "translation": "Just as a sol­id rock is not shak­en by the wind, the wise donʼt fal­ter a­midst blame or praise." }, { "ref": "82.", "translation": "Af­ter theyʼve listened to the law, the wise be­come se­rene, like a deep, smooth, and still lake." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "83.", "translation": "The good keep walk­ing what­ev­er happens. The good donʼt prat­tle, long­ing for pleas­ure. Wheth­er touched by hap­pi­ness or sor­row, the wise nev­er ap­pear e­lat­ed or de­pressed." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "84.", "translation": "A man is good, wise, and vir­tu­ous if he does no wrong for his own sake or for the sake of others; if he wishes nei­ther for wealth, a son, or a king­dom; and if he does­nʼt wish for suc­cess by un­fair means." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "85.", "translation": "Few a­mong men ar­rive at the oth­er shore. The rest run up and down on this shore." }, { "ref": "86.", "translation": "But those who fol­low the law, when it has been well taught to them, will ar­rive at the oth­er shore hav­ing crossed the do­min­ion of death, how­ev­er dif­fi­cult to over­come." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "87.", "translation": "Let a wise man leave the dark way, and fol­low the bright path. Af­ter go­ing from his home to home­less­ness, let him yearn for de­light in de­tach­ment, so dif­fi­cult to en­joy." }, { "ref": "88.", "translation": "Leav­ing all pleasures be­hind, and call­ing noth­ing his own, let the wise man cleanse him­self of that which defiles the mind." }, { "ref": "89.", "translation": "Those whose minds are well grounded in the factors of en­light­en­ment, who with­out cling­ing to any­thing, re­joice in free­dom from at­tach­ment, whose ap­pe­tites have been conquered, and who are full of light, are free e­ven in this world." } ] } ] } ] }, { "title": "The Saint", "sections": [ { "paragraphs": [ { "verses": [ { "ref": "91.", "translation": "The mind­ful strive dil­i­gent­ly. Theyʼre not at­tached to any home. Like swans who leave a lake, they leave their house and home." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "92.", "translation": "Like birds in the air, the path of the saint is hard to trace. They have no rich­es, are wise re­gard­ing food, and their ob­jec­tive is emp­ti­ness and free­dom." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "94.", "translation": "E­ven the gods adore him whose sen­ses have been sub­dued, like hors­es well trained by a char­i­ot­eer, whoʼs free from pride, and free from ap­pe­tites." }, { "ref": "95.", "translation": "Like the earth, heʼs not pro­voked. Heʼs firm like a pil­lar. Heʼs like a pure lake with­out mud. No new births are in store for him." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "96.", "translation": "His mind is calm, and calm are his words and deeds. By true knowl­edge he has obtained free­dom, and thus be­come tran­quil." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "98.", "translation": "In a vil­lage or in a for­est, in a val­ley or on a hill, wher­ev­er saints dwell, that place is de­light­ful." }, { "ref": "99.", "translation": "De­light­ful are the forests in which the crowds find no pleas­ure. Those with­out pas­sion will find de­light there, for they donʼt seek pleas­ure." } ] } ] } ] }, { "title": "Thousands", "sections": [ { "paragraphs": [ { "verses": [ { "ref": "100.", "translation": "Bet­ter than a speech of a thou­sand vain words is one thought­ful word, hear­ing which brings peace." }, { "ref": "101.", "translation": "Bet­ter than a po­em of a thou­sand vain verses is one thought­ful verse, hear­ing which brings peace." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "103.", "translation": "Greater than he who conquers a thou­sand times a thou­sand men in bat­tle, is he who conquerors just one—him­self." }, { "ref": "104.", "translation": "Itʼs far bet­ter to con­quer one­self than to con­quer others." }, { "ref": "105.", "translation": "For a man who has conquered him­self and al­ways lives with self-control, not e­ven a god, an an­gel, or a de­mon with a god can change that vic­to­ry in­to de­feat." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "106.", "translation": "A man could sac­ri­fice by the thousands for month af­ter month for a hun­dred years, or he could pay hom­age for one mo­ment to a man liv­ing in wis­dom. Bet­ter is that hom­age than sac­ri­fices for a cen­tu­ry." }, { "ref": "107.", "translation": "A man could tend the sac­ri­fi­cial fire in the for­est for a hun­dred years, or he could pay hom­age for one mo­ment to a man liv­ing in wis­dom. Bet­ter is that hom­age than sac­ri­fices for a cen­tu­ry." }, { "ref": "108.", "translation": "In this world, a man may make sac­ri­fices and oblations for a whole year in or­der to gain mer­it, yet all of itʼs not worth a quar­ter of the mer­it gained by re­ver­ing the right­eous." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "109.", "translation": "For him who al­ways respects and hon­ors the wise, four things will in­crease: life, beau­ty, hap­pi­ness, pow­er." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "110.", "translation": "Bet­ter than a hun­dred years lived im­mor­al and un­re­strained, is one day lived vir­tu­ous and re­flec­ting." }, { "ref": "111.", "translation": "Bet­ter than a hun­dred years lived ig­no­rant and un­re­strained, is one day lived wise and re­flec­ting." }, { "ref": "112.", "translation": "Bet­ter than a hun­dred years i­dle and weak, is one day lived en­er­get­ic and firm." } ] } ] } ] }, { "title": "Evil", "sections": [ { "paragraphs": [ { "verses": [ { "ref": "116.", "translation": "Has­ten to do good. Keep your mind from evil. If a man is slow to do good, his mind delights in evil." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "117.", "translation": "If a man does what is evil, let him not do it again and again. Let him not de­light in it, for ac­cu­mu­lat­ing evil brings pain." }, { "ref": "118.", "translation": "If a man does what is good, let him do it again and again. Let him de­light in it, for ac­cu­mu­lat­ing good brings joy." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "119.", "translation": "E­ven an evil­do­er may be hap­py be­fore his evil deed ripens, but when it ripens, he suffers." }, { "ref": "120.", "translation": "E­ven a good man may suf­fer be­fore his good deed ripens, but when it ripens, he is hap­py." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "121.", "translation": "Let no man think light­ly of evil, say­ing in his heart, “It wonʼt a­mount to much.” As a wa­ter pot is filled by the fall­ing of wa­ter drops, so the fool be­comes full of evil, e­ven if he gathers it lit­tle by lit­tle." }, { "ref": "122.", "translation": "Let no man think light­ly of good, say­ing in his heart, “It wonʼt a­mount to much.” As a wa­ter pot is filled by the fall­ing of wa­ter drops, so the wise man be­comes full of good, e­ven if he gathers it lit­tle by lit­tle." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "123.", "translation": "Let a man a­void evil deeds, as a wealthy mer­chant with few companions avoids a dan­ger­ous road; as a man who loves life avoids poi­son." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "125.", "translation": "If a man offends a harm­less, pure, and in­no­cent per­son, the evil falls back up­on that fool, like dust thrown against the wind." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "127.", "translation": "Not in the sky, not in the mid­dle of the sea, not in a cleft of the mountains, is there a spot to be found where a man can es­cape from the con­se­quenc­es of his evil deed." }, { "ref": "128.", "translation": "Not in the sky, not in the mid­dle of the sea, not in a cleft of the mountains, is there a spot to be found where a man wonʼt be over­come by death." } ] } ] } ] }, { "title": "Punishment", "sections": [ { "paragraphs": [ { "verses": [ { "ref": "129.", "translation": "Eve­ry­one trem­bles at pun­ish­ment, eve­ry­one fears death. Put­ting your­self in his place, donʼt kill or cause others to kill." }, { "ref": "130.", "translation": "Eve­ry­one trem­bles at pun­ish­ment, eve­ry­one loves his own life. Put­ting your­self in his place, donʼt kill or cause others to kill." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "131.", "translation": "He who, seek­ing hap­pi­ness, punishes beings who al­so de­sire hap­pi­ness, wonʼt find hap­pi­ness af­ter death." }, { "ref": "132.", "translation": "He who, seek­ing hap­pi­ness, does­nʼt pun­ish beings who al­so de­sire hap­pi­ness, will find hap­pi­ness af­ter death." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "133.", "translation": "Speak harsh­ly to no one, or those who are spo­ken to will an­swer you in the same way. Con­ten­tious speech hurts, and re­tal­i­a­tion will come to you." }, { "ref": "134.", "translation": "If your mind is still, like a bro­ken gong, you have at­tained sal­va­tion, for thereʼs no con­ten­tion in you." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "135.", "translation": "As a cow­herd drives cows to pas­ture with a staff, so aging and death drive the life of men." }, { "ref": "136.", "translation": "A fool does­nʼt re­al­ize when he commits evil, but he suffers for those deeds as if burned by fire." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "137.", "translation": "He who inflicts pain on the in­no­cent and un­armed will soon suf­fer in one of these ten ways:" }, { "ref": "138.", "translation": "se­vere pain, im­pov­er­ish­ment, bod­i­ly in­ju­ry, se­ri­ous ill­ness, men­tal ill­ness," }, { "ref": "139.", "translation": "trou­ble from the gov­ern­ment, a fear­ful ac­cu­sa­tion, loss of relatives, loss of wealth," }, { "ref": "140.", "translation": "or fire will de­stroy his hous­es. When his body is destroyed, the fool will go to hell." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "141.", "translation": "Nei­ther na­ked­ness, nor mat­ted hair, nor dirt, nor fasting, nor ly­ing on the earth, nor rub­bing with dust, nor sit­ting mo­tion­less, can pu­ri­fy a mor­tal who has not over­come doubt." }, { "ref": "142.", "translation": "He who exercises tran­quil­i­ty, is qui­et, sub­dued, re­strained, chaste, and has set a­side vi­o­lence to­wards all others, he in­deed is a ho­ly man, an as­cet­ic, a monk, e­ven if dressed in fi­ne ap­par­el." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "143.", "translation": "Who in this world is so re­strained by con­science that he needs no re­proof, as a fi­ne horse needs no whip?" }, { "ref": "144.", "translation": "Like a fi­ne horse when touched by the whip, be ac­tive and live­ly. By faith, by vir­tue, by ef­fort, by med­i­ta­tion, by dis­cern­ing the truth, by per­fect knowl­edge and con­duct, by mind­ful­ness, you will leave this pain be­hind." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "145.", "translation": "Irrigators guide the wa­ter. Fletchers straight­en the ar­row. Carpenters shape the wood. Good peo­ple fash­ion them­selves." } ] } ] } ] }, { "title": "Old Age", "sections": [ { "paragraphs": [ { "verses": [ { "ref": "146.", "translation": "Why is there laugh­ter and joy when this world is al­ways burn­ing? Sur­round­ed by dark­ness, donʼt you look for a light?" } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "147.", "translation": "Look at this body—a paint­ed im­age, cov­ered with festering wounds, sick­ly, full of many thoughts—nei­ther last­ing nor sta­ble." }, { "ref": "148.", "translation": "This body is worn out, full of sick­ness, and frail. This heap of cor­rup­tion breaks to pieces, for life in­deed ends with death." }, { "ref": "149.", "translation": "These white bones are like gourds thrown a­way in the au­tumn. What pleas­ure is there in see­ing them?" } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "150.", "translation": "A city made of bones is cov­ered with flesh and blood. Liv­ing in it are old age and death, pride and de­ceit." }, { "ref": "151.", "translation": "The beau­ti­ful chariots of kings get worn out and so does the body. But the vir­tue of good peo­ple does­nʼt age: thus do the good say a­mong them­selves." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "152.", "translation": "A man who has learn­ed lit­tle grows old like an ox. His body grows, but his wis­dom does­nʼt." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "153.", "translation": "I roamed through many births, with­out re­ward and with­out rest, looking for the build­er of this house. Pain­ful is birth again and again." }, { "ref": "154.", "translation": "But now, build­er of this house, I have seen you. You wonʼt build this house again. All your rafters are bro­ken, your ridge pole is dis­man­tled. My mind has at­tained the ex­tinc­tion of all desires." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "155.", "translation": "Those who, in their youth, have­nʼt lived the ho­ly life nor gained wealth per­ish like old herons in a lake with­out fish." }, { "ref": "156.", "translation": "They lie sighing over the past like ar­rows misfired from a bow." } ] } ] } ] }, { "title": "Self", "sections": [ { "paragraphs": [ { "verses": [ { "ref": "157.", "translation": "If a man holds him­self dear, let him watch him­self care­ful­ly. Let a wise man keep vig­il dur­ing one of the three watches of the night." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "158.", "translation": "Let each man first di­rect him­self to what is prop­er, then let him teach others. Thus a wise man wonʼt be re­proached." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "159.", "translation": "If a man makes him­self as he teaches others to be, then, be­ing him­self well tamed, he may tame others. Oneʼs self is in­deed dif­fi­cult to tame." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "160.", "translation": "A man is tru­ly his own pro­tec­tor. Who else could be the pro­tec­tor? With self well con­trolled, one finds a pro­tec­tor such as few can find." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "161.", "translation": "The evil a fool­ish man does by him­self, self-born, self-created, grinds him down, as a dia­mond breaks a hard gem." }, { "ref": "162.", "translation": "When over­spread with great wick­ed­ness, like a tree cov­ered by vines, a man brings him­self down to where his en­e­my wishes." }, { "ref": "163.", "translation": "Evil deeds, which harm our­selves, are easy to do. Good and ben­e­fi­cial deeds are very dif­fi­cult to do." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "165.", "translation": "Evil is done by one­self, by one­self one is de­filed. Evil is left un­done by one­self, by one­self is one pu­ri­fied. Pu­ri­ty and im­pu­ri­ty are oneʼs own do­ing. No one can pu­ri­fy an­oth­er." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "166.", "translation": "Let no man sac­ri­fice his own wel­fare for that of an­oth­er, how­ev­er great. Let a man, af­ter dis­cern­ing his own wel­fare, be al­ways at­ten­tive to it." } ] } ] } ] }, { "title": "The World", "sections": [ { "paragraphs": [ { "verses": [ { "ref": "167.", "translation": "Donʼt fol­low vul­gar ways. Donʼt live with aban­don. Donʼt fol­low false doc­trine. Donʼt be a friend of the world." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "168.", "translation": "Wake up! Donʼt be i­dle. Live a vir­tu­ous life. The vir­tu­ous sleeps with ease in this world and the next." }, { "ref": "169.", "translation": "Live a vir­tu­ous life. Donʼt live a life of sin. The vir­tu­ous sleeps with ease in this world and the next." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "170.", "translation": "The king of death does­nʼt see him who looks up­on the world as a bub­ble, as a mi­rage." }, { "ref": "171.", "translation": "Come look at this world, dec­o­rat­ed like a roy­al char­i­ot. Fools are im­mersed in it, but the wise donʼt cling to it." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "172.", "translation": "He who was reck­less and then be­comes mind­ful, brightens up this world like the moon when freed from clouds." }, { "ref": "173.", "translation": "He who replaces evil deeds with good deeds, brightens up this world, like the moon when freed from clouds." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "174.", "translation": "In this dark world, on­ly a few can see. On­ly a few, like birds es­cap­ing from the net, go to heav­en." }, { "ref": "175.", "translation": "Swans fly on the path of the sun, through the air by their won­der­ful pow­er. The wise flee from the world af­ter defeating the temp­ter and his armies." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "176.", "translation": "A man who trans­gresses the one law, speaks lies, and scoffs at the world be­yond is ca­pa­ble of any evil." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "177.", "translation": "Misers donʼt go to the world of the gods; nei­ther do fools praise gen­er­os­i­ty. A wise man rejoices in gen­er­os­i­ty, and through it be­comes bless­ed in the world be­yond." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "178.", "translation": "The first step to­wards ho­li­ness is bet­ter than sov­er­eign­ty over the earth, bet­ter than go­ing to heav­en, and bet­ter than be­ing lord over all the worlds." } ] } ] } ] }, { "title": "The Awakened", "sections": [ { "paragraphs": [ { "verses": [ { "ref": "181.", "translation": "E­ven the gods en­vy those who are awakened, who are de­vot­ed to med­i­ta­tion, who are wise, and who de­light in the calm of re­nun­ci­a­tion." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "182.", "translation": "Itʼs dif­fi­cult to ob­tain a hu­man birth, dif­fi­cult is the life of mortals. Itʼs dif­fi­cult to ob­tain the chance to hear the true law, dif­fi­cult is the birth of the awakened." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "183.", "translation": "To a­void all evil, to cul­ti­vate good, and to pu­ri­fy oneʼs mind, that is the teach­ing of the awakened." }, { "ref": "184.", "translation": "Pa­tient en­dur­ance is the highest aus­ter­i­ty. “Sal­va­tion is su­preme”, say the awakened. He is no monk who injures others. He is no as­cet­ic who insults others." }, { "ref": "185.", "translation": "Not to re­vile, not to in­jure, to live re­strained un­der the law, to be mod­er­ate in food, to live in sol­i­tude, and to dwell on the highest thoughts: this is the teach­ing of the awakened." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "186.", "translation": "Thereʼs no way to sat­is­fy lusts, e­ven with a show­er of gold coins. He is wise who knows that lusts give lit­tle sat­is­fac­tion and much pain." }, { "ref": "187.", "translation": "E­ven in heav­en­ly pleasures the wise finds no de­light. The dis­ci­ple who is ful­ly awakened delights on­ly in the de­struc­tion of crav­ing." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "188.", "translation": "When threat­en­ed with dan­ger, men go to many a ref­uge: to mountains and forests, to groves and shrines." }, { "ref": "189.", "translation": "But thatʼs not a se­cure ref­uge, thatʼs not the best ref­uge. A man is­nʼt delivered from all pain af­ter go­ing to that ref­uge." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "190.", "translation": "He who takes ref­uge with the law, the awakened, and their or­der, sees with clear un­der­stand­ing the four ho­ly truths:" }, { "ref": "191.", "translation": "pain, the cause of pain, the de­struc­tion of pain, and the ho­ly eight­fold path that leads to the quieting of pain;" }, { "ref": "192.", "translation": "Thatʼs a se­cure ref­uge, thatʼs the best ref­uge. Af­ter go­ing to that ref­uge, a man is delivered from all pain." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "193.", "translation": "An awakened man is hard to find. Heʼs not born eve­ry­where. Wher­ev­er such a wise man is born, that clan prospers." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "194.", "translation": "Bless­ed is the arising of awakened ones, bless­ed is the teach­ing of the true law, bless­ed is har­mo­ny in the or­der, bless­ed is the de­vo­tion of those who are at peace." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "195.", "translation": "He who reveres those who de­serve rev­er­ence—the awakened ones or their dis­ci­ples, who have over­come all obstacles, sor­row, and lam­en­ta­tion," }, { "ref": "196.", "translation": "who found de­liv­er­ance and know no fear—his mer­it can nev­er be meas­ured." } ] } ] } ] }, { "title": "Happiness", "sections": [ { "paragraphs": [ { "verses": [ { "ref": "197.", "translation": "We live hap­pi­ly, not hat­ing those who hate us. When a­mong men who hate us, we dwell with­out ha­tred." }, { "ref": "198.", "translation": "We live hap­pi­ly, with­out ill­ness a­mong the ill. When a­mong men who are ill, we dwell with­out ill­ness." }, { "ref": "199.", "translation": "We live hap­pi­ly, with­out greed a­mong the greedy. When a­mong men who are greedy, we dwell with­out greed." }, { "ref": "200.", "translation": "We live hap­pi­ly, we who own noth­ing." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "201.", "translation": "Vic­to­ry breeds ha­tred, for the conquered live in pain. The con­tent­ed is hap­py, hav­ing giv­en up both vic­to­ry and de­feat." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "202.", "translation": "There is no fire like lust, no loss like ha­tred, no pain like this ex­ist­ence, and no hap­pi­ness higher than peace." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "203.", "translation": "Hun­ger is the worst dis­ease, this ex­ist­ence the great­est pain. If one tru­ly knows this, he realizes sal­va­tion, the highest hap­pi­ness." }, { "ref": "204.", "translation": "Health is the great­est gift, con­tent­ment the great­est wealth. Trust is the best kins­man, sal­va­tion the highest hap­pi­ness." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "205.", "translation": "He who has savored the taste of sol­i­tude and tran­quil­i­ty is free from fear and evil, refreshed with the nour­ish­ment of the law." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "206.", "translation": "The sight of no­ble ones is good. To live with them is al­ways hap­pi­ness. If a man does­nʼt see fools, he will be tru­ly hap­py." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "207.", "translation": "He who walks with fools suffers for a long time. Com­pa­ny with fools, as with an en­e­my, is al­ways pain­ful. Com­pa­ny with the wise is a pleas­ure, like re­un­ion with fam­i­ly." }, { "ref": "208.", "translation": "There­fore, fol­low the wise, the in­tel­li­gent, the learn­ed, the stead­fast, the du­ti­ful, the no­ble. Fol­low a good and dis­cern­ing man, as the moon follows the path of the stars." } ] } ] } ] }, { "title": "Pleasure", "sections": [ { "paragraphs": [ { "verses": [ { "ref": "209.", "translation": "He who gives him­self to van­i­ty, in­stead of to med­i­ta­tion, who forgets the goal and grasps at pleas­ure, will come to en­vy him who has exerted him­self." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "210.", "translation": "Donʼt seek for whatʼs pleas­ant or un­pleas­ant, for itʼs pain not to see the pleas­ant, and itʼs pain to see whatʼs un­pleas­ant." }, { "ref": "211.", "translation": "There­fore, let no man hold any­thing dear, for loss of the dear is pain­ful. Those who hold noth­ing dear and hate noth­ing have no fetters." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "212.", "translation": "From pleas­ure co­mes grief, from pleas­ure co­mes fear. He who is free from pleas­ure knows nei­ther grief nor fear." }, { "ref": "213.", "translation": "From af­fec­tion co­mes grief, from af­fec­tion co­mes fear. He who is free from af­fec­tion knows nei­ther grief nor fear." }, { "ref": "214.", "translation": "From at­tach­ment co­mes grief, from at­tach­ment co­mes fear. He who is free from at­tach­ment knows nei­ther grief nor fear." }, { "ref": "215.", "translation": "From lust co­mes grief, from lust co­mes fear. He who is free from lust knows nei­ther grief nor fear." }, { "ref": "216.", "translation": "From crav­ing co­mes grief, from crav­ing co­mes fear. He who is free from crav­ing knows nei­ther grief nor fear." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "217.", "translation": "He who has vir­tue and in­sight, who is just, who speaks the truth, and does his own busi­ness, him the world holds dear." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "219.", "translation": "Fam­i­ly, friends, and well-wishers wel­come a man long ab­sent who returns safe­ly from afar." }, { "ref": "220.", "translation": "As fam­i­ly receives a friend on his re­turn, so do his good works wel­come him who has done good, and has gone from this world to the next." } ] } ] } ] }, { "title": "Anger", "sections": [ { "paragraphs": [ { "verses": [ { "ref": "221.", "translation": "Let a man leave an­ger, for­sake pride, and over­come all bond­age. No suf­fer­ing befalls the man who is de­tached from name and form, and who calls noth­ing his own." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "223.", "translation": "Over­come an­ger with love, evil with good, greed with gen­er­os­i­ty, and lies with truth." }, { "ref": "224.", "translation": "Speak the truth, donʼt yield to an­ger, and give, if asked, e­ven if itʼs on­ly a lit­tle. By these three steps you will go near the gods." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "225.", "translation": "The sages who harm no one, and al­ways con­trol their body, go to the un­change­a­ble state, where they suf­fer no more." }, { "ref": "226.", "translation": "Those who are al­ways vig­i­lant, study­ing day and night, in­tent on sal­va­tion, their passions fade a­way." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "227.", "translation": "This is an old say­ing, not just of to­day: “They blame him who is si­lent, they blame him who speaks much, they blame him who speaks lit­tle.” There is none on earth who escapes blame." }, { "ref": "228.", "translation": "There nev­er was, there nev­er will be, nor is there now, a man who is al­ways blamed or al­ways praised." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "229.", "translation": "If the knowl­edge­a­ble praise him, hav­ing ob­served him day af­ter day to be with­out blem­ish, wise, and rich in knowl­edge and vir­tue," }, { "ref": "230.", "translation": "who can blame him? E­ven the gods praise him. E­ven the Cre­a­tor praises him." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "231.", "translation": "With your body, tongue, and mind: be­ware of an­ger, be re­strained, leave its sins, and with it prac­tise vir­tue." }, { "ref": "234.", "translation": "The wise who con­trol their body, their tongue, and their mind, are well con­trolled in­deed." } ] } ] } ] }, { "title": "Impurity", "sections": [ { "paragraphs": [ { "verses": [ { "ref": "235.", "translation": "You are now like a withered leaf, the messengers of death stand near­by. You stand at the door of de­par­ture, yet have no pro­vi­sion for your jour­ney." }, { "ref": "237.", "translation": "Your life has come to an end, you are near death, there is no rest­ing place for you on the road, yet you have no pro­vi­sion for your jour­ney." }, { "ref": "238.", "translation": "Make an is­land for your­self, work hard, be wise. When your impurities are blown a­way, and you are free from guilt, you wonʼt en­ter again in­to birth and de­cay." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "239.", "translation": "Let a wise man re­move his own impurities, as a smith removes impurities from sil­ver one by one, lit­tle by lit­tle, and mo­ment by mo­ment." }, { "ref": "240.", "translation": "Just as rust destroys the i­ron from which it springs, so do a trans­gres­sorʼs deeds lead him to an evil des­ti­na­tion." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "241.", "translation": "The im­pu­ri­ty of prayers is not re­cit­ing them. The im­pu­ri­ty of hous­es is not repairing them. The im­pu­ri­ty of beau­ty is sloth. The im­pu­ri­ty of a watch­man is mind­less­ness." }, { "ref": "242.", "translation": "Sex­u­al mis­con­duct is the im­pu­ri­ty of wom­an, stin­gi­ness the im­pu­ri­ty of a do­nor. All evil ways are impurities, both in this world and in the next." }, { "ref": "243.", "translation": "But there is an im­pu­ri­ty worse than all others: ig­no­rance. Throw off that im­pu­ri­ty to be­come pure." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "246.", "translation": "He who destroys life, speaks lies, takes what is­nʼt giv­en, goes to an­oth­er manʼs wife," }, { "ref": "247.", "translation": "and gives him­self to in­tox­i­cat­ing liq­uor, he digs up his own root here in this world." }, { "ref": "248.", "translation": "Know this, good man, that evil is hard to con­trol. Donʼt let greed and vi­ce bring you to prolonged grief." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "249.", "translation": "Peo­ple give ac­cord­ing to their faith or con­vic­tion. If a man worries about the food and drink giv­en to others, he will find no rest by day or night." }, { "ref": "250.", "translation": "He in whom that feel­ing is cut down, uprooted, and destroyed finds rest by day and night." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "251.", "translation": "Thereʼs no fire like pas­sion, no grip like ha­tred, no snare like de­lu­sion, no riv­er like crav­ing." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "252.", "translation": "Itʼs easy to see the faults of others, but dif­fi­cult to see oneʼs own. A man winnows the faults of others like chaff, but hides his own like a cheat hides an un­lucky throw of the dice." }, { "ref": "253.", "translation": "If a man fo­cus­es on the errors of others, and is al­ways in­clined to find fault, his own faults will grow, and he is far from destroying them." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "254.", "translation": "The world delights in van­i­ty, but the awakened are free from it." } ] } ] } ] }, { "title": "The Just", "sections": [ { "paragraphs": [ { "verses": [ { "ref": "256.", "translation": "A man does­nʼt be­come just by pass­ing ar­bi­trary judge­ment. No, heʼs called just who weighs both right and wrong," }, { "ref": "257.", "translation": "who judges im­par­tial­ly and with­out hur­ry, in line with law, guarding the law, guard­ed by the law, and who is in­tel­li­gent." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "258.", "translation": "A man is­nʼt wise just be­cause he talks a lot. Heʼs called wise who is pa­tient and free from hos­til­i­ty and fear." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "259.", "translation": "A man does­nʼt up­hold the law just be­cause he talks a lot. He who has learn­ed on­ly a lit­tle of the law, yet com­pre­hends it and nev­er neglects it, he upholds the law." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "260.", "translation": "A man is­nʼt an el­der just be­cause his hair is grey. He may be ad­vanced in years, but is called “one grown old in vain.”" }, { "ref": "261.", "translation": "He in whom there is truth, vir­tue, love, re­straint, self con­trol, who is free from im­pu­ri­ty, and is wise, he is called an el­der." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "262.", "translation": "El­o­quence or phys­i­cal beau­ty donʼt make an en­vi­ous, greedy, and dis­hon­est man re­spect­a­ble." }, { "ref": "263.", "translation": "Heʼs called re­spect­a­ble when all these are cut down, uprooted, and destroyed, when heʼs free from ha­tred, and is wise." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "264.", "translation": "An un­dis­ci­plined man who speaks lies does­nʼt be­come a monk just by shav­ing his head. How can he be a monk who is held cap­tive by de­sire and greed?" }, { "ref": "265.", "translation": "He who quiets evil, both small and large, is called a monk, be­cause he has over­come all evil." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "266.", "translation": "A man is­nʼt a monk just be­cause he asks for alms. He who adopts the whole law is a monk." }, { "ref": "267.", "translation": "He who is above both good and evil, who is chaste, and who goes through the world with un­der­stand­ing, he in­deed is called a monk." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "268.", "translation": "A fool­ish and ig­no­rant man does­nʼt be­come a sage just by si­lence. But the wise, as if hold­ing the scales, chooses good and avoids evil." }, { "ref": "269.", "translation": "For this rea­son he is a sage. He who weighs both sides of this world is called a sage." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "270.", "translation": "A man does­nʼt be­come no­ble by harming liv­ing crea­tures. Heʼs called no­ble for harming no liv­ing thing." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "271.", "translation": "Not by rules and practices, not by much learn­ing, not by great con­cen­tra­tion, not by life in se­clu­sion," }, { "ref": "272.", "translation": "not by think­ing, “I en­joy the hap­pi­ness of re­nun­ci­a­tion which no world­ling can know”, should the monk be con­fi­dent with­out at­tain­ing the ex­tinc­tion of desires." } ] } ] } ] }, { "title": "The Path", "sections": [ { "paragraphs": [ { "verses": [ { "ref": "273.", "translation": "Of paths, the Eight­fold is best. Of truths, the Four No­ble are best. Of vir­tues, de­tach­ment is best. Of men, he who has eyes to see is best." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "274.", "translation": "This is the on­ly path to pu­ri­fy vi­sion, there is no oth­er. Fol­low this path and it will be­wil­der the temp­ter." }, { "ref": "275.", "translation": "Fol­low­ing this path will end pain. Once I un­der­stood how to re­move thorns in the flesh, I preached this path." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "276.", "translation": "You your­self must make an ef­fort. Buddhas on­ly show the way. The thought­ful who fol­low the path are freed from the tempterʼs bonds." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "277.", "translation": "“All cre­at­ed things are tem­po­rary.” He who sees and knows this turns a­way from pain. This is the path to pu­ri­ty." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "278.", "translation": "“All cre­at­ed things are pain­ful.” He who sees and knows this turns a­way from pain. This is the path to pu­ri­ty." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "280.", "translation": "He who does­nʼt ex­ert him­self when itʼs time, who, though young and strong, is full of sloth, whose will and mind are weak, that la­zy and i­dle man will nev­er find the path to knowl­edge." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "281.", "translation": "Let a man watch his speech, be well re­strained in mind, and nev­er com­mit wrong with his body. If a man purifies these three cours­es of ac­tion, he will achieve the path taught by the wise." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "282.", "translation": "Zeal brings knowl­edge. Lack of zeal loses knowl­edge. Know­ing these two paths of gain and loss, let a man con­duct him­self so that knowl­edge may grow." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "283.", "translation": "Cut down the whole for­est of de­sire, not just one tree. Dan­ger co­mes from the for­est. Once you have cut down this for­est and its un­der­growth, you will be free." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "284.", "translation": "As long as the smallest crav­ing of man for wom­an is not destroyed, his mind is in bond­age, as the suck­ing calf to its moth­er." }, { "ref": "285.", "translation": "Cut out the love of self, like an au­tumn lo­tus with your hand. Cher­ish the road of peace, as shown by the awakened." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "286.", "translation": "“I will live here dur­ing the rains, and over here in win­ter and sum­mer.” Thus thinks the fool, un­a­ware of ob­struc­tions." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "287.", "translation": "Death carries off the man praised for his chil­dren and flocks, his mind dis­tract­ed, as a flood carries off a sleep­ing vil­lage." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "288.", "translation": "For him whom death has seized, kinsmen are no pro­tec­tion. Nei­ther sons, a fa­ther, nor re­la­tions can give shel­ter." }, { "ref": "289.", "translation": "Know­ing this, a wise and good man should quick­ly clear the path lead­ing to sal­va­tion." } ] } ] } ] }, { "title": "Miscellaneous", "sections": [ { "paragraphs": [ { "verses": [ { "ref": "290.", "translation": "If by leav­ing a small pleas­ure one sees a great pleas­ure, let a wise man leave the small pleas­ure and look to the great." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "291.", "translation": "He who seeks pleas­ure for him­self by caus­ing pain to others is entangled by the bonds of ha­tred, and can­not be free from ha­tred." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "292.", "translation": "Desires al­ways in­crease for un­ru­ly, heed­less peo­ple who ne­glect what should be done and do what should­nʼt be done." }, { "ref": "293.", "translation": "But desires will come to an end for watch­ful, wise peo­ple who donʼt do what should­nʼt be done, who stead­fast­ly do what should be done, and whose whole watch­ful­ness is al­ways di­rect­ed to their body." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "296.", "translation": "The dis­ci­ples of Gotama are wide a­wake and vig­i­lant, and their minds day and night are al­ways set on the Awakened," }, { "ref": "297.", "translation": "on the law," }, { "ref": "298.", "translation": "on the church," }, { "ref": "299.", "translation": "and on their body." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "300.", "translation": "The dis­ci­ples of Gotama are wide a­wake and vig­i­lant, and their minds day and night al­ways de­light in com­pas­sion," }, { "ref": "301.", "translation": "and in med­i­ta­tion." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "302.", "translation": "Itʼs hard to be a monk. Itʼs hard to en­joy that life. House­hold life is al­so hard and pain­ful. Itʼs pain­ful to dwell with unequals and the wan­der­ing monk is be­set with pain. There­fore let no man wan­der aim­less­ly and he will not be be­set with pain." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "303.", "translation": "A faith­ful, vir­tu­ous, rep­u­ta­ble, and wealthy man is respected wher­ev­er he goes." }, { "ref": "304.", "translation": "Like the Himalayas, good peo­ple shine from afar. Like ar­rows shot by night, bad peo­ple are un­seen e­ven when they are near." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "305.", "translation": "He who sits a­lone, sleeps a­lone, walks a­lone, is dil­i­gent, and subdues him­self a­lone, will re­joice in the sol­i­tude of the for­est." } ] } ] } ] }, { "title": "Hell", "sections": [ { "paragraphs": [ { "verses": [ { "ref": "306.", "translation": "He goes to hell, the one who as­serts what did­nʼt hap­pen, and the one who did a thing but says, “I have­nʼt done it”. Theyʼre both evildoers, and are e­qual in the next world." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "307.", "translation": "Many men who wear the saf­fron robe are ill-mannered and un­re­strained. Such evildoers by their evil deeds go to hell." }, { "ref": "308.", "translation": "It would be bet­ter to swal­low an i­ron ball, red-hot and a­flame, than for an im­mor­al, un­re­strained man to eat the alms of the peo­ple." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "309.", "translation": "A wreckless man who lies down with his neighborʼs wife gains four things: a bad rep­u­ta­tion, poor sleep, pun­ish­ment, and hell." }, { "ref": "310.", "translation": "There is bad rep­u­ta­tion, an evil des­ti­na­tion, the brief pleas­ure of the fright­ened man and wom­an, and the king imposes a heavy pun­ish­ment. There­fore, let no man lie down with his neighborʼs wife." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "311.", "translation": "Just as a blade of grass, if wrong­ly han­dled, cuts the hand, so does as­cet­i­cism, if wrong­ly prac­tised, lead to hell." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "312.", "translation": "An act performed care­less­ly, a bro­ken vow, and ques­tion­a­ble cel­i­ba­cy, none of these bring much re­ward." }, { "ref": "313.", "translation": "If any­thing is to be done, then do it vig­or­ous­ly. A care­less pil­grim on­ly scatters the dust of his passions more wide­ly." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "314.", "translation": "Itʼs bet­ter not to do an evil deed, for an evil deed torments a man af­ter­wards. Itʼs bet­ter to do a good deed, for hav­ing done it, one is not tormented." }, { "ref": "315.", "translation": "Like a fron­tier fort with defences in­side and out, so let a man guard him­self. Donʼt let a mo­ment pass by, for they who al­low the right mo­ment to pass suf­fer pain when consigned to hell." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "316.", "translation": "They who are a­shamed of what is not shame­ful, and are not a­shamed of what is shame­ful;" }, { "ref": "317.", "translation": "they who see dan­ger where there is none, and see no dan­ger where there is;" }, { "ref": "318.", "translation": "they who see wrong where there is none, and see no wrong where there is; such men, em­brac­ing false doctrines, go to an evil des­ti­na­tion." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "319.", "translation": "They who see wrong as wrong, and see right as right, such men, em­brac­ing true doc­trine go to a good des­ti­na­tion." } ] } ] } ] }, { "title": "The Elephant", "sections": [ { "paragraphs": [ { "verses": [ { "ref": "320.", "translation": "As an el­e­phant in bat­tle endures an ar­row shot from a bow, so will I en­dure def­a­ma­tion. Many peo­ple lack vir­tue." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "321.", "translation": "They on­ly lead a tamed el­e­phant in­to crowds. The king on­ly rides a tamed el­e­phant. The tamed man who endures def­a­ma­tion is the best a­mong men." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "322.", "translation": "Trained mules, thor­ough­bred hors­es, and el­e­phants with large tusks are ex­cel­lent, but he who tames him­self is bet­ter still." }, { "ref": "323.", "translation": "For with these an­i­mals no man reaches the un­trod­den coun­try where a tamed man goes by tam­ing him­self." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "324.", "translation": "The el­e­phant called Dhan­a­pa­la­ka, deep in rut, is dif­fi­cult to hold. He does­nʼt eat a mor­sel in cap­tiv­i­ty, but longs for the el­e­phant grove." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "325.", "translation": "When a man is in­ac­tive and glut­ton­ous, sleep­ing and roll­ing a­round in bed like an o­ver­fed hog, that fool is born again and again." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "326.", "translation": "This mind used to wan­der about as it liked, wher­ev­er it wished, how­ev­er it pleased. Now I will hold it in check, as a rid­er with a hook controls an el­e­phant in rut." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "327.", "translation": "De­light in mind­ful­ness. Watch over your mind. Lift your­self out of the evil way, as an el­e­phant lifts it­self out of the mud." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "328.", "translation": "If you find a wise, pru­dent, and vir­tu­ous friend, then, over­com­ing all dangers, walk with him joy­ful­ly and mind­ful­ly." }, { "ref": "329.", "translation": "If you find no friend who is wise, pru­dent, and vir­tu­ous, then walk a­lone like a king leav­ing be­hind his king­dom, like an el­e­phant in the for­est." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "330.", "translation": "Itʼs bet­ter to live a­lone. Thereʼs no com­pan­ion­ship with a fool. Live a­lone, do no evil, and be con­tent, like an el­e­phant in the for­est." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "331.", "translation": "These are good: friends when the need arises, con­tent­ment with what you have, mer­it in the hour of death, giv­ing up all grief," }, { "ref": "332.", "translation": "serv­ing your moth­er, serv­ing your fa­ther, serv­ing monks, serv­ing ho­ly men," }, { "ref": "333.", "translation": "vir­tue last­ing in­to old age, firm­ly root­ed faith, at­tain­ing dis­cern­ment, avoiding evil." } ] } ] } ] }, { "title": "Craving", "sections": [ { "paragraphs": [ { "verses": [ { "ref": "334.", "translation": "The crav­ing of a heed­less man grows like a creep­ing vine. He runs from life to life, like a mon­key seek­ing fruit in the for­est." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "335.", "translation": "He who is over­come by this vile and cling­ing crav­ing, his suf­fer­ing increases like grass af­ter rain." }, { "ref": "336.", "translation": "He who overcomes this vile crav­ing, so dif­fi­cult to con­quer, suf­fer­ing falls off him like wa­ter drops from a lo­tus leaf." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "337.", "translation": "To all as­sem­bled here I say, “Good luck. Dig up the root of crav­ing like one seek­ing the sweet scented root of birana grass. Let not the temp­ter crush you again and again as the stream crushes a reed.”" }, { "ref": "338.", "translation": "A tree will grow again, e­ven if cut down, as long as its root is safe and firm. Thus, un­less la­tent crav­ing is destroyed, suf­fer­ing will re­turn again and again." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "339.", "translation": "The thir­ty six streams of crav­ing flow to­wards pleas­ure. The mis­guid­ed man, in whom they flow strongly, is car­ried a­way." }, { "ref": "340.", "translation": "The streams flow eve­ry­where. The creep­ing vines of crav­ing grow eve­ry­where. If you see the vine spring up, cut its root with knowl­edge." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "342.", "translation": "Driv­en by crav­ing, men run about like a snared rab­bit. Held by fetters and bonds, they suf­fer again and again for a long time." }, { "ref": "343.", "translation": "So a monk should drive out crav­ing, and strive to be with­out pas­sion." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "345.", "translation": "The wise donʼt say that a fet­ter made of i­ron, wood, or hemp is strong. Far stronger is a long­ing for jewels and ornaments, chil­dren and wives." }, { "ref": "346.", "translation": "The wise say that a strong fet­ter drags one down, though seem­ing loose, itʼs dif­fi­cult to re­move. Af­ter hav­ing cut it, the wise are free from cares, and leave the world, desires, and pleasures be­hind." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "348.", "translation": "Give up the past, the fu­ture, and the pres­ent to cross to the oth­er shore of ex­ist­ence. If your mind is com­plete­ly free, you wonʼt en­ter in­to birth and de­cay again." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "349.", "translation": "If a man is tossed about by doubts, full of pas­sion, and fo­cused on pleas­ure, his crav­ing grows more and more. He makes his fetters strong in­deed." }, { "ref": "350.", "translation": "If a man delights in quieting doubts, is al­ways mind­ful, and meditates on the impurities, he will end crav­ing and cut the fet­ter of the temp­ter." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "351.", "translation": "He who has reached the goal is with­out fear, is with­out crav­ing, is with­out blem­ish, and has re­moved all the thorns of life: this will be his last body." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "354.", "translation": "The gift of the law exceeds all gifts. The taste of the law exceeds all tastes. De­light in the law exceeds all delights. The ex­tinc­tion of crav­ing overcomes all suf­fer­ing." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "355.", "translation": "Rich­es de­stroy the fool­ish, but not those who seek the be­yond. The fool, by crav­ing for rich­es, destroys him­self and others." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "356.", "translation": "Weeds spoil a field. Pas­sion, ha­tred, de­lu­sion, or de­sire spoil a man." }, { "ref": "359.", "translation": "There­fore, a gift giv­en to those with­out pas­sion, ha­tred, de­lu­sion, or de­sire yields great fruit." } ] } ] } ] }, { "title": "The Monk", "sections": [ { "paragraphs": [ { "verses": [ { "ref": "360.", "translation": "Good is re­straint over the eye, over the ear, over the nose, and over the tongue." }, { "ref": "361.", "translation": "Good is re­straint in the body, in speech, in mind, in all things. A monk, re­strained in all things, is freed from all suf­fer­ing." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "362.", "translation": "He who controls his hands, feet, and speech; who is well con­trolled, delights in the in­ward, is col­lect­ed, sol­i­tary and con­tent, him they call a monk." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "363.", "translation": "The monk who controls his tongue, speaks mod­er­ate­ly and calm­ly, and teaches the law and its mean­ing, his speech is sweet." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "364.", "translation": "The monk who abides in the law, delights in the law, meditates on the law, and keeps the law in mind, he will nev­er fall a­way from the true law." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "365.", "translation": "Let him not de­spise what he has re­ceived, nor en­vy others. A monk who envies others does­nʼt ob­tain con­cen­tra­tion." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "366.", "translation": "If a monk lives pure­ly, is dil­i­gent, and does­nʼt de­spise what he has re­ceived, though he receives lit­tle, then e­ven the gods will praise him." }, { "ref": "368.", "translation": "The monk who abides in kind­ness, and is de­vot­ed to the teachings of Bud­dha, will at­tain peace, hap­pi­ness, and ces­sa­tion of nat­u­ral desires." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "369.", "translation": "Monk, bail out this boat. Once bailed, it will sail light­ly. Hav­ing cut out pas­sion and ha­tred, you will reach sal­va­tion." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "371.", "translation": "Med­i­tate monk. Be mind­ful. Donʼt di­rect your mind to sen­su­al pleas­ure. Heed­less, donʼt swal­low the flam­ing i­ron ball lest you cry out when burn­ing, “This is suf­fer­ing.”" } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "372.", "translation": "There is no med­i­ta­tion with­out in­sight. There is no in­sight with­out med­i­ta­tion. He who has in­sight and med­i­ta­tion is near sal­va­tion." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "373.", "translation": "A monk who has entered his emp­ty house, whose mind is tran­quil, and who sees the law clear­ly, feels a de­light more than hu­man." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "375.", "translation": "This is the be­gin­ning for a wise monk: guarding the sen­ses, con­tent­ment, re­straint un­der the law." }, { "ref": "376.", "translation": "He should have friends who are no­ble, en­er­get­ic, and pure. He should be friend­ly, and skilled in con­duct. Then, hav­ing much joy, he will put an end to suf­fer­ing." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "377.", "translation": "Shed pas­sion and ha­tred, as the jas­mine plant sheds its withered flowers." }, { "ref": "378.", "translation": "That monk is called qui­et whose body and speech and mind are calm, who is col­lect­ed, and who has purged the baits of the world." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "379.", "translation": "Re­prove your­self and ex­am­ine your­self by your­self. By be­ing vig­i­lant and at­ten­tive you will live hap­pi­ly." }, { "ref": "380.", "translation": "You are your own mas­ter and ref­uge. There­fore, watch over your­self as a mer­chant watches over a good horse." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "381.", "translation": "The monk who is full of joy, and who has faith in the teachings of Bud­dha will reach the qui­et place, ces­sa­tion of nat­u­ral desires, and hap­pi­ness." }, { "ref": "382.", "translation": "E­ven a young monk who applies him­self to the teachings of Bud­dha brightens this world, like the moon set free from clouds." } ] } ] } ] }, { "title": "The Holy Man", "sections": [ { "paragraphs": [ { "verses": [ { "ref": "386.", "translation": "He who is mind­ful, blame­less, settled, du­ti­ful, with­out passions, and who has at­tained the highest goal, him I call a ho­ly man." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "387.", "translation": "The sun shines by day, the moon shines by night, the war­ri­or shines in ar­mor, the ho­ly man shines in med­i­ta­tion." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "388.", "translation": "A man is called ho­ly for dis­card­ing evil, con­tem­pla­tive for walk­ing qui­et­ly, a pil­grim for leav­ing his own impurities." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "389.", "translation": "No one should at­tack a ho­ly man, but no ho­ly man, if at­tacked, should give in to his an­ger. Shame on him who at­tacks a ho­ly man, but more shame to him who gives in to his an­ger." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "390.", "translation": "Noth­ing is bet­ter for a ho­ly man than to hold his mind back from the pleasures of life. When all de­sire to in­jure has vanished, pain ceases." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "391.", "translation": "I call him a ho­ly man who does­nʼt of­fend in body, word, or mind, and is re­strained on these three points." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "392.", "translation": "Re­vere that teach­er who has taught you the law as taught by the Bud­dha, just as a ho­ly many reveres the sac­ri­fi­cial fire." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "393.", "translation": "A man does­nʼt be­come ho­ly by his mat­ted hair, by his fam­i­ly, or by birth. He in whom there is truth and right­eous­ness, he is pure, he is a ho­ly man." }, { "ref": "394.", "translation": "What use is mat­ted hair, O fool? What use is your coat of goat skins? The tan­gle is with­in you, but you comb the out­side." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "397.", "translation": "I call him a ho­ly man who has cut eve­ry fet­ter, is fear­less, in­de­pend­ent, and un­shack­led." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "399.", "translation": "I call him a ho­ly man who, with­out an­ger, endures in­sult, im­pris­on­ment, and beat­ing, who has pa­tience like the strength of an ar­my." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "400.", "translation": "I call him a ho­ly man who is free from an­ger, du­ti­ful, vir­tu­ous, with­out crav­ing, sub­dued, and who has re­ceived his last body." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "401.", "translation": "I call him a ho­ly man who does­nʼt cling to pleasures; like wa­ter on a lo­tus leaf or a mus­tard seed on the tip of a nee­dle." }, { "ref": "402.", "translation": "I call him a ho­ly man who, e­ven here, discerns the end of his suf­fer­ing, has put down his bur­den, and is un­shack­led." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "403.", "translation": "I call him a ho­ly man who is wise, has deep un­der­stand­ing, discerns the right and wrong path, and has reached the ul­ti­mate goal." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "404.", "translation": "I call him a ho­ly man who keeps a­loof from both laymen and as­cet­ic, who has no per­ma­nent home, and few desires." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "405.", "translation": "I call him a ho­ly man who renounces vi­o­lence to­wards all beings, wheth­er weak or strong, and nei­ther kills nor causes others to kill." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "407.", "translation": "I call him a ho­ly man from whom pas­sion and ha­tred, pride and en­vy have dropped like a mus­tard seed from the tip of a nee­dle." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "408.", "translation": "I call him a ho­ly man who speaks true and in­struc­tive words, free from harsh­ness, so that he offends no one." }, { "ref": "409.", "translation": "I call him a ho­ly man who on­ly takes what is giv­en to him, be it long or short, small or large, good or bad." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "412.", "translation": "I call him a ho­ly man who, in this world, is above at­tach­ment to mer­it and evil, is with­out grief, stain­less, and pure." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "416.", "translation": "I call him a ho­ly man who, leav­ing all crav­ing, travels with­out a home, and in whom all crav­ing is ex­tinct." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "417.", "translation": "I call him a ho­ly man who, af­ter leav­ing all at­tach­ment to men, has ris­en above all at­tach­ment to the gods, and is free from eve­ry at­tach­ment." } ] }, { "verses": [ { "ref": "421.", "translation": "I call him a ho­ly man who does­nʼt cling to past, pres­ent, or fu­ture, who has noth­ing, who clings to noth­ing." } ] } ] } ] } ] }