# Dhammapada - Sayings of the Buddha 2 (tr. J. Richards)

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